Bahir Dar Institute Of Technology

Faculty of Electrical And Computer Engineering

Eeng5174: Computer Application In Power System

SCADA AND POWER SYSTEM AUTOMATION

By: Elias M.
Email:eliasmandefro01@gmail.com

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Outline
• Computers in power system
• Computer Tasks
•AGC
•SCADA
•Generation Schedule
• Network Analysis
• Transmission system development
• Interactive power system analysis

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Computers in power system
 The appearance of large digital computers in the
1960s paved the way for unprecedented
developments in power system
 The emphasis in modern power systems has turned
from resource creation to resource management
 The two primary functions of an energy
management system are security and economic
operation
 In the present state of the art the result derived by
center computers are normally presented to the
operator who can then accept, modify or ignore the
advice received
 However, in the longer term the operating
commands should be dispatched automatically
without human intervention
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Computer Tasks
 The basic power system functions involve very
many computer studies requiring processing power
capabilities in millions of instructions per second.
 The most demanding in this respect are network
solutions, and the specific task of electrical power
system analysis
 The main computer tasks involved in the
management of electrical energy systems are as
follows
 AGC
 SCADA
 Generation Schedule
 Network Analysis
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Automatic Generation Control(AGC)
 As the system load changes continuously, the
generation is adjusted automatically to restore the
frequency to the nominal value. This scheme is called
AGC.
 During normal operation the following four tasks can be
identified with the purpose of AGC:
1. Matching of system generation and system load
◦ This task is met by governor speed control
2. Reducing system frequency deviation to zero
3.Distributing the total generation among the various
control areas to comply with the scheduled tie flows.
◦ The second and third tasks are associated with the load-frequency
control

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Cont.…
4.Distributing the individual area generation among its
generating sources as to minimize operating costs
◦ This task is the economic dispatch function of AGC

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 What is SCADA ?
SCADA=Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
o SCADA is a system operating with coded signals over
communication channels so as to provide control of
remote equipment.
o SCADA encompasses the collecting of information,
transferring it back to the central site, carrying out any
necessary analysis and control and then displaying that
information to a number of operator screens or displays
 Any application that gets data about a system in order to
control that system is a SCADA application.
 SCADA is used around the world to control all kinds of
industrial processes
 The modern utility control system relies heavily on the
operator control of remote plant.
Cont..
 In this task the operator relies on SCADA for the
following tasks:
Data Acquisition
Information display
Supervisory control
Alarm processing
Information storage and reports
Sequence of events acquisition
Data calculations

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Electric power generation,
transmission and distribution: Buildings, facilities and
Electric utilities detect current environments: Facility managers
flow and line voltage, to monitor use SCADA to control HVAC,
the operation of circuit breakers, refrigeration units, lighting and entry
and to take sections of the power systems.
grid online or offline.

Manufacturing: manage parts

inventories for just-in-time
manufacturing, regulate industrial
automation and robots, and monitor
process and quality control.
Mass transit: regulate electricity to subways,
trams and trolley buses; to automate traffic
signals for rail systems; to track and locate
trains and buses; and to control railroad
crossing gates.
Traffic signals: regulates
traffic lights, controls traffic Water and sewage: State and
flow and detects out-of-order municipal water utilities use SCADA
signals. to monitor and regulate water flow,
reservoir levels, pipe pressure and
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other factors.
Main Functions of SCADA
 SCADA components
1. Sensors (either digital or analogue) and control relays
that directly interface with the managed system.
2. Remote telemetry units (RTUs). These are small
computerized units deployed in the field at specific sites.
RTUs serve as local collection points for gathering reports
from sensors and delivering commands to control relays.
3. SCADA master units. These are larger computer
consoles that serve as the central processor for the SCADA
system. Master units provide a human interface to the
system and automatically regulate the managed system in
response to sensor inputs.
4. Communications network that connects the SCADA
master unit to the RTUs in the field.
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 Data Acquisition
 SCADA system needs to monitor hundreds or thousands of sensors.
Sensors measure:
1. Inputs and outputs e.g. water flowing into a reservoir (input), valve
pressure as water is released from the reservoir (output).
2. Discrete inputs (or digital input) e.g. whether equipment is on or off,
or tripwire alarms, like a power failure at a critical facility.
3. Analogue inputs: where exact measurement is important e.g. to detect
continuous changes in a voltage or current input, to track fluid levels
in tanks, voltage levels in batteries, temperature and other factors that
can be measured in a continuous range of input.

