EE 18601 POWER SYSTEM OPERATION AND CONTROL

UNIT I INTRODUCTION

UNIT II REAL POWER – FREQUENCY CONTROL

UNIT III REACTIVE POWER – VOLTAGE CONTROL

UNIT IV UNIT COMMITMENT AND ECONOMIC DISPATCH

UNIT V COMPUTER CONTROL OF POWER SYSTEMS

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 OBJECTIVES

• Characterization of electrical power demand and

understand load forecasting techniques.
• Understand power-frequency and power-voltage dynamics
and implement real power-frequency control and reactive
power-voltage control.
• Comprehend economic operation of power system and
introduce computer control

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 COURSE OUTCOMES
Course Outcome 1:
Apply the load forecasting techniques and identify suitable power controls at
system and plant levels.

Course Outcome 2:
Model load frequency dynamics and analyze real power - frequency control

Course Outcome 3:
Model voltage dynamics and analyze reactive power - voltage control.

Course Outcome 4:
Formulate and solve unit commitment and economic dispatch problems.

Course Outcome 5:
Ascertain the structure and functionalities of Energy Management System.

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TEXT BOOKS:
1.Olle.I.Elgerd, ‘Electric Energy Systems theory - An introduction’, Tata
McGraw Hill Education Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 34th reprint, 2010.
2.Allen. J. Wood and Bruce F. Wollenberg, ‘Power Generation, Operation
and Control’, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
3.Abhijit Chakrabarti, Sunita Halder, ‘Power System Analysis Operation
and Control’, PHI learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Third Edition, 2010

REFERENCES:
1.Nagrath I.J. and Kothari D.P., ‘Modern Power System Analysis’, Tata
McGraw-Hill, Fourth Edition, 2011.
2.Kundur P., ‘Power System Stability and Control’, Tata McGraw Hill
Education Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 10th reprint, 2010.
3.Hadi Saadat, ‘Power System Analysis’, TataMcGraw Hill Education Pvt.
Ltd., New Delhi, 21st reprint, 2010.
4.N.V.Ramana, ‘Power System Operation and Control,’ Pearson, 2011.
5.C.A.Gross, “Power System Analysis,” Wiley India, 2011.
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 UNIT I INTRODUCTION
Structure of Indian power grid
Power system load variation
Load characteristics
Load curves and load-duration curve
Load factor, Diversity factor
Importance of load forecasting
Quadratic and exponential curve fitting techniques of
forecasting
Overview of power system operation and control
Plant level and system level controls
Equipment and stability constraint in system operation
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 Structure of Indian Power Grid
• The National Grid is the high-voltage electricity
transmission network in India, connecting power
stations and major substations and ensuring that
electricity generated anywhere in India can be used to
satisfy demand elsewhere.
• The National Grid is owned, and maintained by Power
Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and operated
by Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO)
• It is one of the largest operational synchronous grids in
the world with 426.131 GW of installed power generation
capacity as of 30.11.2023 [Source : Central Electricity
Authority (CEA)]
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 Structure of Indian Power Grid
Evolution of National Grid
• Initially, State grids were inter-connected to form regional grid and
India was demarcated into 5 regions namely Northern, Eastern,
Western, North Eastern and Southern region.
• In October 1991 North Eastern and Eastern grids were connected.
• In March 2003 WR and ER-NER were interconnected .
• In August 2006 North and East grids were interconnected thereby 4
regional grids Northern, Eastern, Western and North Eastern grids
are synchronously connected forming central grid operating at one
frequency.
• On 31st December 2013, Southern Region was connected to
Central Grid in Synchronous mode with the commissioning of 765
kV Raichur-Solapur Transmission line thereby achieving 'ONE
NATION'-'ONE GRID'-'ONE FREQUENCY'.
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Evolution of Regional Grids

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Structure of Indian Power Grid

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Structure of Indian Power Grid

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Structure of Indian Power Grid

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 Blackouts
• Two severe power blackouts affected most
of northern and eastern India on 30 and 31 July 2012.
• The 30 July 2012 blackout affected over 400 million
people and was briefly the largest power outage in
history by number of people affected.
• The blackout on 31 July is the largest power outage in
history. The outage affected more than 620 million
people, about half of India's population, spread across
22 states in Northern, Eastern, and Northeast India.
• An estimated 32 gigawatts of generating capacity was
taken offline.

