BC Hydro approach to integration of phasor measurements in EMS state estimator

The application of synchronized phasor measurements for system monitoring and control is receiving unparalleled attention in the power industry. The availability of synchronized phasor measurements data in real-time offer unprecedented opportunities for control centre applications to expand the visibility and improve the quality of output results. In that respect, British Columbia Hydro (BC Hydro) has taken important steps to incorporate phasor measurements into key control center applications that will enable operation of a more reliable, secure and efficient power system. The focus of this paper is on recent work accomplished by BC Hydro to incorporate phasor measurements from several locations in the transmission system into a control center state estimator, the prime application for assisting the operators to understand the operating state of the power system and for making informed decisions with respect to scheduling transmission capacity and responding to contingencies.