GRID OPERATIONS AND PLANNING

Grid Operations and Planning 5

GRID OPERATIONS AND PLANNING

VISION

The future transmission grid will be highly automated, will be flexible in connecting all available energy sources, will facili-tate active participation by all grid-connected participants, and will provide transmission services at affordable prices. It will be capable of satisfying customized requirements for reliability, market operations, power quality, and service-level agreements.

The transmission grid will be planned and operated in compliance with applicable reliability, safety, and security standards and criteria, and automated processes and tools will be available to demonstrate and document compliance.

Planners and operators will have guidelines and techniques that will enable them to include markets, economics, public policy, environmental and societal considerations, and cost-allocation issues in their assessments, plans and daily operating decisions.

Communication processes will enable information transfer to stakeholders about evolving technologies, markets, econom-ics, customer service, and public policy issues related to the grid operations and planning function.

Robust, reliable, and secure information technology (IT) and communication networks will enable the grid to meet the diverse needs of end users across the entire interconnected grid.

The future transmission grid will demonstrate the following characteristics:

1. It will provide for high levels of reliability while minimizing the impacts of system disturbances through the use of smart technologies and advanced measurements and controls (self-diagnosis and self-healing).

2. It will be robust, secure, and highly resilient to cyber attacks and other hazards, including natural disasters.

3. It will enable the integration of diverse energy sources, including variable generation and storage devices.

4. It will facilitate the active participation of all transmission-connected entities, customers, and market participants through demand-response programs.

5. It will be scalable and flexible to satisfy the diverse reliability, quality, and security needs of customers.

6. It will leverage and integrate existing technologies and emerging intelligent technologies and techniques to provide for predictive maintenance, optimal levels of asset utilization, and greater efficiencies.

Power Delivery & Utilization Sector Roadmaps 6

COMPONENTS OF THE FUTURE STATE

The transmission grid will enable the integration of diverse arrays of energy sources and demand options (such as wind generation, solar generation, demand response, and storage).

The following attributes, examples, and initiatives further describe this future state:

• Energy storage, controllable demand-response pro-grams, and plug-in electric vehicles will be integrated and leveraged to operate the grid reliably and efficiently.

• Load and generation forecasting techniques and vali-dated models will enable grid operators and planners to incorporate uncertainties associated with variable gen-eration resources and customer demand-response characteristics.

• The impact of geographic diversity of supply-side and demand-side resources and technologies will be incor-porated in developing long-term and near-term grid reinforcement and operational plans.

• Criteria and techniques will assist grid operators and planners in determining the necessary amount and type of resources used to balance the grid (operating reserves)—including adequacy and ramping—to inte-grate variable generation.

GAPS

• Planners and operators will need probabilistic and deterministic planning techniques to consider the vari-able and uncertain production patterns of variable gen-eration and to assess necessary upgrades to the trans-mission grid.

• Planners and operators will require metrics for system flexibility and methods to evaluate sources of flexibility for investment (existing and emerging) to accommo-date the large-scale integration of variable generation (VG).

• Validated, non-proprietary models will be required for new supply-side and demand-side devices and technol-ogies (wind plants, solar PV plants, storage devices, demand response, plug-in electric vehicles, and so on).

• Analytical approaches will be required to represent new demand-side technologies and resources in studies

(demand response, storage devices, plug-in electric vehicles, and so on). Tools and processes will be required to update models based on actual system and compo-nent performance.

• Advanced forecasting techniques must be fully inte-grated into long-term planning (capacity and transmis-sion), real-time operating practices (visualization, determination of operating reserve, and stochastic unit commitment), and EMS and other situational-aware-ness tools.

• Industry must continue to participate in activities of the NERC Integration of Variable Generation Task Force (IVGTF) to upgrade planning and operating practices and also inform FERC NOPR development regarding OATT and market reforms for variable generation.

• EPRI grid operations and planning projects should be coordinated with IntelliGrid, Distribution (integration of distributed generation), and Generation (impacts of cycling and retirements) programs.

ACTION PLAN

The integration of new resources (such as wind and solar generation) and technologies (such as storage and demand response) at transmission and distribution levels has acceler-ated in recent years and is expected to continue to grow in the future. It is the role of grid operators and planners to ensure reliable integration of these resources and technolo-gies at the bulk electric system level.