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Structure at Central Level

IPPs-Independent Power Producers,

PTC-Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd.,
SEB-State Electricity Board
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 POWER SYSTEM LOAD - VARIATION
• The load on a power station varies from time to time due to
uncertain demands of the consumers and is known as variable
load on the station
• An ideal load on the station is never realized in actual practice.
• A power station is designed to meet the load requirement of
the consumers (varies from time to time)
• The system load in an area depends on residential, commercial,
agricultural, municipal and traction loads
• System load variation occurs due to weather conditions-
temperature, humidity, cloudiness and special events on
religious and social occasions, etc

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 EFFECTS OF VARIABLE LOAD
• Need of additional equipment
➢ To adjust the rates of supply of the raw material
(coal/air/water)

• Increase in production cost

➢ An alternator operates at max. efficiency near its rated
capacity
➢ Efficiency of alternator decreases during light load
➢ In actual practice, multiple alternators of different capacities
are installed
➢ This increases the initial cost per kW of the plant capacity
and floor area required leads to increase in production cost of
energy

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 LOAD CHARACTERISTICS

• Load: It is a device that taps energy from network

• Categories:
1. Induction Motors - 50 - 70%
2. Lighting and Heating - 20 - 25%
3. Others (electronic devices, losses, etc.) - 5%
• From the electrical point of view the multitude of
devices are characterized with regard to:
1. Size
2. Symmetry (single or three phase)
3. Load constancy (w.r.t. time, frequency and voltage)
4. Use cycle (regular or random use)

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 Voltage and Frequency Dependency

• An important feature in characterizing all the loads is

their dependency on Voltage (V) and Frequency (f)

• According to dependency on V and f, load types are

1. Impedance type loads (Lighting, heaters, ovens)
2. Composite loads
3. Motor loads (Induction Motors)

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 Types of Load Characteristics

• Static Characteristics
– Relation between power, torque or current and
voltage or frequency at slow variations of the
operating conditions

• Dynamic Characteristics
– The same relation but defined for fast variations
of the operating conditions that their rate of
change has to be taken into account

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 Static Characteristics

1. Lighting and Heating Loads

– Active power consumed by a heating load varies

with V2 and it maintains constant resistance
with voltage change
– Active power consumed by a lighting load is
independent of frequency and does not vary as
V2 but V1.6
– Both the loads consume no reactive power

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 2.Composite Loads
• It may include some elements of lighting and heating loads,
induction motors, rectifiers, inverters as well as transformers
and cable losses.
• It constitute vast majority of loads
• In actual practice it vary with V and f and can be expresses as
P = P (V, f) and Q = Q(V, f)
• For small variations of supply voltage and frequency the
changes in active and reactive load demand can be
expressed as
P =

Q =

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 • Writing in Matrix form
=

• This equation is called the Basic Load Model

• Four partial derivatives are known as Characteristic
Coefficients (found experimentally)
• The above model is based on the following assumptions
– P and Q of the load are differentiable functions of
voltage magnitude and frequency
– Changes in V and f are small

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 3.Induction Motors
• The static characteristics of an induction motor may be
readily determined by the use of simplified equivalent
circuit shown in Fig.
• It is assumed that mechanical load on the shaft remains
constant

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 Load Curves
• The curve showing the variation of load on the power station
w.r.t. time is known as a load curve
• The load on the power station is seldom constant; it varies from
time to time
• It can be plotted on a graph taking load on Y-axis and time on X-
axis, indicates at a glance the general character of the load.

