Using dynamic simulations to design the wide-area stability and voltage control system (WACS)

Bonneville power administration is developing and demonstrating a wide-area stability and voltage control system (WACS). WACS uses phasor measurements as input to a real-time controller. Controller outputs initiate discontinuous actions: generator or load tripping and capacitor/reactor bank switching. Dynamic simulations that approximate the real-world control system are required to design and to verify reliable operation of the proposed control WACS. Dynamic simulations were used to evaluate proposed algorithms, optimize the values of algorithms parameters and provide data to play into the real time controller. We made great efforts to model filtering and time delay effects of measurement equipment, time delays associated with communications, central-site control computers, power circuit breakers, and supervising circuits located in individual substations.