Guidelines for Reserves Calculation during

Power System Restoration

SHAHRAM JADID, ABOLFAZL SALAMI
Department of Electrical Engineering
Iran University of Science and Technology
Narmak, Tehran
IRAN

Abstract: - This paper describes a methodology for determination of system reserve requirement during power
system restoration. Types of reserves are defined and their amount is determined to improve frequency control
process. Reserve requirements are calculated from characteristic of different power plants basic principles,
taking into account the largest unit dispatch and the frequency sensitivity of loads. It is shown that
effectiveness of reserves is one of the important problems during load pick-up.
Aim of this paper is to propose a novel method for investigation of reserves capability in different power
plants which can be used for evaluating the stability and frequency response of power plants during load
pickup in the early stages of power system restoration. The proposed scheme for reserves calculation provides
good performance for load pickup. In this work a case study is shown regarding a number generating systems
which shows process of reserves calculation.

Key-Words: - Power system reserves, Power system restoration, Power plant, Dynamic modelling, Spinning
reserve, Dynamic reserve, Under frequency load

1 Introduction mover models can be used to determine reserve rates

Restoration of a Power System following a blackout of prime movers. The amount of reserves of a
is a complex, stressful and time-consuming task [1]. system are chosen so that the loss of one or more
In recent years, due to economic competition and generating units does not cause too far a drop in
deregulation, power systems are operated closer and system frequency [5]. If a severe under frequency
closer to their limits. At the same time, power condition occurs, these reserves should be activated
systems have increased in size and complexity. Both as quickly as possible in attempt to prevent system
factors increase the risk of major power outages. from collapse [6]. Comprehensive studies have been
After a blackout, power system needs to be restored undertaken in designing more effective and
as quickly and reliably as possible, and coordinated spinning reserve and under frequency
consequently, detailed restoration plans are load shedding strategies for the interconnected
necessary [2, 3]. There are many problems in power system [7]. The problem of reserves during load
system restoration that must be considered. To pickup is considered less in past works, and
restore the whole system successfully, it is required proposed method do not consider under frequency
to know the characteristics of all the system, load and different type of reserves [8].
components and network structure in details. After This paper investigates different power plants with
considering various coordination constraints, the their prime mover models including combustion
modelling of the bulk power system is divided into turbine, hydro turbine and steam turbines. This work
generating systems, load pick-up characteristic, defines different types of reserves which are
system frequency response and transmission effective during power system restoration. During
network [4]. the initial phase of restoration, operators are
In the initial phase of restoration, operators are often concerned with the amount of reserves. A simple
concerned with the size of load pickup, and the guideline has been developed for determining the
effectiveness of the generation reserve. A certain amount of reserves to meet the loss of largest
amount of reserve is required for satisfactory generator. The proposed method has been applied
frequency regulation when system is subjected to for the different power plants, and simulations
normal or unexpected load variations. The prime
results have been carried out to obtain characteristics generator can pickup as a percentage of generator
which are needed for reserves calculations. rating without incurring a decline in frequency
below safe operating levels. Load pickup factors for
different power plant have been calculated in next
2 Power System Reserves section.
During system restoration, each control area should
carry enough operating reserve to cover its largest
generator contingency in each isolated area. This 3 Reserves in Different Units
reserve can either be on-line generation that can Frequency can exhibit large excursions due to load
produce additional power within ten minutes or pick-up. Frequency decline is due to inadequate
customer load that can be shed manually within ten system response following loss of generation or
minutes. Operating reserve is required to enable the picking up a larger load than can be absorbed by the
control area to restore its area (or subsystems) to a generators online. During picking-up of load, the
pre-contingency state (both tie lines and frequency) magnitude response of the frequency excursion is
within ten minutes of a contingency. Connecting determined by prime mover response of power
two or more systems together may result in a lower system.
combined operating reserve requirement. However, Fig.1 shows block diagrams for the prime movers
caution needs to be taken to ensure that load is not that are needed for calculations of reserves.
added too fast and the system collapses again. Evaluations of different generating units have been
Reserve is effort to afford restoration from any done based on Fig.1.
abnormal frequency operating conditions. Two
categories of reserves are to be considered in power
system restoration. These reserves include spinning
reserve and dynamic reserve. Spinning reserve is -PL
defined as on-line generation that can be loaded
within ten minutes or load that can be shed manually
in ten minutes for power system restoration. - Governor Turbine Generator
Dynamic reserve is defined as amount of available fref f
reserve in order to preserve the system during a ∑ G1(s) G2(s) ∑ G3(s)
frequency disturbance. The security of an island is
greatly increased when there is sufficient dynamic
reserve to cover the loss of single largest generation Fig.1 Prime movers block diagram
unit in the island. Amount of this reserve must be
enough to survive the largest energy contingency.
This dynamic reserve can be a combination of load 3.1 Evaluation of Different Units
armed to trip by under frequency load shedding In this section reserves problem in different units
relays and governor actions. The goal in the early has been presented. The transfer functions for a
stages of creating the island is to restore load with typical combustion turbine unit (CT) are as follows
connected under frequency load shedding relays but [8]:
in very early stages of system restoration not to 1
G1 ( s ) = (1)
restore under-frequency load and under frequency 1 + sTG
relay load should be no more than 50% of total 1
dynamic reserve. As more generating units are G2 ( s ) = (2)
1 + sTT
added to the island the requirement for load 1
connected to under frequency load shedding relays G3 ( s ) = (3)
D + sM
is reduced. The ultimate goal is to rely on generation
Where
unit governor response to arrest frequency declines
TG : Governor time constant
in an island during restoration. Dynamic reserve is
automatic, as opposed to spinning reserve which is TT : Turbine time constant
manual. Dynamic reserve must be calculated for D : Damping torque coefficient
each island. M : Inertia
Dynamic reserve from generation is determined by The frequency response of a typical CT to sudden
generator “load pickup factor” for units paralleled to increase in loads is shown in Fig.2. Nominal
the system. Load pickup factor is maximum load a parameters of different power plants are shown in
appendix A. In this figure, the frequency response
has yield a 10 % sudden increase in load when CT is 0