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• Daily Load Curve:
The load variation during the whole day are recorded hourly
or half hourly and plotted against the time to get daily load
curve

• Monthly load curve:

Obtained from the daily load curves of that month, the
average values of power over a month at different times of
the day are calculated and then plotted. It is generally used to
fix the rates of energy

• Annual load curve:

Obtained from the monthly load curves of that particular
year. It is generally used to determine annual load factor

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 Importance of Load Curves
• The daily load curve shows the variation of load on the
power station during different hours of the day
• Area under the daily load curve represents the total
number of units generated in a day
• Peak of the daily load curve represents the maximum
demand on the station on that particular day
• It helps in selecting the size and the number of generating
units in a particular station
• It helps in preparing the operation schedule of the station
• The area under the daily load curve divided by the total
number of hours represents the average load on the
power station in the day

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 Load Duration Curve
• When the load elements of a load curve are arranged in the
order of descending magnitudes, the curve thus obtained is
called a load duration curve
• It is obtained from the same data as the load curve but the
ordinates are arranged in the order of descending
magnitudes
• Hence the area under this curve is same as that of the load
curve
• It gives the data in a more presentable form, it readily shows
the no. of hours during which the given load has prevailed.
• It can be extended to include any period of time

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 Load Duration Curve

Load Curve Load Duration Curve

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 Terms and Factors
• Connected Load: It is the sum of continuous ratings of all the
equipments connected to the supply system.
• Maximum Demand: It is the greatest demand of load on the
power station during a given period, also called System Peak (<
Connected Load), helps in determining the installed capacity.
• Demand Factor: It is the ratio of maximum demand on the power
station to its connected load (usually <1)

• Average Load: The average of loads occurring on the power

station in a given period (day or month or year) is known as
average load or demand

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• Load Factor (LF): The ratio of average load to the maximum
demand during a given period (always < 1), helps in determining
the overall cost per unit generated, higher load factor means
lesser will be the cost per unit generated

• Diversity factor: It is the ratio of the sum of individual maximum

demands to the maximum demand on power station (> 1)

Higher Diversity factor => Lesser cost of generation of power

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• Plant Capacity Factor (PCF): It is the ratio of actual energy
produced to the maximum possible energy that could have been
produced during a given period of time (Reserve capacity)

Difference between LF and PCF is an indication of Reserve capacity

• Plant Use Factor: It is the ratio of kWh generated to the product of

plant capacity and the number of hours for which the plant was in
operation

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• Utilization Factor: It is a measure of the utility of the power
plant capacity and is the ratio of maximum demand to the
rated capacity of the power plant. (always < 1)

• Units Generated per Annum:

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 PROBLEMS
Reference: Principles of Power System by V K Mehta, Chapter 3
1. A 100 MW power station delivers 100 MW for 2 hours, 50 MW for
6 hours and is shut down for the rest of each day. It is also shut
down for maintenance for 45 days each year. Calculate its annual
load factor.

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 PROBLEMS

2. A generating station has the following daily load cycle:

Time 0-6 6-10 10-12 12-16 16-20 20-24

(Hours)
Load 40 50 60 50 70 40
(MW)

Draw the Load curve and find (i) maximum demand (ii) units
generated per day (iii) average load and (iv) load factor

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3. The daily demands of three consumers are given below:
Time Consumer 1 Consumer 2 Consumer 3
12 midnight to 8 A.M. No load 200 W No load
8 A.M. to 2 P.M. 600 W No load 200 W
2 P.M. to 4 P.M. 200 W 1000 W 1200 W
4 P.M. to 10 P.M. 800 W No load No load
10 P.M. to midnight No load 200 W 200 W

Plot the load curve and find (i) maximum demand of

individual consumer (ii) load factor of individual consumer
(iii) diversity factor and (iv) load factor of the station.

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4. A power station has the following daily load cycle:
Time 6-8 8-12 12-16 16-20 20-24 24-6
(Hours)
Load 20 40 60 20 50 20
(MW)
Plot the load curve and load duration curve. Also calculate the
energy generated per day.

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5. A power station has to meet the following demand:
Group A: 200 KW between 8 A.M. and 6 P.M.
Group B: 100 KW between 6 A.M. and 10 A.M.
Group C: 50 KW between 6 A.M. and 10 A.M.
Group D: 100 KW between 10 A.M. and 6 P.M. and then between
6 P.M. and 6 A.M.
Plot the daily load curve and determine (i) diversity factor (ii)
units generated per day (iii) load factor.

Solution: The given load cycle can be tabulated as under:

Time 0-6 6-8 8-10 10-18 18-24
(Hours)
Group A - - 200 KW 200 KW -
Group B - 100 KW 100 KW - -
Group C - 50 KW 50 KW - -
Group D 100 KW - - 100 KW 100 KW
Total Load 100 KW 150 KW 350 KW 300 KW 100 KW
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6. A generating station has a maximum demand of 25 MW,
a load factor of 60%, a plant capacity factor of 50% and a
plant use factor of 72%. Find the
(i) reserve capacity of the plant
(ii) daily energy produced and
(iii) maximum energy that could be produced daily, if the
plant running (according to operating schedule) were
fully loaded.