To achieve this Future State, RD&D will need to be directed in five principal areas: (1) situational awareness; (2) model-ing; (3) study scope, tools, and techniques; (4) forecasting; and (5) resource adequacy and flexibility. The following RD&D activities focus on various enabling and emerging technologies, processes, and tools that will support grid operators and planners in achieving this Future State.

Situational Awareness

Real-Time Visualization: Provide real-time visualization of supply-side and demand-side resources, technologies, and devices in control centers to meet the needs of grid operators. This will require appropriate levels of details—integrated with other EMS information—on wind and solar genera-tion, distributed energy resources, demand response (DR), storage, plug-in electric vehicles, and so on.

INTEGRATION OF SUPPLY-SIDE AND DEMAND-SIDE RESOURCES AND TECHNOLOGIES

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Modeling

Models: Develop models of supply-side and demand-side resources, technologies, and devices needed for conducting simulation studies. The industry needs validated, non-pro-prietary power-flow and dynamics models for wind genera-tors, solar plants, storage devices, demand response, plug-in electric vehicles, distributed energy resources, and so on. In some instances, three-phase models to conduct electromag-netic transient studies (such as a sub-synchronous resonance [SSR] study) are also needed.

Study Scope, Tools, and Techniques

Risk-Based Study Processes and Tools: Develop risk-based study processes and tools that incorporate variability and uncertainty of VG and DR.

Frequency-Response Assessment Studies: Develop processes, modeling, and tools to perform simulation studies for evalu-ating frequency response of an interconnected network. Such studies will require time-domain simulations that incorporate mid-term and long-term dynamics. Because the scope of such studies extends beyond that of typical tran-sient-stability simulations, efforts will be needed to identify appropriate software and to identify and develop appropriate modeling. In addition, industry needs metrics to measure what constitutes adequate frequency response (primary and secondary) during the time scale that ranges from seconds to tens of minutes.

Distributed Energy Resources: Develop study tools, model-ing, and processes to assess impact of distributed energy resources on the bulk electric system.

Forecasting

Forecasting Tools for DR and VG: Develop and enhance tools to forecast VG and DR for a day-to-day operation timeframe as well as for a long-term planning timeframe. These tools need to incorporate customer behavior for demand response and to represent the changing generation mix. Grid operators and planners will need to coordinate this activity with generation and distribution experts famil-iar with VG and DR variability and uncertainty.

Forecasting Tools for Operating Reserve Requirements: Develop tools that can forecast day-ahead operating reserve requirements, including system ramping capability and needs. These efforts should also include developing analyti-cal techniques such as “stochastic unit commitment” that can optimize dispatch schedules. This activity will need to be coordinated with the generation sector of the industry.

Adaptable Forecasting Tools: Develop adaptable, self-learn-ing forecasting tools that can continuously analyze historical data and integrate the learning into forecasting algorithms and continuously update VG and DR forecasting. Grid

operators and planners will need to coordinate this activity with generation and distribution experts familiar with VG and DR variability and uncertainty.

Sophisticated and Integrated Forecasting Tools: Develop interfaces to integrate forecasting tools with tools, applica-tions, and processes used by grid planners and operators for their core activities. Grid operators and planners will need to coordinate this activity with generation and distribution experts familiar with VG and DR variability and uncertainty.

Resource Adequacy and Flexibility

Impact of Cycling on Conventional Generation: Develop tools to assess impact of cycling on conventional generating units. The variability of wind and solar generation is expected to result in added cycling (ramping up and down) of conven-tional generators. Tools and techniques are needed to assess the impact of cycling on equipment life, overall cost, and the resulting effect on how conventional generators will be com-mitted and dispatched as capacity- and frequency-regulating resources. This activity will need to be coordinated with the generation sector of the industry.

Adequacy and Flexibility of the Generation Fleet: Develop tools and techniques to evaluate the adequacy and flexibility of the generation fleet to meet electricity demand and to pro-vide frequency-regulation services such as governing, auto-matic generation control (AGC), and operating reserves. These tools and techniques are critical in light of the evolv-ing generation mix, with increasing penetration of variable generation and growing retirement of conventional genera-tion. The industry also needs metrics for measuring ade-quacy and flexibility for resources to meet demand and pro-vide frequency-regulation services. Evaluations of system adequacy and flexibility requirements can also help in priori-tizing investments for these resources. Overall, these tools and techniques have the potential to help grid planners in securing adequate resources to meet demand and help grid operators in securing adequate resources to prepare for reli-able operation under contingency conditions.

