MODULE V

INTRODUCTION TO POWER SYSTEM PLANNING, CONTROL AND OPERATION

Power System Planning

Electrical Load

Definition: The device which takes electrical energy is known as the electric load. In other
words, the electrical load is a device that consumes electrical energy in the form of current and
transforms it into other forms like heat, light, work, etc. The electrical load may be resistive,
inductive, capacitive or some combination between them. The nature of the load depends on the
load factor, demand factor, diversity factor, power factor, and utilisation factor of the system.
The different types of load are explained below in details.

Basic Electrical Loads

Resistive Load
The resistive load obstructs the flow of electrical energy in the circuit and converts it into
thermal energy, due to which energy losses occurs in the circuit. The lamp and the heater are
examples of a resistive load. Resistive loads take power in such a way so that the current and the
voltage wave remain in the same phase. Thus the power factor of the resistive load remains in
unity.
Inductive load
Inductive loads use the magnetic field for doing work. Transformers, generators, motors are
examples of inductive load. The inductive load has a coil which stores magnetic energy when
current pass through it. The current wave of the inductive load is lagging behind the voltage
wave, and the power factor of the inductive load is also lagging.
Capacitive Load
In capacitive load, the voltage wave is leading the current wave. Examples of capacitive loads
are capacitor bank, three phase induction motor starting circuit, etc. The power factor of such
type of loads is leading.
Types of Electrical Loads in Power System
By Utilisation

The total loads of an area depend on its population and living standard of the people. The
different types of the loads in a power system based on utilization are as follows.

1. Domestic load
2. Commercial load
3. Industrial load
4. Agriculture load

1. Domestic Load – Domestic load is defined as the total energy consumed by the electrical
appliances in the household. It depends on the living standard, weather and type of residence.
Domestic loads mainly consist of lights, fan, refrigerator, air conditioners, mixer, grinder, heater,
ovens, small pumping, motor, etc. These loads consume very little power and also independent
from frequency. This load largely consists of lighting, cooling or heating elements.

2. Commercial Load – Commercial load mainly consist of lightning of shops, offices,

advertisements, etc. Fans, Heating elements, Air conditioning and many other electrical
appliances used in establishments such as market, restaurants, hotels, etc. are considered as a
commercial load.

3. Industrial Loads – Industrial load consists of small-scale industries, medium scale industries,
large scale industries, heavy industries and cottage industries. Induction motor forms a high
proportion of the composite load. The composite load is a function of frequency and voltage and
its form a major part of the system load.

4. Agriculture Loads – This type of load is mainly motor pumps-sets load for irrigation
purposes. The load factor of this load is very small e.g. 0.15 – 0.20.
By Composition
Load
The term load in power systems essentially refers to the active and reactive power consumed by
electrical equipment connected to the system. It can have several meanings, depending on the
scope of the study or the degree of analysis being performed. For example, load can refer to the
power drawn from the generator or the power consumed by parts of a system that have not been
represented in detail. Load can also be called the total power consumed in a system, or the power
consumed by a single device. Mathematically load can be described as in (5.1), where S, P , and
Q represent the apparent, active and reactive powers, given in volt-ampere (VA), watt (W) and
volt-ampere reactive (VAr), respectively. Moreover, the active and reactive powers can be
written as shown in (5.2) and (5.3), where θ represents the displacement angle between the
supply voltage and the load current at the supply point.
S = P + jQ (5.1)
P = S cos(θ) (5.2)
Q = S sin(θ) (5.3)
The displacement angle can also be used to compute the load power factor. In (5.4), PF 1
represents the power factor of the fundamental harmonic. A broader definition of the “true”
power factor is given in (5.5), which includes the effects of the non-linear loads. Nonlinear loads
are, for example, loads based on or interfaced by power electronics. These type of loads
introduce harmonics, which influence the true power factor. Figure 5.1 shows the vector diagram
including the effect of the harmonic distortion. Here φ represents the distortion displacement
angle, D the distortion caused by the harmonic content, and S1 the fundamental apparent power.
PF1 = cos(θ) (5.4)
PF = cos(θ) cos(φ) (5.5)

Figure 5.1. Vector diagram with harmonic distortion.

Static load models

A static load model represents the active and reactive power with time invariant algebraic
expressions. The expressions are functions of the voltage V and frequency f at the i th load bus. A
general representation of static load models is shown by (5.6) and (5.7). In addition, the most
commonly used static load models are presented in the subsequent sections.
Pi = fP (Vi , fi )
(5.6)
Qi = fQ (Vi , fi )
(5.7)
Static load models are suitable for representing load that varies almost instantaneously with
changes in the voltage and frequency at the load bus. Moreover, a static load model can be used
to represent load in both static and dynamic simulations. In fact, the use of static load models
seems to predominate in both types of simulations, i.e., both static and dynamic. The results of
worldwide survey presented in literature showed that 70% of the power system utilities use static
load models when representing loads in their dynamic stability studies. The survey also revealed
that 82% of the utilities use constant power in their load flow calculations.
Constant impedance load model
The constant impedance represents the active and reactive power as a function of the square of
the voltage magnitude, as depicted in figure 5.2. This model can alternatively be called constant
admittance load model.

Constant current load model

The constant current load model represents the power varying linearly with the voltage
magnitude. Its load characteristic can also be seen in figure 5.2.

Constant power load model

In this model the power is constant regardless of the magnitude of the voltage, as it can be seen
in figure 5.2. This model can also be called constant MVA load model.

Figure 5.2. Load characteristics for constant impedance, constant current and
constant power loads.

STATIC LOAD MODELS

Exponential load model
This model structure represents the load with exponential functions of the voltage
V and the frequency f , as shown in (5.8) and (5.9).
 ( )( ) ( )( )
kpu kpf kqu kqf
V f V f
P=P n (5.8)Q=P n (5.9)
Vn fn Vn fn

The exponents kpu , kqu , kpf and kqf are the model parameters. They are also known as sensitivity
factors, which express the derivatives of the active and reactive power with respect to voltage
and frequency in the vicinity of the nominal voltage V n and frequency fn . Moreover, Pn and Qn
are the nominal active and reactive powers. However, when used in simulations, the pre-
disturbance values of the power P0 and Q0 may be used instead of the nominal. The frequency
dependency is often neglected as frequency deviations are often much narrower compared to the
voltage variations, hence the model becomes as shown in 5.10 and 5.11.