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BASE and PEAK LOAD PLANTS
The system load varies from time to time.
If the maximum demand is M and the total demand is supplied from ONE power plant
having an installed capacity M (or somewhat higher to keep some reserve capacity), the
plant will be running under loaded most of the time, thus making the operation
uneconomical.
A better method is to divide the load into two portions. One below the line and the other
above the line. These loads are referred to as BASE load and PEAK load respectively. These
two loads are supplied from separate plants called the BASE LOAD PLANT and PEAK LOAD
PLANT. (base load plant operates @ higher load factor, hence low operating cost)

Peak load

Base load

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 Selection of Generating Units
While making the selection of number and size of the
generating units, the following points should be kept in view:
1. The no. and sizes of the units should be so selected that they
approximately fit the annual load curve
2. The units should be preferably of different capacities to meet
the load requirement
3. The capacity of the plant should be made 15% to 20% more
than the maximum demand to meet the future load
requirements
4. There should be spare generating units so that repairs and
overhauling of the units can be carried out
5. The tendency to select a large no. of units of smaller capacity
in order to fit the load curve accurately should be avoided
(since, investment cost/kW increases)

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7. A proposed station has the following daily load cycle:
Time 6-8 8-11 11-16 16-19 19-22 22-24 24-6
(Hours)
Load 20 40 50 35 70 40 20
(MW)

Draw the load curve and select suitable generating units from the
10,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 KVA. Prepare the operating schedule
for the machines selected and determine the load factor from the curve

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 Load Forecasting
• The estimation of the load on their systems in advance is known as
load forecasting.
Forecast Lead time Applications
Very short time Few minutes to half an hour Real time control, real time
security evaluation

Short term Half an hour to a few hours Allocation of spinning reserve,

unit commitment,
maintenance scheduling

Medium term Few days to a few weeks Planning for seasonal peak-
winter, summer

Long term Few months to a few years To plan the growth of the
generation capacity

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 Need for Load forecasting
• To meet out the future demand
• Long term forecasting is required for planning future
expansion of the system
• For day to day operation, short term load forecasting is
needed (to commit enough generating units and for
maintaining spinning reserve)
• Very short term load forecasting are used for generation
and distribution schedules (economic generation scheduling
and load dispatching), contingency analysis for system
security
• Medium term load forecasting is needed for planning for
seasonal peak-winter, summer

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 LOAD FORECASTING TECHNIQUES
• Forecasting techniques may be divided into
three broad classes

• Techniques may be based on extrapolation or

correlation or a combination of both.

• Techniques may be further classified as either

deterministic, probabilistic or stochastic

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 EXTRAPOLATION
• Extrapolation technique involves fitting trend curves
to basic historical data adjusted to reflect the growth
trend itself.
• The forecast is found by evaluating the trend curve
function at the desired future point.
• Such a technique is called a deterministic
extrapolation since random errors in the data or in
analytical model are not accounted
• If the uncertainty of extrapolated results is to be
quantified using statistical entities like mean and
variance, then it becomes probabilistic extrapolation
• The use of stochastic models to generate a forecast
from random inputs derived from historical data has
also been suggested but is not used in actual practice.

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 CORRELATION
• It relates system loads to various demographic and
economic factors.
• Typically factors like population, employment, industrial
licenses, appliance saturation, weather data, etc. are used
• How ever the forecasting of the demographic and
economic factors is rather difficult.
• No one forecasting method is effective in all situations.
• Forecasting techniques must be used as tools to aid the
planner; good judgement and experience can never be
completely replaced.