Utilizing Emerging Resources: Evaluate and demonstrate the use of emerging resources (such as storage, demand response, and plug-in electric vehicles) for frequency-regula-tion service. As penetration of VG increases and the retire-ment of conventional generation proceeds, it will be prudent to assess the feasibility of utilizing new resources as operat-ing reserves.

The above activities are arranged in technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of roadmap activities is attached. The roadmap shows the above five principal technology tracks of: (1) Situational Awareness; (2) Modeling; (3) Study Scope, Tools, and Tech-

PDU.GOP.01R0


niques; (4) Forecasting; and (5) Resource Adequacy and Flexibility.

In each track, the associated activities related to the grid operations and planning function are summarized in the boxes. The length of the box indicates the expected start and end times and duration for the specific activity. Some activi-ties may need to be addressed on an ongoing basis. There-fore, such activities can be shown as boxes that span the entire duration (Near-Term to Long-Term). The length of a box also reflects complexity level, in terms of time and efforts needed for the activity. Technology-development activities that are already in progress are shown by the boxes that start at the beginning of the Near-Term.

VALUE AND RISK

With accelerated pace of integration of new resources and technologies at transmission and distribution levels, grid planners and operators face technical challenges to ensure reliable integration of these resources and technologies at the bulk electric system level. The above efforts and the com-panion roadmap will be valuable to the grid operators and planners in facilitating the integration.

The integration of novel resources and technologies will require significant industry efforts in developing technology solutions and in enhancing the current practices and pro-cesses. The time and money required for these efforts will compete directly with resources required for maintaining the existing infrastructure and for building new infrastruc-ture. A potential risk is inadequate resources for, and com-mitment to, the technology-development efforts identified above. This can result in lack of appropriate tools and tech-niques for planners and operators, which can result in delay in integrating novel resources and technologies and in main-taining adequate levels of reliability of the bulk power system.

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STUDY TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND MODELS


Grid operators and planners will have simulation-study tools, techniques, and models capable of incorporating reliability, power quality, safety, and security standards and criteria, as well as market, economics, public policy, and environmental aspects.


• Tools, techniques, and technologies will enable grid opera-tors and planners to: 1) increase power flows on new and existing transmission lines, while maintaining high reli-ability and minimizing costs; 2) reduce losses in transmis-sion lines; 3) manage safe and efficient use of right of way by multiple entities, such as pipelines and telephone lines; and 4) manage the right of way for the public.

• The needs and processes to conduct stability studies and advanced transmission studies (such as transient voltage recovery, harmonics, and sub-synchronous resonance) will be well understood and documented. The processes for such studies will be seamlessly integrated into the processes used to conduct other routine studies.

• Common information modeling (CIM) will be fully functional across the industry for the grid operations and planning function.

• Tools, techniques, and processes will enable grid opera-tors and planners to consider multiple development and operational scenarios (such as off-peak and shoulder-peak), changing characteristics of load (non-passive), and new resources (such as wind, solar, plug-in electric vehicles, demand-side, and storage).

• Grid planners and operators will have the ability to seam-lessly transfer data from real-time energy-management systems (EMSs) to off-line simulation-study tools to facilitate off-line studies and to seamlessly transfer the results of off-line simulation studies to an EMS environ-ment for display and to facilitate real-time contingency-analysis studies.

• All operators within an interconnection will be able to readily exchange EMS models and data among themselves.

• Fast simulation techniques will enable grid operators and planners to efficiently conduct off-line and real-time con-tingency-analysis studies.

• Automated processes will facilitate validation of compo-nent-simulation models (such as a generator-excitation

system model) by comparing routinely available field data with simulation results.

• Interactive tools will enable the planners and operators to conduct off-line and real-time contingency-analysis studies through plug-and-play modules consisting of software programs to analyze the power system, power system models, and the associated geographic information.

GAPS

• Planners and operators will need tools and fast simula-tion techniques that can accommodate and evaluate a multitude of scenarios, options, and resources (genera-tion, demand side, transmission, new technologies, and so on).

• Risk-based planning approaches will be required to aug-ment current deterministic planning approaches to assess a large number of operating scenarios and the impacts of variable generation and to evaluate necessary upgrades to the transmission grid. Planners and operators will need guidelines for using deterministic and probabilistic plan-ning techniques and to incorporate system flexibility into planning criteria and metrics.