( ) ( )
kpu kqu
V V
P=P n (5.10)Q=P n (5.11)
Vn Vn

Notice that;
if kpu = kqu = 2 the model represents a constant impedance load characteristic.
Similarly, if kpu = kqu = 1 the model represents constant current characteristic and if k pu = kqu = 0
then, constant power characteristic is achieved.

Electric Capacity

It refers to the maximum amount of power available from an electric resource or the maximum
capability of an electric device to transmit power. There are a variety of uses of the word
capacity in the electric grid:

 Nameplate capacity for a generation resource is its maximum output, measured in watts
(W). The nameplate capacity is based on the manufacturer’s determination of the
maximum megawatt output a generator can produce without exceeding design limits.
 Demand resources are measured by their capacity to reduce demand in W.
 Reliability capacity refers to the amount of capacity in W that a supply resource
(generation, demand response, energy efficiency, or storage) can reliably provide during
system peak demand periods. Often just called “capacity” this is a product that is traded
in wholesale energy markets. Some Independent System Operators (ISOs) facilitate
 capacity markets where market participants can buy and sell capacity to fulfill their
obligations to ensure essentially that there is sufficient capacity to serve forecasted loads.
 Component capacity, measured in kVA, is the maximum amount of electricity that an
electrical component can safely transmit. Examples of key component capacities in an
electric grid including transmission lines, distribution lines, transformers, and other line
equipment.

Electric Energy

It is the amount of electricity a generator produces over a specific period of time. Many
generators do not operate at their full capacity all the time. A generator's output may vary
according to conditions at the power plant, the availability and cost of fuel, variability of wind
and sun, market prices, or dispatch instructions from the ISO. That’s why it’s important for the
system to have a variety of resource types, including those that can start up or dial back quickly
in response to sudden changes in consumer demand or the output of other resources.

Demand
Load at receiving terminal averaged over a specific period of time. Load can be kW, kVA, or A
Must include the time interval which may range from 15 minutes to 24 hours.

To calculate the average demand, area under load curve is calculated

Maximum Demand

The largest of all demands that occur during a specific time interval. It must include demand
interval, period, and units.

Average load Demand

KW
The average demand of a load curve in kW equals Pavg = (W), it is the electrical energy
T
consumption in period of T hrs. ‘T’is the periodic time in hours (=24 hrs for daily load curve &
8760 hrs for annual load curve)

Load Factor

Pavg
Defined as “the ratio of the average demand to the maximum demand” LF=
P max
It indicates how well the utility’s facilities are being utilized. From utility stand point, optimal
LF would be 1.0 (system consumption approaches the maximum).

Demand Factor

Demand factor is the ratio of the maximum demand of a system to the total connected load
pmax
(maximum demand when all are used) DF =
Pmax − possible

For example, a large industry might have a connected load of 20 MW, but if only 75% of its
electrical equipment is operating, the demand factor would be only 75% of maximum. It gives
the fractional amount of some quantity being used relative to the maximum amount that could be
used by the same system. Thus the demand factor is usually less than one. The lower the
demand factor, the less system capacity required to serve the connected load.

Load Curve

Describe the load demand at any given time. It can be hourly, daily, monthly even yearly etc. It
can be done for all types of loads (individual homes, communities, industrial entity or
commercial entity). It can also be done for all units of the power transmission and distribution
system.

Utilization Factor

The time that an equipment is in use divided by the total time that it could be in use. In normal
operating conditions the power consumption of a load is sometimes less than that indicated as its
nominal power rating, a fairly common occurrence that justifies the application of a utilization
factor (KU) in the estimation of realistic values.

The motor may only be used for eight hours a day, 50 weeks a year. The hours of operation
would then be 2000 hours, and the motor Utilization factor for a base of 8760 hours per year
would be 2000/8760 = 22.83%. With a base of 2000 hours per year, the motor Utilization factor
would be 100%. The bottom line is that, the factor is used to indicate the correct number of hours
that the motor is in use.

In an industrial installation this factor is estimated on an average at 0.75 for motors. For
incandescent-lighting loads, the factor always equals 1. For socket-outlet circuits, the factors
depend on the type of appliances being supplied from the sockets concerned.
Diversified Demand

Sum of demands imposed by a group of loads over a particular period. When stating it must
include demand interval, period, and units. Example: the 15-minute diversified kW demand in
the period ending at 9:30PM was 200 kW. There is diversity between each apartment and
another, and also between each load in the apartment

Diversity Factor/ Simultaneity Factor (Ks)

Ratio of the maximum non-coincident demand to the maximum diversified demand (the inverse
of Factor of simultaneity (ks)).

For a quantitative measure of the inherent diversity of individual load peaks a diversity factor is
n

defined as:
∑ P max i

¿ . F= i=1
Pmax T

Greater the diversity factor, lesser is the cost of generation of power.

SYSTEM CONTROL AND OPERATION

Generally, most utility companies that owned significant transmission and generation also
owned and operated an ECC. This began to change during the latter half of the 1990’s. A major
part of the “deregulation” movement, perhaps better said as the “industry restructuring,”
consisted of changing the organizational structure of the regulated utility from a vertically
integrated, single organization having responsibilities for generation, transmission, operation,
and distribution, into a number of different organizations, each one with a separate function.
Now, within what was a single balancing area operated by a single utility company, there may
exist generation plants and transmission circuits having ownership from a variety of different
organizations. The process by which this took place is sometimes called “functional
disaggregation.” The motivation for doing so was to create conditions conducive for competition
within the electric power industry.
For example in Ghana, distribution is done by NEDCo and ECG, transmission is done by
GRIDCo whiles generation is done by VRA, Bui power plant and the various Independent power
producers (IPPs)

One of the reasons why the electric power and energy industry was regulated under a
monopolistic organizational structure, with a single utility company responsible for each control
area, was that maintaining the integrity and the economy of the interconnected system required
significant coordinated decision-making. So a single organization, having unified and consistent
objectives, could achieve this very well. In bringing marketplace competition to the industry, it
was necessary to disaggregate these functions, in order to have multiple players to compete
against one another without giving any one of them too much market power; yet the need for
coordination remains. The independent system operator (ISO) and the real-time and day-ahead
electricity markets have resulted from recognition of this need. The ISO function is to monitor
and regulate the physical operation of the interconnected grid, and the electricity market function
is to provide a fair way to facilitate competition while maintaining reliable and economic
operation of the interconnected grid.