• For most analogue factors, there is a normal range defined by a

bottom and top level e.g. temperature in a server room between 15
and 25 Degree Centigrade. If the temperature goes outside this range,
it will trigger a threshold alarm.
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 Data Communication
 A communications network is required to monitor
multiple systems from a central location.
 SECURITY: Keep data on closed LAN/WANs without
exposing sensitive data to the open Internet.
 Sensors and control relays can’t generate or interpret
protocol communication –
 Thus, RTU is needed to provide an interface between
the sensors and the SCADA network.
 RTU encodes sensor inputs into protocol format and
forwards them to the SCADA master;
 RTU receives control commands in protocol format
from the master and transmits electrical signals to the
appropriate control relays.
 Equipment---sensors---relays---RTUs---SCADA Master 13
 Data Presentation
SCADA systems report to human operators over a
master station, HMI (Human-Machine Interface)

SCADA master station has several different functions:

 Continuously monitors all sensors and alerts the
operator when there is an “alarm”
 Presents a comprehensive view of the entire
managed system,
 Presents more detail in response to user requests
 Performs data processing on information gathered
from sensors
 Maintains report logs and summarizes historical
trends.
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 Control
 If you have a sufficiently sophisticated master unit,
the controls can run completely automatically, without
the need for human intervention.
 Of course, you can still manually override the
automatic controls from the master station.
 In real life, SCADA systems automatically regulate all
kinds of industrial processes.

 For example, if too much pressure is building up in a

gas pipeline, the SCADA system can automatically
open a release valve.
 Electricity production can be adjusted to meet
demands on the power grid. 15
Human Machine Interface
 Human Machine Interface
commonly known as HMI are
deployed for control and
visualization interface between
a human and a process,
machine, application and
appliance.

 Increasingly,
HMIs are
becoming an integral part of
Factory Automation.
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 Selection of SCADA Master
A SCADA master should display information in the most useful ways to
human operators and intelligently regulate managed systems.
It should:
 have flexible, programmable soft controls to respond to sensor inputs
 automatically page or email directly to repair technicians and provide
detailed information display in plain English, with a complete
description of what activity is happening and how to manage it.
 have tools to filter out nuisance alarms (to prevents operators from
loosing confidence and stop responding even to critical alarms)

 support multiple backup masters, in separate locations (primary

SCADA master fails, a second master on the network automatically
takes over, with no interruption of monitoring and control functions)

 support multiple open protocols to safeguard the SCADA system

against unplanned obsolescence.
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 Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)
 RTU is a microprocessor-
controlled electronic device that
interfaces objects in the physical
world to a distributed control
system or SCADA system by
transmitting telemetry data to a
master system, and by using
messages from the master
supervisory system to control
connected objects.
 Another term that may be used
for RTU is remote telecontrol
unit.
 Two basic types of RTU:

1. Single board RTU

2. Modular RTU

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 Single board RTU
 Which is compact, and contains all I/O on a
single board. The single board RTU normally
has fixed I/O (eg.16 digital inputs, 8 digital outputs,
8 analogue inputs, and say 4 analogue outputs).
Modular RTU
 Which has a separate CPU module, and can
have other modules added, normally by
plugging into a common "backplane" (a bit like
a PC motherboard and plug in peripheral cards)
is designed to be expanded by adding
additional modules.
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 Selection of RTU’s
RTUs need to:
 Communicate with all on-site equipment
 Survive an industrial environment. Rugged construction and
ability to withstand extremes of temperature and humidity
 Have sufficient capacity to support the equipment at a site
 Have a secure, redundant power supply for 24/7 working,
support battery power and, ideally, two power inputs.
 Have redundant communication ports e.g. secondary serial
port or internal modem to keep the RTU online even if the
LAN fails.
 Have non-volatile memory (NVRAM) for storing software
and/or firmware.
 Control local systems by themselves (Intelligent control)
according to programmed responses to sensor inputs
 Have a real-time clock to accurately date/time stamp reports
 Have a watchdog timer to ensure that the RTU restarts after a
power failure. 21
System Concept of SCADA

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POWER SYSTEM AUTOMATION
 Automation

 AUTOMATION is basically the delegation of human control

functions to technical equipment aimed towards achieving:
Higher productivity.
Superior quality of end product.
Efficient usage of energy and raw materials.
Improved safety in working conditions etc.
 TYPES OF AUTOMATION
 Building automation  Office automation
Example:lifts,smoke detectors Example: printers, tv came
 Scientific automation  Light automation
Example: rocket launching Example: street solar lighte
 Industrial automation
Example: automated bottle
filling stations , steel factories etc 24
 What is power system automation??
 Power-system automation is the act of automatically
controlling the power system via instrumentation and
control devices.
 Substation automation refers to using data from
Intelligent electronic devices (IED), control and
automation capabilities within the substation, and
control commands from remote users to control
power-system devices.
 Reasons for Need of SCADA Automation
In Power System
 Increasing Power Theft
 High human labor with very less control over system
devices
 Time required to collect various data from numerous
Grid Substations
 As automation improves information availability and
better visibility
 Reduction of Fault Restoration time
 Customer Services are more easier
 Gives Real time and historical data for analysis

