Architecture Design for Integrated Wide Area Protection and Control Systems

Abstract

This paper firstly reviews the recent development in power system protection and control, with special attention paid to the wide-area and integrated protection, in order to look into future development of integration of protection and control for smart grids. This paper mainly reports on the development of integrated wide area protection and control for power systems. The concept of integrated wide area protection and control is introduced, in which a hierarchical protection and control system provides the protection and control of wide area or regional power substations/ plants and their associated power network. The system is mainly divided into three levels, the local, the substation/plant and the wide area/regional protection and control. The integrated functions at each level are described in details with an aim to develop an optimal coordination mechanism between the levels. One of the core elements in the system is the synchronised wide area communication network between the substations and the protection and control system, in which latest communication technology is employed. Another important player in the system is the wide area synchronized protection and control information platform, which not only enables the fusion three line of defence for power system protection and control, but also provides a perfect tool for the application of cloud computing to substations and power networks.

Power System Protection Strategies to Improve Safety and Control

“…Earlier the protective relaying in the substation was achieved with the electromagnetic or induction relays which become obsolete these days due to the advancement of technology like static, numeric relays, and microprocessor relays. The integrated protection focused on the new algorithm to improve the performance of the existing system rather than the centralized control, which is basically through the measurements from the multiple points [13]. The intelligence and data gathered from the substation aid in attaining reserves for security and protection of auto control.…”

Developments of Power System Protection and Control

“…The main focus of the concept [16,17] is the integration between the protection and control, particularly at the wide-area or regional level, aimed to provide a number of benefits to the future protection and control system, e.g., the potential to merge the three lines of defence system and on-line self-healing decision making, in order to prevent cascading tripping of large area power network. The concept of integrated wide area protection and control is introduced, in which a three-level hierarchically coordinated system, supported by the specially designed realtime synchronised wide-area communication network, provides the protection and control for wide area or regional power substations/plants and their associated power network.…”