Our objective in this introduction is to gain some perspective regarding system operation and
energy trading as it is done in the industry today. In order to achieve this objective, it is useful to
study the role of the ECC and associated technology used in the regulated and traditional
industry. Many of these same technologies still exist today, and newer technologies are typically
an evolution of the traditional ones. We will also identify the way the traditional system control
functions have been distributed to accommodate the restructured industry, and describe some of
the technologies that have been developed to facilitate this distribution.

Power systems operation is the decision-making associated with use of existing equipment to
generate, transmit, and deliver energy. It typically revolves around the ECC and the electric
energy markets. Associated decision horizons (the time between the moment the decision must
be made and the time in which it takes effect) are from real-time (milliseconds to seconds) to as
much as 1-2 years.

Power systems operation is not the decision-making associated with the planning of future new
equipment. This is an area that more typically comes under the heading of power system
planning. It should be said, however, that there are many inter-relationships between operations
and planning, and there are some decisions that are not clear in just one area or the other, and
there are some tools that are used in both areas.

System control for a vertically integrated utility

The system control function traditionally used in electric utility operation consisted of three
main integrated subsystems: the energy management system (EMS), the supervisory control and
data acquisition (SCADA), and the communications interconnecting the EMS and the SCADA
(which is often thought of as part of the SCADA itself) as shown in figure 6.1.

We should distinguish at the outset EMS from distribution management systems (DMS). Both
utilize their own SCADA, but for different functions. Whereas EMS/SCADA serves the high
voltage bulk transmission system from the ECC, the DMS/SCADA serves the low voltage,
distribution system, typically from a distribution dispatch center. There are a number of
similarities and differences between the two. We will limit ourselves here to EMS/SCADA.

Figure 6.1: System control subsystems: EMS, SCADA, and Communications

SCADA

There are two parts to the term SCADA. Supervisory control indicates that the operator, residing
in the energy control center (ECC), has the ability to control remote equipment. Data
acquisition indicates that information is gathered characterizing the state of the remote
equipment and sent to the operator for monitoring purposes. The monitoring equipment is
normally located in the substations and is consolidated in what is known as the remote terminal
unit (RTU). Generally, the RTUs are equipped with microprocessors having memory and logic
capability. Older RTUs are equipped with modems to provide the communication link back to
the ECC, whereas newer RTUs generally have intranet or internet capability.

Relays located within the RTU, on command from the ECC, open or close selected control
circuits to perform a supervisory action. Such actions may include, for example, opening or
closing of a circuit breaker or switch, modifying a transformer tap setting, raising or lowering
generator MW output or terminal voltage, switching in or out a shunt capacitor or inductor, and
the starting or stopping of a synchronous condenser. Several security measures may be used to
minimize false operations, including select-before-operate, check-back, and double transmission.
For example, in the check-back mode, when an operator desires to perform an action at a
particular substation, the operator selects the substation, the RTU affirms, the operator selects
the device on which to act, the RTU affirms, the operator requests the action, and then the RTU
performs the action and affirms its completion. Such a procedure minimizes the likelihood of
erroneous operations.

Information gathered by the RTU and communicated to the ECC includes both analog
information and status indicators. Analog information includes, for example, frequency,
voltages, currents, and real and reactive power flows. In addition, checks are made to verify
telemetry integrity in case of failures and errors in the communication links. For these data,
analog-to-digital converters change the quantity to digital form before the information is
transmitted back to the ECC. Status indicators include alarm signals (over-temperature, low
relay battery voltage, illegal entry) and whether switches and circuit breakers are open or closed.
Such information is provided to the ECC through a periodic scan of all RTUs. A 2 second or 4
second scan cycle is typical. Some information reporting back to the ECC is minimized through
a procedure known as exception reporting, whereby data is reported only if it changes. An
important monitoring capability is sequence-of-event recording. This technology is driven by the
fact that it is possible several events of interest take place in much less time than the scan cycle.
For example, a breaker may open and then reclose several times. Protection engineers are very
interested in the number of breaker closing operations as well as the timing of these kinds of
operations. Yet, if these operations occurred within 1.5 seconds, all of the information would be
lost. Sequence-of-events recorders provide the ability to capture these kinds of events and then
report them back to the ECC in the next scan.

Communication technologies

The form of communication required for SCADA is telemetry. Telemetry is the measurement of
a quantity in such a way so as to allow interpretation of that measurement at a distance from the
primary detector. The distinctive feature of telemetry is the nature of the translating means,
which includes provision for converting the measure into a representative quantity of another
kind that can be transmitted conveniently for measurement at a distance. Telemetry may be
analog or digital. In analog telemetry, a voltage, current, or frequency proportional to the
quantity being measured is developed and transmitted on a communication channel to the
receiving location, where the received signal is applied to a meter calibrated to indicate the
quantity being measured, or it is applied directly to a control device such as an ECC computer.
Forms of analog telemetry include variable current, pulse-amplitude, pulse-length, and pulse-
rate, with the latter two being the most common. In digital telemetry, the quantity being
measured is converted to a code in which the sequence of pulses transmitted indicates the
quantity. One of the advantages to digital telemetering is the fact that accuracy of data is not lost
in transmitting the data from one location to another. Digital telemetry requires analog to digital
(A/D) and possible digital to analog (D/A) converters, as illustrated in Figure 6.2.