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 Intelligent Electronic Device
 Any device incorporating one
or more processors with the
capability to receive or send
data/control from or to an
external source (e.g., electronic
multifunction meters, digital
relays, controllers)
 Instrument Transformers
 Instrument transformers
are used to sense power
system current and voltage
values.
 They are physically
connected to power
system apparatus and
convert the actual power
system signals, which
include high voltage and
current magnitudes, down
to lower signal levels
 Transducer
 Transducers convert the
analog output of an
instrument transformer
from one magnitude to
another or from one value
type to another, such as
from an ac current to dc
voltage.
 Communications Port Switch
 A communications switch is a
device that switches between
several serial ports when it is told
to do so.
 The remote user initiates
communications with the port
switch via a connection to the
substation, typically a leased line
or dial-up telephone connection.
 Once connected, the user can
route their communications
through the port switch to one of
the connected substation IEDs.
The port switch merely “passes
through” the IED
 (Intelligent electronic Device)
 communications.
 Meter
A meter is an IED that is
used to create accurate
measurements of power
system current, voltage, and
power values. Metering
values such as demand and
peak are saved within the
meter to create historical
information about the
activity of the power system
 Digital Fault Recorder
 A digital fault recorder
(DFR), is an IED that
records information about
power system disturbances.
 It is capable of storing data
in a digital format when
triggered by conditions
detected on the power
system.
 Harmonics, frequency, and
voltage are examples of data
captured by DFRs.
 Load Tap Changer (LTC)
 Load tap changers are devices
used to change the tap position
on transformers.
 These devices work
automatically or can be
controlled via another local IED
or from a remote operator or
process.
 Re closer Controller
 Re closer controllers remotely control
the operation of automated re closers
and switches.
 These devices monitor and store power
system conditions and determine when
to perform control actions. They also
accept commands from a remote
operator or process.
 Time Synchronization Source
A time synchronization source is an IED that
creates a time-of-day value which is then
broadcast to the IEDs in order to set all their
clocks to the same time.

IEDs communicate over serial connections by

speaking a particular language or protocol. A protocol
gateway converts communications from one protocol
to another. This task is often performed by software
on a personal computer.
 Protective Relay
A protective relay is an IED
designed to sense power
system disturbances and
automatically perform control
actions on protection
equipment's and the power
system to protect personnel
and equipment.

SEL-351 Relay
Automation Process

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Disadvantages
 Troubled alarms
 Lack of trained personals
 Initial capital investments

Advantages
 Efficient with less manpower
 Flexible, simple ,and reliable
 Self-checking and readability
 Portable and cost efficient
 Applications
1. Smart grid
A smart grid is a modernized electrical grid that uses
analogue or digital information and communications
technology to gather and act on information, such as
information about the behaviours of suppliers and
consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the
efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the
production and distribution of electricity. Electronic power
conditioning and control of the production and distribution
of electricity are important aspects of the smart grid.
Smart meter
A smart meter is usually
an electronic device that
records consumption of
electric energy in intervals
of an hour or less and
communicates that
information at least daily
back to the utility for
monitoring and billing.
 Automatic
Generation Control
 In an electric power
system, automatic
generation control
(AGC) is a system for
adjusting the power
output of multiple
generators at
different power plants,
in response to changes
in the load.

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Generation Scheduling
 The operation scheduling problem is to determine which
generating units should be committed and available for
generation
 In general, utilities may have several sources of power such
as thermal plant(steam and gas, hydro and pumped storage
plants ,dispersed generation(wind and solar),interconnections
with other national or international companies
 The economic effect of operations scheduling is very
important when fuel is a major component of the cost
 Large steam turbines take several hours to start up and bring
online :moreover they have costs associated with up and
down time constraints and start-ups
 Other factors to be considered are maintenance schedules,
nuclear refueling schedules and long term fuel contracts

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Network Analysis

 This is by far the more demanding task ,since it

develops basic information for all the others and
needs to be continuously updated
 The primary subject of power system analysis is the
load flow or power flow problem
 It is also needed to determine the
state of the network prior to other basic studies like
fault analysis and stability

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Security Assessment
 The overall goal of economic security process is to
operate the system at lowest cost with a guarantee of
continued prespecified energy supply during
emergency condition
 An emergency situation results from the violation of
the operating limits and the most sever violations
result from contingencies
 A given operating state can be judged secure only
with reference to one or several contingency cases

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Optimal Power Flow
 The computational need becomes even more critical
when it is realized that contingency constrained power
flow usually needs to iterate with contingency analysis
 The purpose of an online function is to schedule the
power system controls to achieve operation at desired
security level while optimizing an objective function
such as cost of operation
 The ultimate goal is to have the security constrained
scheduling calculation initiated ,completed and
dispatched to the power system entirely automatically
without human intervention

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Transmission development system
 The basic algorithms developed by power system analysts are
built around conventional power transmission plant with
linear characteristics
 The advances made in power electronic control, the longer
transmission distances and the justification for more
interconnections(national and international) have resulted in
more sophisticated means of active and reactive power
control and the use of HVDC transmission
 Although the number of HVDC schemes in existence is still
relatively low, most of the worlds large power systems
already have or plan to have such links
 Considering the large power ratings of the HVDC schemes
,their presence influences considerably the behavior of the
interconnected systems and they must be properly represented
in power system analysis

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Interactive power system analysis
 Probably the main development of the decade in power
system analysis has been the change of emphasis from
mainframe based to interactive analysis software
 Until IBM introduced the PC /AT in 1984 it was out of
the question to use a PC to perform power system
analysis
 At the time of writing 32-bit architecture and speed of
Intel 8086 chip combined with the highly increased
storage capability and speed of hard disks has made it
possible for power system analysts to perform most of
their studies on the PC.

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