• Methods will be required to perform studies that capture primary and secondary frequency responses (speed gov-erning, automatic generation control (AGC), and operat-ing reserves).

• Increased consideration of advanced technologies (such as HVDC and FACTS devices) will require that vali-dated and non-proprietary models be integrated into day-to-day planning and operations. Automated tools are required for validating models (power flow, stability, and detailed three-phase models for transient studies).

• Study tools and models are required to capture mid-term and long-term dynamics in simulation studies, and to be seamlessly integrated with other tools.

• Planners and operators will also need methods and rule-based techniques (artificial intelligence) to make increased use of sensor information (synchrophasors, dynamic thermal rating, and so on) into planning and operation models and analysis.

• EPRI grid operations and planning efforts and projects should be coordinated with EPRI Distribution, Trans-mission and Substations, IntelliGrid, and Generation programs.

PDU.GOP.02R0


• The scope of transmission planning studies and assess-ments must expand to consider a broader range of issues and benefits, including aspects related to markets, eco-nomics, policy, and the environment.

ACTION PLAN

Conducting simulation studies is one of the primary activities of grid operators and planners. Studies are essential to ensure the reliability of the bulk electric system, to develop transmis-sion reinforcement projects, and to secure the system by pre-paring it for n-1 or multiple contingencies. These studies require appropriate levels of data and modeling breadth and depth of the interconnected network facilities and equipment.

To achieve this Future State, RD&D will need to be directed in two principal areas: (1) Study Modeling and Data and (2) Study Scope, Tools, and Techniques. The following RD&D activities focus on various enabling and emerging technolo-gies, processes, and tools that will support grid operators and planners in achieving this Future State.

Study Modeling and Data

Validation of Existing Models: Develop tools and processes to validate existing power-flow, dynamics, and short-circuit models. Model validation is essential to ensure accurate repre-sentation of equipment in simulation studies. Model valida-tion may also facilitate compliance with several NERC standards.

Modeling of Protection and Control Equipment: Develop simulation tools and models to incorporate the actions and impacts of system protection and control (P&C) equipment in GOP simulation studies. Generally, P&C equipment and actions are not modeled in system impact studies. However, these actions are important because they can result in contin-gencies, which need to be accurately incorporated to assess system performance. In addition, the NERC transmission planning (TPL) standards currently under development will require grid planners to include the effects of protection sys-tems and control devices in their simulation studies. Thus, transmission planners will need to model protection and con-trol devices in their studies. This activity will need to be coor-dinated with protection and control engineers of the industry.

Models for New Equipment: Develop power-flow, dynamics, and short-circuit models for new equipment such as HVDC as well as supply-side and demand-side devices. As mentioned earlier, the industry needs validated, non-proprietary models for new technologies, devices, and equipment.

Load Modeling: Develop enhanced analytical approaches for load modeling. The industry needs to continue the RD&D work in this area. There is a lack of well-accepted approaches

to represent load in simulation studies. New types of tech-nologies, devices, and equipment—such as power electronics, demand response, storage, and plug-in electric vehicles—are emerging, and their market penetration is increasing. Tools and processes are needed to update load models based on component-based and measurement-based approaches. This activity will also include the development of necessary model-ing of demand response and plug-in electric vehicles.

Automated Model-Validation Tools: Develop automated tools for model validation. This will require development of new automated processes and tools that can analyze system ambi-ent conditions and disturbance data to validate simulation models.

Centralized Modeling Database: Develop a framework for a centralized modeling database for planning, operations, and protection applications. A centralized database is important because it minimizes inconsistencies with equipment and facility modeling among various users. It will also assist in achieving compliance with NERC standards that deal with consistencies with facility modeling data among various data users. Once the framework is developed, it can be adopted by any industry entity to develop a centralized database to suit its needs.

Integrated Planning and Operations Models: Develop a framework for an interface between planning and operations system models that can facilitate: a) transfer of off-line study models, data, and results to EMS and b) transfer of EMS models and data and information about real-time situational awareness to off-line study models.

EMS Data Exchange: Develop a framework and interface that can facilitate transfer of real-time data amongst balancing authorities, regardless of the proprietary nature of vendors’ EMS tools.