Computer Indicating
meter
A/D Telemeter Telemeter
Quantity to be Transducer
telemetered converter transmitter receiver
Recording
D/A meter
converter

Figure 6.2: Block Diagram of Telemetering System

The earliest form of signal circuit used for SCADA telemetry consisted of twisted pair wires;
although simple and economic for short distances, it suffers from reliability problems due to
breakage, water ingress, and ground potential risk during faults. Improvements over twisted pair
wires came in the form of what is now the most common, traditional type of SCADA telemetry
media based on leased-wire, power-line carrier, or microwave. These are all voice grade forms
of telemetry, meaning that they represent communication channels suitable for the transmission
of speech, either digital or analog, generally with a frequency range of about 300 to 3000 Hz.

Leased-wire means use of a standard telephone circuit; this is a convenient and straightforward
means of telemetry when it is available, although it can be unreliable, and it requires a continual
outlay of leasing expenditures. In addition, it is not under user control and requires careful
coordination between the user and the telephone company. Power-line carrier (PLC) offers an
inexpensive and typically more reliable alternative to leased-wire. Here, the transmission circuit
itself is used to modulate a communication signal at a frequency much greater than the 50Hz or
60 Hz power frequency. Most PLC occurs at frequencies in the range of 30-500 kHz. The
security of PLC is very high since the communication equipment is located inside the
substations. One disadvantage of PLC is that the communication cannot be made through open
disconnects, i.e., when the transmission line is outaged or not in circuit. Often, this is precisely
the time when the communication signal is needed most. In addition, PLC is susceptible to line
noise and requires careful signal-to-noise ratio analysis. Most PLC is strictly analog although
digital PLC has now become available.

Microwave radio refers to ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio systems operating above 1 gHz.
The earliest microwave telemetry was strictly analog, but digital microwave communication is
now quite common for EMS/SCADA applications. This form of communication has obvious
advantages over PLC and leased wire since it requires no physical conducting medium and
therefore no right-of-way issues. However, line of sight clearance is required in order to ensure
reliable communication, and therefore it is not applicable in some cases. In some cases tall
structures are built in the vicinity or conducting path that block the transmitted data from
reaching the desired destination.

A more recent development has concerned the use of fiber optic cable. This technology is
capable of extremely fast communication speeds. Although the cost was originally prohibitive, it
has now decreased to the point where it is economically viable. Fiber optics may be either run
alongside underground power cables or they may be fastened to overhead transmission line
towers or poles just below the lines. They may also be run within the shield wire suspended
above the transmission lines. Additional communication technologies include use of satellites,
VHF and UHF radio, spread spectrum radio, and internet/intranet systems.

EMS

The EMS is a software system. Most utility companies purchase their EMS from one or more
EMS vendors. These EMS vendors are companies that specialize in design, development,
installation, and maintenance of EMS within ECCs. There are a number of EMS vendors in the
advance world, and they are very active in hiring power system engineers with good software
development capabilities and software development engineers with power system engineering
background.

One can observe from Figure 6.1 that the EMS consists of 4 major functions: network model
building (including topology processing and state estimation), security assessment, automatic
generation control, and dispatch. These functions are described in more detail in the following.

Network Model Building (topology processing, state estimation, and power flow)

A network model is necessary in order to analyze it to determine whether operating conditions

are safe under the existing topology and also under the event that one or more components fail
and are unoperational. The network model must reflect the correct topology and the correct
operating conditions relative to the actual network conditions. The information available to
construct the network model includes the status indicators and the analog measurements
available from the SCADA. The result of the network model builder is a power flow model.
Network model building takes place in two steps, topology processing and state estimation.

Topology Processing: The topology of the network characterizes the connectivity between buses
(nodes), the shunt elements at each bus, and which generators are connected to each bus. This
information comes to the EMS from the SCADA in the form of status indicators for each circuit
breaker and switch at all buses. This information is referred to as the bus section-breaker-switch
data and provides a mapping of individual bus sections at each substation and how they are
connected. Different bus sections connected by closed breakers or switches are electrically a
single node. A key step in topology processing is to recognize these situations in order to
minimize the number of nodes in the resulting network model. Effectively, topology processing
converts bus section-breaker-switch data into so-called bus-branch data. The bus-branch data is
appropriate for modeling the transmission line and transformer connections between substations,
rather than the precise bus-section connections at each substation. The impedances of all
network elements are stored in an EMS database, and this information, when combined with the
output of the topology processor, is enough to establish the system topology.

State Estimation: Given the topology of the system, it still remains to determine the operating
conditions, i.e., the bus voltages, load levels, and generation levels. At first glance, this appears
to be an easy problem – just take the corresponding information from the SCADA. However,
one must recognize the reality of data unavailability and of data error. Data unavailability comes
from two sources. First, there may be some substations that have no SCADA. Second, there may
be some substation RTUs or telemetry systems that are unavailable due to maintenance or
unexpected trouble. Data error comes from the fact that all analog measurement devices contain
some measurement error. Typically this error is small for any single device, but the use of many
thousands of devices, each having small error, can result in significant inaccuracy in regards to
the overall system analysis. The state estimator is a program that receives the SCADA
measurement information and then uses statistical procedures to obtain the very best estimate of
the actual state of the system. The result of state estimation is a power flow model that can be
used for security assessment.

Power flow:

The power flow problem is a very well known problem in the field of power systems
engineering, where voltage magnitudes and angles for one set of buses are desired, given that
voltage magnitudes and power levels for another set of buses are known and that a model of the
network configuration (unit commitment and circuit topology) is available. A power flow
solution procedure is a numerical method that is employed to solve the power flow problem. A
power flow program is a computer code that implements a power flow solution procedure. The
power flow solution contains the voltages and angles at all buses, and from this information, we
may compute the real and reactive generation and load levels at all buses and the real and
reactive flows across all circuits. The above terminology is often used with the word “load”
substituted for “power,” i.e., load flow problem, load flow solution procedure, load flow
program, and load flow solution. However, the former terminology is preferred as one normally
does not think of “load” as something that “flows.”