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 SHORT TERM LOADFORECASTING TECHNIQUES
• It generally involve physical decomposition of load into components
• The expected hourly load forecast is divided into five components
and written as,
• Y(i,j) = ADP(j) + AWP(k,j) + WSC(i,j) + TR(i) + SEC(i,j)
Where
Y(i,j) = load forecast for jth hour of ith day
ADP(j) = Average Daily load Pattern at jth hour
AWP(k,j) = Average Weekly load increment Pattern at jth hour and
kth day of the week (k = 1,2,…….,7)
WSC(i,j) = Weather Sensitive Component at jth hour of ith day
TR(i) = Trend Component of load on ith day
SEC(i,j) = Stochastic Error Component which is assumed to be
normally distributed
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• The average daily pattern represents the hour of the day effect
(average of daily load pattern over an optimal number of past
days)
• The average weekly pattern represents the day of the week
effect (average of the weekly cycles over a certain number of
past weeks)
• The weather sensitive component represents the changes in
customer requirements according to variations in weather
conditions (temperature is considered as the only weather
variable since others are usually not available)
• The trend component includes three components: a long term
growth trend, a short term trend dependent on the economic
cycle and a time of the year pattern.
• The standard deviation and variance are usually taken as error
parameters.

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• Standard analytical functions used in trend curve fitting are

• Where ‘y’ is the load in year ‘x’ (with base year zero) and
A, B, C and D are constants computed generally by the
method of least squares

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 Linear Regression
• Fitting a straight line to a
set of paired observations: e Error
(x1, y1), (x2, y2),…,(xn, yn)

yi = a0 + a1 xi + e

e = yi - a0 - a1 xi
Line equation
yi : measured value y = a0 + a 1 x
e : error
a1 : slope
a0 : intercept

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 CURVE FITTING TECHNIQUES OF
FORECASTING

1. QUADRATIC CURVE FITTING TECHNIQUES

2. EXPONENTIAL CURVE FITTING TECHNIQUES

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 1. QUADRATIC CURVE FITTING TECHNIQUES OF
FORECASTING
The Least-Squares mth Degree Polynomials
(if m=2, yields Quadratic function)

When using an mth degree polynomial, i.e.,

y = a0 + a1 x + a2 x + .........am x
2 m

to approximate the given set of data, (x1,y1), (x2,y2)…… (xn,yn),

where n ≥ m, the best fitting curve has the least square error, i.e.,


Minimize Error = i =1 yi − f ( xi )
n 2

 n
 
Minimize Error = i =1 yi − a0 + a1 xi + a x + ......a x 2
2 i
m
m i  
2

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To obtain the least square error, the unknown coefficients a0, a1, ….
and am must yield zero first derivatives.

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Expanding the previous equations, we have

The unknown coefficients can hence be obtained by solving the

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Irrespective of the order of j, we always get LINEAR equations with
respect to the coefficients.
This means we can use the following solution method

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 2. EXPONENTIAL CURVE FITTING TECHNIQUES OF
FORECASTING
Linearize the exponential model by taking the
Logarithm on both the sides of the equation,

ln(y)=ln(a1)+b1.x.ln(e)

We have, ln(y)=ln(a1)+ b1.x

This is similar to the linear equation

y= a0 + a1.x (a0 = a1; a1 = b1)

Least-Squares Fit of a Straight Line slope = 

n n
Minimize error : S r =  e =  ( yi − a0 − a1 xi ) 2
2
i
intercept = ln 

i =1 i =1
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S r
= −2 ( yi − ao − a1 xi ) = 0   y −a −a x =0
ao
i 0 1 i

S r
= −2 ( yi − ao − a1 xi ) xi  = 0   y x −a x −a x 2
=0
a1
i i 0 i 1 i

Since a 0 = na0

(1) na0 + ( xi )a1 =  yi Normal equations which can

(2) ( x )a + ( x )a =  y x
i 0
2
i 1 i i
be solved simultaneously

 n

 x  a  =   y 
i 0 i
a 
 xi      y x 
2
x i 1 i i

n xi yi −  xi  yi Mean values
a1 =
n xi2 − ( xi )
2

using (1), a0 can be expressed as a0 = y − a1 x

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 An overview of power system operation and control
A properly designed and operated power system should meet the following
fundamental requirements:

1. The system must be able to meet the continually changing load demand for
active and reactive power.

2. Unlike other types of energy, electricity cannot be conveniently stored in

sufficient quantities. Adequate “spinning” reserve of active and reactive
power should be maintained and appropriately controlled at all times.

