The three GB transmission owners are tasked under their licence and the System Operator Transmission Owner Code (STC) to develop an efficient, coordinated and economic transmission system. This obligation sits in a background of challenging renewable generation targets that have triggered significant transmission infrastructure reinforcements. The drive on sustainable development has led to the application of new technologies such as HVDC links and Series Compensation to avoid where possible the construction of new circuits.
The safe and secure integration of these technologies requires exhaustive system design studies. However experience tells us that it is not possible, let alone economic to design a power system that is guaranteed free from unforeseen and potentially damaging events.
In network planning time-scales the determination of network capability and hence the need for generation constraints, is based on the application of Security Standards to network models with prudent assumptions regarding generation and network backgrounds. The Wide Area Monitoring (WAM) system proposed for development and trial in VISOR will provide a new insight to the capability and dynamic performance of the transmission system in both planning and operational time-scales.
The VISOR project is proposing new Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) deployment and innovative applications for using phasor data to understand and analyse real-time dynamics of the transmission network. The VISOR trial will demonstrate a potentially avoided investment benefit of £45m for every 100MW capacity realised. It will provide the system operator with the ability and confidence to utilise the full capacity of the network where increasing volumes of wind generation lead to more volatile system flows, resulting in greater operating margins to maintain and manage network security. A conservative estimate of operational savings is £4m per annum. The WAM system will also provide transmission network owners with a risk-mitigating measure in a period of uncertainty to help safeguard the network against low probability high-impact events that may result in partial or widespread system failure. An estimate of the financial impact of a GB wide black-out is in the order of £30bn.
The project duration is 40 months and will commence as soon as funding is provided with the issue of an Invitation to Tender.
Objectives
The project objectives are detailed din the following five Work Packages.
The key issues addressed in Work Package 1 include:
- Sub-Synchronous Oscillation
- Oscillation Analysis & Source Location
The applications to be trialled in Work Package 2 relate to modelling that influences the B6 boundary, but can also be applied more generally to the quality of static and dynamic models and other boundaries. The components of model validation to be addressed include:
- Line parameter estimation
- Oscillation analysis validation
- Transient stability simulations
- Generator model validation
Work Package 3 aims to improve the understanding and visualisation (Figure 2 - 4) of thenetwork stability limits for the system planners and operators by:
- Understanding of uncertainty
- Improvement of model initial conditions
- Improved visualisation of stability limits for operators
- Trial the reliability of area angle
The project will also look at the performance of the power system in terms of baselining the performance over a long period of time so that known and unforeseen abnormalities can be more easily detected. This performance assessment in Work Package 4 includes:
- Continuous analysis of oscillations
- Impact assessment of
- Data-Storage
The key objectives of Work Package 5 are to successfully achieve the following:
- Internal Knowledge dissemination
- External Knowledge dissemination
- Influencing and updating policies and standards
- Public Engagement