Security Assessment

Security assessment determines first, whether the system is currently residing in an acceptable
state and second, whether the system would respond in an acceptable manner and reach an
acceptable state following any one of a pre-defined contingency set. A contingency is the
unexpected failure of a transmission line, transformer, or generator. Usually, contingencies result
from occurrence of a fault, or short-circuit, to one of these components. When such a fault
occurs, the protection systems sense the fault and remove the component, and therefore also the
fault, from the system. Of course, with one less component, the overall system is weaker, and
undesirable effects may occur. For example, some remaining circuit may overload, or some bus
may experience an undervoltage condition. These are called static security problems. Dynamic
security problems may also occur, including uncontrollable voltage decline, generator over
speed (loss of synchronism), or undamped oscillatory behavior. Almost all EMS today are
capable of performing static security assessment, because it only requires a power flow program
to do so. Not many EMS are capable of performing dynamic security assessment, however,
because the assessment tools are more complex and computationally intense. However, dynamic
security assessment tools are rapidly becoming more prevalent in EMS with the continued
growth in computational and algorithmic efficiency.

The main objective of power system operation and control is to maintain continuous supply of
power with an acceptable quality, to all the consumers in the system. The system will be in
equilibrium, when there is a balance between the power demand and the power generated. As the
power in AC form has real and reactive components: the real power balance; as well as the
reactive
power balance is to be achieved.

There are two basic control mechanisms used to achieve reactive power balance (acceptable
voltage profile) and real power balance (acceptable frequency values). The former is called the
automatic voltage regulator (AVR) and the latter is called the automatic load frequency control
(ALFC) or automatic generation control (AGC).
 Figure 6.3 Automatic Generation Control System

Automatic Generation Control

The purpose of AGC is to regulate the system frequency and power interchange between control
areas. It is sometimes referred to as the secondary frequency control loop, with the primary
frequency control coming from the governors located on each generator. We refer to the
interconnecting circuits between control areas as tie lines. There are two SCADA measurement
used by AGC: total net tie line flow and frequency. There also exist scheduled values for these
two parameters. The scheduled net tie line flow depends on the total sales less purchases to other
control areas. The scheduled frequency is always 50Hz or 60 Hz depending on the standard in
use. The differences between actual and scheduled tie line flow and frequency can be denoted as
🜂Ptie and 🜂f, respectively. These two values are combined in a weighted sum 🜂Ptie+β🜂f and
provided as the AGC control actuation signal. If this signal is positive, it means that either our
control area is selling (sending) too much power or the frequency is too high. In either case, the
solution is to reduce generation within our control area, and “lower” command pulses are
consequently sent to all generators. If the control actuation signal is negative, it means that either
our control area is buying (receiving) too much power or the frequency is too low. In either case,
the solution is to increase generation within our control area, and “raise” command pulses are
consequently sent to all generators. AGC typically sends the appropriate command pulses to the
generators every 1-5 minutes.

It is important to recognize that the command pulses sent to each generator represent
incremental changes only. This leaves the question: What should be the set point power levels at
the generators?

Economic dispatch and optimal power flow

Economic Operation

In other to generate economically, the following are considered.

1. Economic Distribution of Loads between the Units of a Plant

> Generating Limits

2. Economic Sharing of Loads between Different Plants

3. Automatic Generation Control

4. Load Frequency Control

5. Coordination between LFC and Economic Dispatch

A good business practice is the one in which the production cost is minimized without
sacrificing the quality. This is not any different in the power sector as well. The main aim here is
to reduce the production cost while maintaining the voltage magnitudes at each bus. In this
chapter we shall discuss the economic operation strategy along with the turbine-governor control
that are required to maintain the power dispatch economically.

A power plant has to cater for load conditions all throughout the day, come hot weather or cold,
peak load or light load (off peak). It is therefore illogical to assume that the same level of power
must be generated at all time. The power generation must vary according to the load pattern,
which may in turn vary with season. Therefore, the economic operation must take into account
the load condition at all times. Moreover, once the economic generation condition has been
calculated, the turbine-governor must be controlled in such a way that its generation condition is
maintained. In this chapter we shall discuss these two aspects.
Economic operation of power systems

One of the earliest applications of on-line centralized control was to provide a central facility, to
operate economically, several generating plants supplying the loads of the system. Modern
integrated systems have different types of generating plants, such as coal fired thermal plants,
hydro plants, oil and natural gas units etc. The capital investment, operation and maintenance
costs are different for different types of plants.

The operation economics can again be subdivided into two parts.

i) Problem of economic dispatch, which deals with determining the power output of each plant
to meet the specified load, such that the overall fuel cost is minimized.

ii) Problem of optimal power flow, which deals with minimum loss delivery. Where the power
flow is optimized to minimize losses in the system.

During operation of the plant, a generator may be in one of the following states:

i) Base supply without regulation: the output is a constant.

ii) Base supply with regulation: output power is regulated based on system load.

iii) Automatic non-economic regulation: output level changes around a base setting as area
control error changes.

iv) Automatic economic regulation: output level is adjusted, with the area load and area control
error, while tracking an economic setting.

Regardless of the units operating state, it has a contribution to the economic operation, even
though its output is changed for different reasons.

The factors influencing the cost of generation are the generator efficiency, fuel cost and
transmission losses. The most efficient generator may not give minimum cost, since it may be
located in a place where fuel cost is high. Further, if the plant is located far from the load
centers, transmission losses may be high and running the plant may become uneconomical. The
economic dispatch problem basically determines the generation of different plants to minimize
total operating cost.
Modern generating plants like thermal plants, geo-thermal plants etc, may require capital
investment of millions of cedis. The economic dispatch is however determined in terms of fuel
cost per unit power generated and does not include capital investment, maintenance,
depreciation, start-up and shut down costs etc.

Performance Curves Input-Output Curve

This is the fundamental curve for a thermal plant and is a plot of the input in British Thermal
units (Btu) per hour versus the power output of the plant in MW as shown in Fig 6.4. Note here
that the same can be said about hydro plants where the volume of water dispensed per hour and
MW output are related.

Input (Btu/hr)

Output (MW)
Figure 6.4, Input-Output Curve

Incremental Fuel Rate Curve

The incremental fuel rate is equal to a small change in input divided by the corresponding
change in output.