3. The system should supply energy at minimum cost and with minimum
ecological impact

4. The “quality” of power supply must meet certain minimum standards with
regard to the following factors:
(a) constancy of frequency;
(b) constancy of voltage; and
(c) level of reliability.
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 Several levels of controls
involving a complex array of
devices are used to meet the
above requirements.

These are depicted in Figure

which identifies the various
subsystems of a power
system and the associated
controls.

In this overall structure,

there are controllers
operating directly on
individual system elements.
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Generating unit control

Prime mover control – Speed regulation and control of energy supply system
variables (boiler pressures, temperatures & flows)

Excitation system control – Regulate generator voltage & reactive power output

System-generation control

a) Determines desired MW outputs of the individual generating units

b) Balance the total system generation against system load and losses
so that the desired frequency and power interchange with
neighboring systems (tie flows) is maintained

Transmission controls

Include power and voltage control devices, such as SVCs, synchronous

condensers, switched capacitors and reactors, tap changing
transformers, phase-shifting transformers and HVDC controls.
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 The controls described in previous slide contribute to the
satisfactory operation of the power system by maintaining system
voltages and frequency and other system variables within their
acceptable limits.

They also have a profound effect on the dynamic

performance of the power system and on its ability to cope with
disturbances.

The control objectives are dependant on the operating

state of the power system.

Under normal conditions, control objective is to operate as

efficiently as possible with V & f close to nominal values
When an abnormal condition develops, new objectives
must be met to restore the system to normal operation
Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 69
 PLANT LEVEL AND SYSTEM LEVEL CONTROLS

Plant level control System level control

1. Governor control (or) 1. LFC
PRIME mover control. 2. EDC
2. AVR control 3. System voltage control
4. Security control

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 70

 PLANT LEVEL CONTROLS
Governor control or Prime mover control:
• Governor control or Prime mover controls are concerned with speed
regulation of the governor and the control of energy supply system
variables such as boiler pressures, temperature and flows
• With variation in load, speed of governor varies as the load is
inversely proportional to speed
• Changes in speed results in corresponding changes in frequency, but
the change in frequency is not acceptable
• Therefore it is necessary to use a governor to sense the speed and
give a command signal, so that, the steam input of the turbine is
changed relative to the load requirement
• In early days flyball governor was used, nowadays electronic
governors are used (fast and accurate)

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 71

Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) or Excitation Control:
• Every generator is fitted with AVR.
• The functions of AVR are:
1. Control of generator output voltage within prescribed limits
2. Proper division of Q between the units operating in parallel
3. Increase of excitation under system fault conditions so that
max. synchronizing power is available when the fault is cleared
4. Prevention of dangerous over voltages on the occurrence of
sudden loss of load on the system
• The AVR work on the principle of error detection. It controls
the exciter output to adjust the voltage of an alternator.

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 72

 SYSTEM LEVEL CONTROLS
Load Frequency Control (LFC):
• It is also called Megawatt-frequency or P-f control
• The aim of this control is to maintain real power balance in
the system through control of system frequency
• Whenever the real power demand changes, frequency
change occurs, this frequency error is amplified, mixed and
changed to a command signal which is sent to the turbine
governor to adjust the turbine input
• In an interconnected system with two or more
independently controlled areas, in addition to control of
frequency, the generation within each area has to be
controlled so as to maintain scheduled power interchange
• The control of generation and frequency is commonly
referred to as Load Frequency Control
Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 73
Economic Dispatching Control (EDC):
• The function of economic dispatch is to distribute the load among
the generating units connected in the system in such a manner as to
minimize the total cost of the system (equal incremental cost)
• This is possible only through the use of a digital computer, which is
located in Energy Control Centre (Load Dispatch Centre)
• The MW settings of different generators are fed to the computer
every five minutes or so.
• The optimal settings (based on equal incremental cost) are also fed
to the computer
• The computer senses the difference between actual settings and
optimal settings and sends command signals to the generators to
adjust MW outputs.