under no load condition and without controller. In

this case the frequency dip and steady state error are -0.1

0.43 Hz and 0.29 Hz respectively.

-0.2

-0.05

Frequency Dip(Hz)
-0.3
-0.1

-0.15 -0.4

-0.2
-0.5
Frequency Dip(Hz)

-0.25
-0.6

-0.3

-0.7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
-0.35
Time(Sec)

Fig.3 Frequency response of the HE unit

-0.4

-0.45
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Fig.4 shows the frequency response of this system.

Time(Sec)

Fig.2 Frequency response of the CT unit In this figure sudden load increase is assumed to be
%10 and the frequency dip is 0.87 Hz.
The transfer functions for a typical hydro electric 0

unit (HE) are as follows [9]:

1 1 + sTD
-0.1

G1 ( s) = ⋅ (4)
sTG + 1 1 + s ( RT )T -0.2

D
RP -0.3

1 − sTW
Frequency Dip(Hz)

G2 ( s) = (5) -0.4

1 + 0.5.s TW
-0.5

1
G3 ( s ) = (6)
D + sM
-0.6

Where -0.7

T D : Dashpot time constant -0.8

RT : Transient droop -0.9

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

R P : Permanent droop
Time(Sec)

TW : Water starting time penstock Fig.4 Frequency response of the ST unit

In this unit, under no load condition, the frequency
response to a 10% sudden load increase is shown in Fig.5 shows the minimum frequency as a function of
Fig.3. The frequency dip is 0.63 Hz for this unit. the amount of loads being picked up for different
The transfer functions for typical ST units are as power plants.
follows [9]: 0

1
G1 ( s ) = (7)
1 + sTG -0.5

(1 + sTC )(1 + sK1TR ) + K 2

G2 ( s) = (8) CT
(1 + sTS )(1 + sTR )(1 + sTC ) -1
Minimum Frequency (Hz)

1
(9)
HE
G3 ( s ) = -1.5
D + sM
Where -2
ST

T R : Reheater time constant

TC : Crossover (IP-LP) time constant -2.5

T S : HP steam box time constant

K 1 : HP turbine power fraction
-3
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
Load pickup(p.u.)