The unit is again Btu / KWh. A plot of incremental fuel rate versus the output is shown in figure
6.5 Incremental fuel rate
(Btu/KWh)

Output (MW)
 Fig 6.5, Incremental Fuel Rate Curve

Incremental cost curve

The incremental cost is the product of incremental fuel rate and fuel cost (GHC / Btu) the curve
is shown in Fig. 6.6. The unit of the incremental fuel cost is GHC / MWhr.

GHC/MWh

Approximated
Linear Cost
Actual Cost

Output (MW)

Fig 6.6, Incremental cost curve

In general, the fuel cost F i for a plant, is approximated as a quadratic function of the generated
output PGi.
2
F i=ai +b i PGi +c i P Gi

The incremental fuel cost is given by

∂ Fi
=b +2 ci PGi GHC / MW h The incremental fuel cost is a measure of how costly it will be to
∂ P Gi i
produce an increment of power.
The incremental production cost, is made up of incremental fuel cost plus the incremental cost of
labor, water, maintenance etc. which can be taken to be some percentage of the incremental fuel
cost, instead of resorting to a rigorous mathematical model. The cost curve can be approximated
by a linear curve. While there is negligible operating cost for a hydro plant, there is a limitation
on the power output possible.

In any plant, all units normally operate between P Gmin, the minimum loading limit, below which
it is technically infeasible to operate a unit and PGmax, which is the maximum output limit.
 Economic Operation of Power System
 Economic Distribution of Loads between the Units of a Plant
  Generating Limits
 Economic Sharing of Loads between Different Plants

In an early attempt at economic operation, it was decided to supply power from the most
efficient plant at light load conditions. As the load increased, the power was supplied by this
most efficient plant till the point of maximum efficiency of this plant was reached. With further
increase in load, the next most efficient plant would supply power till its maximum efficiency is
reached. In this way the power would be supplied by the most efficient to the least efficient plant
to reach the peak demand.

Unfortunately, however, this method failed to minimize the total cost of electricity generation.
We must therefore search for alternative method which takes into account the total cost
generation of all the units of a plant that is supplying a load.


Economic Distribution of Loads between the Units of a Plant

To determine the economic distribution of a load amongst the different units of a plant, the
variable operating costs of each unit must be expressed in terms of its power output. The fuel
cost is the main cost in a thermal or nuclear unit. Then the fuel cost must be expressed in terms
of the power output.

Other costs, such as the operation and maintenance costs, can also be expressed in terms of the
power output. Fixed costs, such as the capital cost, depreciation etc., are not included in the fuel
cost.

The fuel requirement of each generator is given in terms of the cedis/hour. Let us define the
input cost of an unit- i, fi in GHC/hr and the power output of the unit as P i. Then the input cost
can be expressed in terms of the power output as
2
 f i=a i+ bi Pi + ci Pi (6.1)
The operating cost given by the above quadratic equation is obtained by approximating the
power in MW versus the cost in cedis curve. The incremental operating cost of each unit is then
computed as
 ∂fi
λ i= =2 c i Pi +b i GHC/MWhr
∂ Pi
(6.2)

Let us now assume that only two units having different incremental costs supply a load. There
will be a reduction in cost if some amount of load is transferred from the unit with higher
incremental cost to the unit with lower incremental cost. In this fashion, the load is transferred
from the less efficient unit to the more efficient unit thereby reducing the total operation cost.
The load transfer will continue till the incremental costs of both the units are same. This will be
optimum point of operation for both the units. The above principle can be extended to plants
with a total of N number of units. The total fuel cost will then be the summation of the
individual fuel cost fi, i = 1, ... , N of each unit, i.e.,
N
f T =f i + f 2+ …+ f N =∑ f k (6.3)
k=1

Let us denote that the total power that the plant is required to supply by P T , such that
N
PT =Pi + P2+ …+ P N =∑ P k (6.4)
k=1

Where P1 , ... , PN are the power supplied by the N different units.

The objective is minimizing fT for a given PT. This can be achieved when the total difference df T
becomes zero, i.e.

∂f T ∂fT ∂fT
∂ f T= dP1 + dP2 +…+ dP =0 (6.5)
∂ P1 ∂ P2 ∂ PN N
Now since the power supplied is assumed to be constant we have

df T =df 1 +df 2 +…+ df N =0 (6.6)

Multiplying (1.6) by λ and subtracting from (6.5) we get

( ∂fT
∂ P1 ) (
− λ dP1+
∂fT
∂ P2 )
−λ dP2+ …+
∂fT
∂ PN (
−λ dP N =0
) (6.7)

The equality in (5.7) is satisfied when each individual term given in brackets is zero. This gives
us
∂fT
−λ=0 ,i=1 , … … N
∂ Pi
(6.8)

Also the partial derivative becomes a full derivative since only the term f i, we then have values
of fT varying with Pi, (for i = 1... N) such that;

∂ f1 ∂f2 ∂f N
λ= = =…=
∂ P 1 ∂ P2 ∂ PN
(6.9)

Generating Limits

It is not always necessary that all the units of a plant are available to share a load. Some of the
units may be taken off due to scheduled maintenance. Also it is not necessary that the less
efficient units are switched off during off peak hours. There is a certain amount of shut down
and start up costs associated with shutting down a unit during the off peak hours and servicing it
back on-line during the peak hours. To complicate the problem further, it may take about eight
hours or more to restore the boiler of a unit and synchronizing the unit with the bus. To meet the
sudden change in the power demand, it may therefore be necessary to keep more units than it
necessary to meet the load demand during that time. This safety margin in generation is called
spinning reserve.

The optimal load dispatch problem must then incorporate this startup and shut down cost for
without endangering the system security.

The power generation limit of each unit is then given by the inequality constraints

PG min i ≤ PGi ≤ PG max i , i=1 , … . , N (6.10)

The maximum limit PGmax is the upper limit of power generation capacity of each unit. On the
other hand, the lower limit PGmin pertains to the thermal consideration of operating a boiler in a
thermal or nuclear generating station. An operational unit must produce a minimum amount of
power such that the boiler thermal components are stabilized at the minimum design operating
temperature.

