Enhancing virtual power plant observability with PMUs

Especially influenced by the rising number of renewable and distributed power generation plants and so-called unbundling, the controllability and protection of power supply systems are becoming ever more complex as these systems are developed further. To securely meet these challenges a reliable observability of the power system is needed. Novel digital measurement equipment such as phasor measurement units (PMU) in transmission and distribution networks and smart meters in low voltage grids deliver the system parameters needed to perform a system state estimation analysis. This paper discusses the use of PMUs to support the operation of virtual power plants (VPP). It additionally presents methods, which have already been tested in different simulations, to optimally select the locations of measurement units to ensure system observability.