K 2 : LP turbine power fraction

Fig.5 Minimum frequency as a function of loads for
different units
These results can be used in order to determine the Table 2: Results of reserve simulation
maximum amount of load that can be picked up Number Total Spinning Governor
safely at once, while an allowable frequency is reserve reserve Reserve
given. Also this figure can be used to calculate load (MW) (MW) (MW)
pickup factors for different power plants. Thus for 1 25 20 11
analysis of reserve behaviour during load pickup, it 2 20 20 20
is essential to simulate prime movers. 3 25 20 16.5
4 20 20 6.9
5 30 20 9.2
6 0 0 0
3.2 Case Study 7 25 25 4.8
In this section, a case study for determining reserves 8 5 5 5
has been investigated. Table 1 lists the prime movers 9 40 30 7.2
which may be in operation in the initial phase of
power system restoration. The study has been Total governor reserve is 70.6 MW. Dynamic
carried out in order to evaluate the system reserves reserve for largest contingency (loss of unit2) from
as a function of units and loads characteristics. governor action is 40.6 MW. In this case only 40.6
MW of under frequency load can considered for
Table 1: Characteristic of different calculation of dynamic reserves because this amount
power plants in case study must be less than 50% of total dynamic reserve.
Number Type Capacity Load Ramp Rate Therefore total dynamic reserve is 81.2 MW.
(MW) (MW) (MW/min)
1 ST 100 75 2
2 ST 200 180 5
3 ST 150 125 2 4 Conclusion
4 CT 30 10 10 This paper presented the evaluation of the power
5 CT 40 10 2 This paper presented a new method for calculation
6 CT 15 15 5 of reserves during system restoration. This method
7 CT 30 5 5 is capable to calculate suitable reserves based on
8 CT 45 40 5 frequency response of various power plants.
9 CT 45 5 3 The evaluation of the reserves carried out using
simulations during load pickup process. This paper
Assuming that the maximum frequency decline incorporates the simulations of different power
allowed is 1Hz, using Fig.5, the load pickup factors plants to obtain the characteristics of them which are
for ST, HE and CT units have been specified as needed for reserves calculation. Simple calculations
11%, 16% and 23% respectively. determine how much reserves are necessary to limit
Spinning reserve can be specified as on-line frequency excursion.
generation that can be loaded within 10 minutes and Simulation of typical steam, combustion and hydro
is less than or equal to total reserves. This reserve units showed reserves are based on the frequency
can be calculated from ramp rate coefficients for response rates of prime movers. This work is shown
different power plants. Dynamic reserves can be a case study for reserves calculation. The proposed
calculated by considering load with under frequency method leads to quick decision-making during load
relay and reserves on generators that is available via pickup process and is quite simple and fast to guide
governor action. In this case total load with under operators effectively.
frequency relay is considered as 100 MW. This
reserve can only take credit for up to 50% of total
dynamic reserve. Reserve from governor action can References:
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Appendix A. Power plants parameters

Nominal parameters of the combustion systems:

R = 0.05% , TG = 0.15 sec , TT = 0.5 sec , M = 10 sec ,
D = 0.75 p.u.

Nominal parameters of the hydro systems:

RP = 0.05 p.u. , TG = 0.2 sec , TR = 6 sec , M = 20 sec ,
D = 2.5 p.u. , RT = 0.1 p.u. , TW = 1sec

Nominal parameters of the steam systems:

R = 0.05% , TG = 0.2 sec , TR = 10 sec , M = 10 sec ,
D = 0.5 p.u. , TC = 0.5 sec , TS = 0.5 sec K1 = 0.3 p.u. ,
K 2 = 0.3 p.u.