Study Scope, Tools, and Techniques

Tools to Screen/Prioritize Contingencies: Develop tools that can prioritize contingencies based on their potential risk to the bulk electric system. Such tools can help speed up the process of running simulations that often involve hundreds or even thousands of contingencies to ensure reliability of the bulk electric system under n-1 and multiple contingency condi-tions. These tools can be enhanced by incorporating line-out-age statistics, which may be derived from the TADS and GADS databases.

Frequency-Response Assessment Studies: Develop processes, modeling, and tools to perform simulation studies for evalu-ating frequency response of an interconnected network. Such studies will require time-domain simulations that incorporate mid-term and long-term dynamics. Because the scope of such studies extends beyond that of typical tran-sient-stability simulations, efforts will be needed to identify

PDU.GOP.02R0


appropriate software and to identify and develop the neces-sary modeling. In addition, the industry needs metrics to measure what constitutes adequate frequency response (pri-mary and secondary) during the time scale that ranges from seconds to tens of minutes.

Reactive Power Management: Develop study tools and methods to assess voltage stability and to manage reactive power resources to mitigate stability problems. This activity will be critically important due to: a) retirement of conven-tional generators, which provide robust dynamic voltage support; and b) large-scale integration of variable generation, which may not provide as robust voltage support as conven-tional generation does.

Three-Phase Unbalance Studies: Develop processes and tools to conduct three-phase unbalance studies. These studies require specialized expertise in developing three-phase mod-els, running electromagnetic transient studies, and interpret-ing the study results to derive observation and conclusions.

Advanced Transmission Studies: Identify need and develop processes and tools to conduct advanced transmission studies such as transient overvoltage, sub-synchronous resonance, and oscillatory stability.

Risk-Based Study Tools: Develop processes and tools to con-duct risk-based simulation studies. The industry should aug-ment current deterministic planning studies with probabilis-tic techniques and risk-based study approaches for various reasons. The large-scale integration of variable generation, the retirement of conventional generation, and increasing amounts of demand response have added uncertainty in the planning and operations horizons and may alter the reliability land-scape considerably. Risk-based approaches will help in justify-ing and prioritizing long-term capital investments and help in securing appropriate levels of resources to meet operational needs. The availability of TADS, GADS, and DADS data and statistics will help in implementing and leveraging probabilis-tic techniques.

Transmission Efficiency and Utilization: Demonstrate and deploy technologies to improve the efficiency and utilization of transmission assets. It should be noted that within the EPRI GOP area, EPRI Program P172 (Efficient Transmission Systems) is designed to help utilities analyze and develop strat-egies and implement technologies to increase transmission efficiency and utilization.

Integrated Economics and Reliability Tools: Develop tools that integrate reliability as well as economics into system stud-ies conducted by grid planners and operators. While main-taining grid reliability remains the primary focus for grid operators and planners, market facilitation through economic operation and prudent grid build-out has become an impor-tant goal. This will require development of grid operations

and planning tools capable of accommodating reliability, eco-nomic factors, and market aspects.

Economic and Societal Benefits: Develop tools, processes, and frameworks to assess the benefits of proposed grid-reinforce-ment projects. It is becoming increasingly important to iden-tify and quantify the benefits of proposed grid projects to demonstrate their value to stakeholders, ratepayers, and regu-latory bodies. A consistent and broadly accepted framework to assess the broad benefits of proposed grid-reinforcement proj-ects is currently not available. Grid planners will have to develop ways and methods to incorporate economic and social factors in planning assessments in order to secure regulatory approvals and to demonstrate the benefits of new projects. It should be noted that the cost/benefit assessment framework developed by EPRI under PRISM initiative and under Pro-gram P172 will likely help.

Advanced Computing Techniques: Develop a roadmap and specifications to employ advanced computing techniques in GOP applications. Advanced computing technologies may be deployed to accelerate data analysis and computer simulation tasks and to enhance the analysis conducted by grid planners and operators. The overall objective of this activity is to apply advanced computing techniques to enhance the functionality of current tools and techniques used by GOP staff.

Advanced Computing Techniques: Demonstrate the use of advanced computing techniques in GOP applications. This represents the implementation of the roadmap developed in the above activity.

The above activities are arranged in a technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of road-map activities is attached. The attachment shows two tracks: (1) Study Modeling and Data and (2) Study Scope, Tools, and Techniques. In each track, the associated activities related to the grid operations and planning function are summarized in the boxes. The length of each box indicates the expected start/end times and duration for that specific activity.

