MISO, the regional grid operator for much of the Midwest, says it has incorporated synchrophasors into two critical aspects of its grid analytics - system modeling and after-the-fact event analysis.
With 161 synchrophasor measurement devices installed and now operating along the 50,000-mile interconnected system in the MISO 11-state region, MISO's grid operators have a new, highly sensitive measurement for grid diagnostics using phasor measurement units (PMUs).
MISO has implemented a dynamic model enhancement process using measurement results from these PMUs, which MISO says will allow it to more accurately determine transfer limits on the system.
After-the-fact analysis includes the study of specific grid activity or disturbances to determine whether changes are needed to prevent larger threats to regional reliability. MISO says using synchrophasor data to conduct event analysis helps it and its transmission owners more rapidly determine an accurate sequence of events.
With synchrophasors, voltage and current at a given location can be measured more than 30 times per second, compared with current technology, which records measurements every two seconds, MISO adds.
"Synchrophasor data provides a powerful analytical tool to help us better understand system activities and observed abnormalities,” says Richard Doying, vice president of operations. “Analyzing that data after-the-fact is crucial to better understanding the impact of events on the power system.”
MISO expects to make synchrophasor data available to its real-time system operators in April 2013.
In 2009, MISO was among 100 recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Smart Grid Investment Grant awards. MISO received a $17.3 million grant to fund the development and deployment of PMUs as part of the DOE's effort to modernize the power grid.
