Smart Power System Management Based on Synchronized Measurement Applications

Dear Colleagues,

The global power system is facing faster and more frequently severe disturbances followed by constantly reducing grid inertia and extreme fluctuations in electricity prices that lead to energy crises for uncertain periods.

The growth in the number of intermittent distributed generation, energy storages, charging stations for electric vehicles, and devices based on power electronics, in general, makes the grid vulnerable, increasingly different from the traditional one, and without traditional generation units.

The existing monitoring, protection, and control mechanisms are still in major part designed for the traditional grid and subordinated to one task only: to reduce the voltage drop from the transmission network to the end customer in a low-voltage network and retain frequency stability. Common monitoring, protection, and control schemes are oriented towards traditional measurements from devices deployed on a limited part of a power system along with traditional protection schemes (remote terminal units—RTU and SCADA), and thus do not ensure system integrity in the case of failure caused by events in a modern power system; therefore, unidentified disturbances become “ghost phenomena”.

Wide area monitoring, protection, and control (WAMPAC) is a concept that uses synchronized measurement technology (SMT) to counteract the propagation of large disturbances. The wide area monitoring system (WAMS) is the main function currently implemented in power systems, but with the development of protection and control schemes, WAMPAC is expected to improve the security and reliability of power system operation in addition to mitigating disturbances and preventing blackout.

WAMPAC offers multiple benefits such as stability, reliability, and safety of supply. In addition, it has an economical effect if the system is operated closer to the grid’s stability and capacity limits, which leads to increased energy transfer.

The general trend is to operate the power grid close to its stability limits in order to increase power transfer capacity, consequently decreasing safety margins and increasing disturbances and blackout risk. Realistic solutions can be found in real-time wide-area monitoring, which is based on synchronized phasor measurements (amplitude and phasor angle) of voltages and currents and their frequencies.

WAMPAC measurement data enable real-time monitoring and can be used as an early warning system, i.e., as a system with fast diagnostics that gives the operator enough time to make the steps required for system stability in order to limit the range and impact of disturbances and prevent power system blackouts.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop innovative solutions (both hardware and software) provided to system operators in order to maintain system integrity and preserve system resilience. The aim of this Special Issue is to present advanced and innovative technical solutions which will emphasize the monitoring, protection, and control of modern power systems.

More specifically, topics of interest for this Special Issue include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Synchronized measurements and applications;
• System integrity protection schemes;
• Power system monitoring protection and control;
• Industry experience in deploying smart grid technologies for power transmission;
• Regulation of mixed generation;
• Ancillary services of distributed generation;
• Information and communication technologies for smart grids, interoperability, and cybersecurity;
• Dynamic modeling of transmission and distribution systems;
• Interoperability between the transmission system operator and distribution system operator;
• Hybrid SCADA/EMS applications;
• System integration of distributed energy resources, islanding, and hosting capacity;
• Transmission system technologies, HVDC, FACTS, SVC, and energy storage;
• Planning and management of transmission grid assets;
• Power electronics, control, and protection systems for transmission grid applications;
• Transmission grid monitoring and advanced metering infrastructures;
• Diagnostics, maintenance, risks, reliability, vulnerability, and self-healing of transmission grids;
• Demand side management;
• Transmission grid planning, forecasting, and operation;
• Regulations, standards, and codes for modern transmission grids;
• Machine learning;
• Big data analysis;
• Smart transmission grid impacts on electricity markets;
• Business models for transmission grids.

Dr. Srđan Skok
Guest Editor

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• synchronized measurements
• power system
• smart grids
• distributed energy
• transmission system
• demand side management
• energy storage