VALUE AND RISK

With the grid undergoing significant transformation, the efforts outlined in the above action plan will be necessary and valuable to the grid operators and planners in meeting the reliability, economic, power quality, security, and public policy requirements and challenges.

The above action plan will require significant commitment from gird operators and planners to spend money on devel-oping new tools, techniques, and processes, and to spend time on demonstrating and deploying the newly developed tools. Without such commitment, the full potential of the grid—in terms of its reliability, security, power quality, and so on—cannot be realized.

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PDU.GOP.02R0



Decision-support tools will be available to system operators to help them contain disturbances and restore the system efficiently following a major disturbance or blackout.


• Special protection schemes and intentional islanding schemes will be leveraged to minimize the impact of system disruptions and to assist system operators in res-toration efforts.

• Simulators will be available for use in real-time and off-line environments to facilitate tabletop exercises and restoration-related simulation studies and training.

• Real-time simulation and protection schemes will respond to system disturbances to mitigate the impacts and also proactively develop the restoration steps to efficiently restore the system based on the particular disturbance.

• Synchrophasor data will assist restoration by pinpoint-ing failures and causes and by continuing to provide information regarding situational awareness even when the state estimator does not function.

GAPS

• Operators need enhanced analytical techniques and tools to provide support during emergency and system-restoration conditions, including guidance on an opti-mal system-restoration path as the restoration pro-gresses using available resources (lines, loads, and blackstart generation sources).

• Increased use of special protection schemes and analyti-cal techniques are required to develop intentional islanding schemes (such as Intelligent Separation Schemes) to minimize the impact of system disruptions and assist system operators in restoration efforts.

• Increased use of synchrophasor data may also assist res-toration by pinpointing failures and causes and by con-tinuing to provide information regarding situational awareness even if the state estimator does not function.

ACTION PLAN

Addressing system emergencies and restoring the system after blackouts are some of the critical responsibilities of sys-tem operators. Normally, grid operators work jointly with

grid planners to develop decision-support tools to deal with these situations.

To achieve this Future State, RD&D will need to be directed in three principal areas: (1) Prevention, (2) Mitigation, and (3) Restoration. The following RD&D activities focus on enabling and emerging technologies, processes, and tools that will support grid operators and planners in achieving this Future State.

Prevention

Real-Time Contingency Analysis (RTCA) Tools: Enhance RTCA tools to speed up the analysis process. This will help operators in promptly arriving at mitigation measures that can help in addressing impending contingencies or system emergencies.

Operator Training Simulators: Enhance operator training simulators to simulate what-if scenarios involving system emergencies, mitigation measures, and restoration procedures.

Sensor Technologies: Develop sensor technologies that can enhance an operator’s situational awareness. As an example, synchrophasor technology has the potential to enhance situational awareness of an operator because it can provide high-resolution, synchronized data across a wide area of a power system and early warning of evolving stability issues.

Mitigation

Safety Nets: Develop intelligent automatic separation schemes as safety nets to mitigate potential impact of system emergencies. The industry needs analytical techniques that can help in developing such schemes.

Decision-Support Tools for System Emergency: Develop and demonstrate tools that can help operators in addressing system emergencies.

Restoration

Decision-Support Tools for System Emergency and Restora-tion: Develop and demonstrate tools and methods that help operators in restoring the system following a blackout. The industry needs tools that can help operators identify optimal restoration paths and their sequence when the system is being restored in a step-by-step fashion following a major blackout.

Guidelines for Blackstart Requirements: Develop tools and methods that can provide guidelines for the locations, and the corresponding MW amounts, of blackstart resources required across a system. These efforts will include the devel-

DISASTER RECOVERY AND SYSTEM RESTORATION

PDU.GOP.03R0


opment of analytical methods that can identify blackstart requirements when the system is being restored in a step-by-step fashion following a major blackout.

New Blackstart Resources: Investigate the potential of new resources (such as storage) to provide blackstart service. Demonstrate the blackstart capability of these resources.

The above activities are arranged in technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of roadmap activities is attached. The attachment shows three tracks:

(1) Prevention, (2) Mitigation, and (3) Restoration. In each track, the associated activities that are under the purview of grid operators and planners are shown in abbreviated form in the boxes. The length of each box indicates the expected start/end times and duration for that specific activity.