Economic Sharing of Loads between Different Plants

So far, we have considered the economic operation of a single plant in which we have discussed
how a particular amount of load is shared between the different units of a plant. In this problem
we did not have to consider the transmission line losses and assumed that the losses were a part
of the load supplied. However if we now consider how a load is distributed between the different
plants that are joined by transmission lines, then the line losses have to be explicitly included in
the economic dispatch problem.

When the transmission losses are included in the economic dispatch problem

PT =P1+ P2+ …+ P N −Ploss (6.11)

0=d P 1+ dP2+ …+d PN −dP loss (6.12)
Where Ploss is the total line loss. Since P T is assumed to be constant, we have
∂ P loss + ∂ Ploss ∂ P loss
dPloss = dP dP + …+ dP (6.13)
∂ P1 1 ∂ P2 2 ∂ PN N

In the above equation dPloss includes the power loss due to every generator.

Also minimum generation cost implies dfT = 0 as given in (6.5). Multiplying both (6.12) and
(6.13) by λ and combining we get

( ∂ Ploss
∂ P1 ) (
−λ dP1 +
∂ Ploss
∂ P2 )
−λ dP2 +…+
∂ Ploss
∂ PN (
−λ dP N =0
) (6.14)

Adding (6.14) with (6.5) we obtain

( )
N
∂fT ∂ Ploss
∑ ∂ Pi
+λ
∂ Pi
−λ dPi (6.15)
i=1

∂fT ∂ Ploss
+λ −λ=0 , i=1 , ….. , N (6.16)
∂ Pi ∂ Pi
Again since

∂fT d fT
= , i=1 , … .. , N ,
∂ P i d Pi

From (6.16) we get

∂f1 ∂f 2 ∂f N
λ= L1 = L2=…= L (6.17)
∂ P1 ∂ P2 ∂ PN N
Where Li is called the penalty factor of load- i and is given by

1
Li = , i=1 , … … , N
1−∂ Ploss /∂ Pi
(6.18)

Considering an area with N number of plants. The power generated are defined by the vector
T
PT =[ P1 , P2 ,… P N ]

P= [ P1 , P2 , … PN ] Then the transmission losses are expressed in general as

T
Ploss=P BP (6.19)
Where B is a symmetric matrix given by

[ ]
B 11 B12 … B1 N
B12 B22 … B2 N
B=
⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
B1 N B2 N … BNN

The elements Bij of the matrix B are called the loss coefficients. These coefficients are not
constant but vary with plant loading. However, for the simplified calculation of the penalty
factor Li these coefficients are often assumed to be constant.

When the incremental cost equations are linear, we can use analytical equations to find out the
economic settings. However, in practice, the incremental costs are given by nonlinear equations
that may even contain nonlinearities. In that case iterative solutions are required to find the
optimal generator settings.

Unit commitment

The unit commitment (UC) problem is the problem of identifying the generation units to be
interconnected at any point in time, in order to achieve minimum total cost. It is typically solved
for the next 2-6 hours, 1 day, or 1 week, and so it is dynamic (solved through time).

It is also integer, i.e., the solution must specify, for each unit, whether the unit is off-line (0) or
on-line (1) during each time interval for which a solution is desired. One therefore sees that the
number of possible solutions is (N-1) factorial where, N is the number of units. For example, if
N=50, a very modest-size power system, the number of possible solutions is 1.12E15, which is
1.12 quadrillion. Of course, feasibility constraints rule out many of these solutions, but still, this
problem is a very high dimension one.

The UC problem contains inter-temporal constraints, which causes what happens in one time
period to possibly affect what happens in another time period. So we may not solve each time
period independent of solutions in other time periods.

Finally, the UC problem is mixed integer. As already stated, it requires integers in its solution. In
addition, it also requires continuous variables, in that, for interconnected units, the generation
level should be determined in order to know the cost. This variable may be any number between
the minimum and maximum generation levels for the unit. Thus, the economic dispatch
problem, the optimal power flow problem (if transmission is included), or the security-
constrained optimal power flow problem must be solved as a sub-problem to UC. If the security
constrained optimal power flow problem is included in UC, the UC is referred to as the security-
constrained unit commitment (SCUC).

Other operational needs

There are three other problems relevant to operations, optimization, and control that are not
typically included in the EMS. However, they are all three very important to the operations of a
power system. These are described below.

Fuel scheduling

Given a load forecast over the desired time interval (a month or a year), the fuel scheduling
problem seeks to move an amount of fuel (coal and/or gas) to each power plant so that the cost
of satisfying total demand over the time interval is minimized, subject to constraints on plant
generation capacities, plant storage capacities, and specified (or potential) fuel contracts.

The fuel scheduling problem seeks to determine how much fuel to deliver to each plant in the
specified time interval. The most important constraints are on energy, i.e., energy available
(through contract), and energy possible for storage, are constrained. Thus, we refer to this
problem as one of “generation with limited energy supply.”
Hydro-thermal coordination

Given a load forecast over the desired time interval (months or 1-2 years), the hydro-thermal
coordination problem seeks to schedule the available hydro generation to minimize the cost of
using the thermal generation and while satisfying constraints on reservoir capacity, flow rates,
water release requirements (e.g., for recreational, navigational, or environmental purposes).

This problem deals with the fact that water reservoirs, which supply many of our hydroelectric
facilities, are energy-constrained. In essence, this problem is one of “generation with limited
energy supply.” But the unique nature of hydroelectric facilities requires specialized treatment. It
should be clear that hydro-thermal coordination is necessary only for systems where significant
hydroelectric capacity exists.

Production costing

The production costing program identifies the total production costs, or cost of producing the
energy, over a time interval, typically months to a year. It also typically computes reliability
indices that enable judging tradeoffs between cost and reliability. The operational decisions
informed by production costing programs are, when to have units available, and for what kinds
of durations. Maintenance schedules are typically heavily influenced by the results of production
costing programs.

The production costing program is also a frequent used tool for planning purposes. Here, one is
able to determine how annual production costs will change under different facility plans. By
summing annual production costs and investment costs for a specific investment plan, one can
compute present worth as a good metric to use in comparing one investment plan to another.