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 74

System Voltage Control:
• It is also called Megavar-Voltage or Q-V control.
• The aim of this control is to maintain the system voltage within
limits by adjusting the excitation of the machines.
• AVR senses the difference between a rectified voltage derived
from the stator voltage and a reference voltage.
• The error signal is amplified and fed to excitation circuit of
alternator
• The change of excitation maintains the voltage at proper value
and the VAR balance in the system.
• Many other devices such as Synchronous condenser, tap
changing transformer, regulating transformer, capacitor and
reactor, FACTS (SVC) devices are also used for voltage control

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 75

Security Control:
• Power system security: The ability of the power system to
keep operating in stable condition during and after specified
failures without cascade tripping and overall blackout.
• Some Emergency situations (forced outages of generators,
fault on transmission line, sudden increase or loss of load,
etc.) occur from time to time.
• The power system engineer has to
➢ operate the system such that reliability is maintained
➢ ensure economic operation taking all constraints into
account

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 76

 Equipment and Stability Constraints in
System Operation
There are two types of constraints which limit the capability
of a power system:
a) Equipment Constraints:
• An equipment must be operated within the specified
ratings otherwise it may result in damage.
• Examples of such ratings are the maximum current
handling capability of a conductor, maximum voltage across
an insulator before it breaks down etc.
• Equipment like generators may have a relatively large
number of constraints.

Ref: NPTEL Lecture Notes – Module 2 (Lecture 4-6, 8a)

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 77

 Equipment and Stability Constraints in
System Operation
• There are two major equipment constraints:
1) Thermal:
• Excessive heat produced by current carrying conductors results in
unacceptable sags in transmission lines and degradation of
insulation in other equipment.
• Depending on the thermal time constants, an equipment may
have larger short time thermal ratings.
2) Dielectric:
• Over-voltages result in large electric fields causing dielectric
breakdown.
• Dielectric breakdown may also occur due to aging or
degradation of insulation due to thermal limit violations.
• Typically +/- 10% variation in the rated voltage is often
permissible.

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 78

 Equipment and Stability Constraints in
System Operation
Other equipment constraints:

1. Generator Constraints
Generator Capability is constrained mainly by the following
limits:
• Voltage limits
• Armature Winding (heating) Limit
• Field Winding (heating) Limit
• Core-end heating limit

2. Transmission Line constraints

• Transmission line thermal limits
• Transmission line dielectric limits

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 79

 Equipment and Stability Constraints in
System Operation
b) Stability Constraints:
• A power system may not be able to cater to power flows beyond
a certain point due to stability constraints.
• An unstable system is a one which cannot withstand
disturbances.
• Inability to come to an equilibrium may eventually lead to
equipment constraints being violated too. This will cause operation
of protection systems.
• Loss of equipment due to stability or equipment constraints may
take the system into an emergency or inextremis state wherein
interconnected operation may become unviable.
• Therefore, it is important to characterize the capability of the
system to handle load power demands and power flows in a
transmission network without violation of the above constraints

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 80

 Equipment and Stability Constraints in
System Operation
• During operation, it is ensured that the system is operated
such that there exists sufficient “margin” for the system to
withstand a disturbance.
• It is ensured that phase angular difference across
transmission paths is not too large.
• Thus angular stability puts a limit on the levels of power
which can be transferred securely.
• One of the constraints for long distance AC transmission
(other than thermal / voltage constraints) is the large
phase angular difference which is required to transmit a
given amount of power.

Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 81

 Load Shedding and Islanding

• Load shedding is a method (last resort measure) to balance

the demand and supply of electricity within a state.
• It is an energy utility's method of reducing demand on the
energy generation system by temporarily switching off the
distribution of energy to certain geographical areas.
• When the electricity demand exceeds the ability of a
primary power source to supply it, it is used to relieve
strain on the source.
• Otherwise, the grid may become unstable if there is not
enough power supply to meet the demand for electricity
from all customers.
Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 82
 Load Shedding and Islanding
• Islanding is the isolation of a part of power system (by
tripping the tie lines / transmission lines) during external
widespread grid disturbance. This isolated part of Grid is
called Island.
• It may lead to black out. It can be dangerous to utility
workers, who may not realize that a circuit is still powered,
and it may prevent automatic re-connection of devices.
The objectives of islanding are as follows:
• Isolate a part of power system from the Grid to make Island.
• Continue to supply power in Island.
• Avoid tripping of Generators in the Island.
• Quick restoration of remaining system
Prepared by Venkatesan C, AP/EEE/SVCE 83