System control for a competitive industry

The industry restructuring has considerably changed the system control paradigm. A key aspect
of this change has been the creation of the Independent System Operator (ISO) and the
electricity markets. Most of the EMS functions remain with the ISO, although some go under the
name of ancillary services. These include network model building, security assessment, and
AGC. An additional function given to the ISO is congestion management.
Typically, the electricity market has responsibility for most of the trading functions. There are
generally two trading functions: dispatch and transaction coordination. A significant difference
between the traditional economic dispatch control (EDC) and the new dispatch function is that
generator cost-curves are not made available. Rather, each generator owner sends offers to the
electricity market on a periodic basis (hourly and/or daily). These bids minimally contain MW
quantity and price. Buyers also submit bids to the electricity market, and then the electricity
market conducts periodic actions resulting in identification of generation dispatch and purchase
price. The functions used to perform this identification are the security constrained unit
commitment (SCUC) for the day-ahead market and the security-constrained optimal power flow
(SCOPF) for the real-time or balancing market.

The second trading function is transaction coordination. A transaction is generally between two
parties and therefore requires a bilateral contract. Such contracts must specify minimally
quantity and price, sending and receiving nodes, and initiation time and duration as well. The
system must have the capability of ensuring that requested transactions are in fact feasible and
for identifying the price that the parties will pay for obtaining the transmission service if the
transaction is in fact feasible. The most important issue regarding transaction feasibility is the
transmission capability, i.e., whether there is sufficient “room” for accommodating the
transaction above what is already dedicated for other uses. Thus, transaction coordination
requires the ability to compute available transmission capability (ATC). ATC is defined as a
measure of the transfer capability, or available room in the physical transmission network, for
transfers of power for further commercial activity, over and above already committed uses.
TRY QUESTIONS

Ques 1. A power plant has three generating units, P1, P2 and P3 with the following cost curve
equations and generation limits.
2
C 1=5610+79.2 P 1+ 0.01562 P1 , 150 MW ≤ P1 ≤600 MW
2
C 2=3100+78.5 P2 +0.0194 P2 ,100 MW ≤ P2 ≤ 400 MW
2
C 3=936+ 95.64 P3 +0.05784 P3 , 50 MW ≤ P3 ≤ 200 MW

For each of the generators determine

a. Fixed cost component
b. Direct cost
c. Incremental cost coefficient
Ques 2. If the units of a plant has the MWh-Cost curve of figure 1 and is assigned the following
generation capacity; 300MW, 600MW, 800MW and 1000MW at different times. Determine the
unit commitment of each generating unit for each assigned MW for the plant.
 MWh-COST CURVE
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
GHC/KWh

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
MW

P1 P2 P3

Figure 1. MWh-Cost Curves

Ques 3. The load assigned to the plant of question 2 is the used to serve an aggregated daily
load as indicated in the daily load curve of figure 2. Design a unit commement plan for the plant.
 Daily Load Curve
1200

1000

800
MW

600

400
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hrs

Figure 2. Daily Load Curve

Work Examples

Example 1: The fuel cost functions for three thermal plants are
F1 = 0.4P21 + 10P1 + 25 GHC./h
F2 = 0.35P22 + 5P2 + 20 GHC./h
F3 = 0.475P23 + 15P3 + 35 GHC./h

The generation limits of the units are

30 MW ≤ P1 ≤ 500 MW
30 MW ≤ P2 ≤ 500 MW
30 MW ≤ P3 ≤ 250 MW

Find the optimum schedule for the load of 1000 MW.

Solution

For optimum dispatch,

dF 1 dF 2 dF3
= =
dP1 dP2 dP3

F1 = 0.4P21 + 10P1 + 25 GHC./h

F2 = 0.35P22 + 5P2 + 20 GHC./h
F3 = 0.475P23 + 15P3 + 35 GHC./h

Differenciating the cost functions and equating we get

0.8P1 + 10 = 0.7P2 + 5
0.7P2 + 5 = 0.9P3 + 15
0.8P1 + 10 = 0.9P3 + 15

and knowing that P1 + P2 + P3 = 1000, any two of the cost function and the power equality
equations can be used to solve the problem.

On solving the above equations,

P1 = 334.3829 MW; P2 = 389.2947 MW; P3 = 276.3224 MW

Since the unit 3 violates its maximum limit of P 3 = 250 MW, we can peg its contribution to its
maximum limit and the remaining is scheduled optimally among units1 and 2.

That is

0.8P1 + 10 = 0.7P2 + 5

P1 + P2 = 1000 - 250=750

On solving the above two equations,

P1 = 346.6667 MW; P2 = 403.3333 MW

Therefore, the final load distribution is

P1 = 346.6667 MW; P2 = 403.3333 MW; P3 = 250 MW

Example 2

B1 B2
P1 P2

Load

: Consider a two bus system of figure above.

If the incremental fuel cost characteristics of plant 1 and plant 2 are

given by
dF 1
=0.025 P1 +14 GHC / MWh
dP1
dF 2
=0.05 P2 +16 GHC / MWh
dP2

Then, if 200 MW of power is transmitted from plant 1 to the load, a transmission loss of 20 MW
will be incurred. Find the optimum generation schedule a load demand of 204.41 MW.

Solution

Power losses

P L= [ P1 P 2 ]
[ ][ ]
B11 B1 2 P1
B2 1 B 22 P2

Since the load is at bus 2, P2 will not have any effect on PL.

B12 = B21 = 0; B22 = 0

Therefore,
PL = B11P21

For 200 MW of P1, PL = 20 MW.

20 = B112002

B11 = 0.0005 MW−1

PL = 0.0005P21

For optimum dispatch,

dF 1 dF 2
L1 =L2 =λ
dP1 dP2

Since PL is a function of P1 alone,

 1 1
L1 = =
∂ P L 1−0.00 P1
1−
∂ P1

L2=1

Therefore

( 1
1−0.00 1 P1)0.025 P1 +14=0.05 P2 +16

Simplifying,

0.0 41 P1−0.05 P2 +0.00005 P1 P 2=2 and

P1 + P2−0.0005 P1 P 2=2 04.41

This can be solved only by iteration method.

It took 6 iterations to converge arriving at the following results.

P1 = 133.3153 MW

P2 = 79.9812 MW