VALUE AND RISK

The technology-development efforts mentioned in the above action plan are essential for grid operators and planners in addressing system emergencies, preventing or mitigating consequences, and restoring the system effectively. The potential value to be derived from these R&D efforts could be measured in substantial financial savings to the society.

Increasing complexity in operating the power system calls for investment in developing these technologies, without which potential risk of degradation in system availability is possible.

PDU.GOP.03R0

Power Delivery & Utilization Sector Roadmaps 16 PDU.GOP.03R0

Futu

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Wor

k

Oth

er S

take

hold

ers

Key

Mile

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e

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orat

ion

Nea

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rm (1

-3 Y

ears

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id-T

erm

(4-7

Yea

rs)

Long

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m (8

-10

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s)

Prev

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Miti

gatio

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Real

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genc

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rato

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mul

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oy S

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.g.,

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ituat

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ty N

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epar

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es

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and

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The transmission grid will be capable of self-healing by auto-matically detecting, analyzing, and responding (through auto-mated controls) to operating conditions.


• Local, centralized, and hierarchical control strategies will be leveraged to facilitate the automatic detection of, analy-sis of, and response to system disturbances.

• Grid operators will be able to enable auto-pilot operation of certain functions, if desired, while still having full visu-alization of current system conditions, expected future conditions, and the ability to intervene as necessary.

GAPS

• Demonstration projects are required to evaluate the use and benefits of more complex control strategies, includ-ing centralized controls that can monitor and activate multiple controls across a wide area (such as voltage con-trol or system restoration).

• It is also necessary to investigate the impact of renewable generation and demand-side technologies on voltage-support requirements, including advancement of EPRI and industry tools and techniques as appropriate and necessary, and the use of demonstration projects on the systems of member companies.

• The use of synchrophasor data to improve the overall effectiveness of advanced control schemes should also be investigated.

• The existing communication infrastructure and tech-nologies may not be adequate for effective operation of advanced hierarchical controls and control strategies.

• Distributed data-processing capability will be required for effective operation of local and distributed controls.

ACTION PLAN

Well-designed automated controls capable of detecting sys-tem events, processing power system information, and responding to processed information can help the grid oper-ator in addressing system emergencies by mitigating system impact, which in turn can aid system restoration efforts.

To achieve this Future State, RD&D will need to be directed in one principal area: Automatic Response and Grid Con-trols. The following RD&D activities focus on various enabling and emerging technologies, processes and tools

that will support grid operators, and planners in achieving this Future State.

Automatic Response and Grid Controls

Advanced Automated Controls Using Sensor Data: Develop advanced automated controls that use high-volume, low-latency data such as synchrophasors. Grid operators and planners will benefit from the development of advanced controls that can take automatic corrective actions to improve system perfor-mance or to mitigate the effects of impending emergencies.

Adaptive Protection and Control: Explore the development and application of adaptive protection and control equipment and strategies. Such protection equipment can be programmed for flexible settings, instead of fixed settings, depending upon system conditions, which can help in optimizing system per-formance. This activity will need to be coordinated with pro-tection and control engineers in the industry.

Advanced Voltage-Control (AVC) Technology: Demonstrate and deploy the AVC technology. It should be noted that Pro-gram P172 provides opportunities to EPRI members to dem-onstrate this technology on their systems.

Intelligent Automated Separation Schemes: Develop and demonstrate intelligent automated separation schemes.

Advanced Control Strategies: Develop and demonstrate auto-mated, coordinated, and hierarchical controls and control strategies. This will require some groundbreaking research and involvement from industry visionaries. The long-term goal is to develop advanced controls and advanced hierarchi-cal control strategies over a wide area to improve self-healing of the transmission grid.

The above activities are arranged in technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of roadmap activities is attached. The attachment shows one track, namely Automatic Response and Grid Controls. In this track, the associated activities related to the grid operations and planning function are summarized in the boxes. The length of each box indicates the expected start/end times and duration for that specific activity.

VALUE AND RISK

The efforts mentioned above to develop advanced controls will improve the self-healing nature of the grid, thus augment-ing the function of grid operators.

With the increased complexity in operating the power system, the risk to the system can be minimized by developing sound controls and control strategies. These RD&D efforts are somewhat technically complex, which poses a risk that the industry may not take them on.

SYSTEM CONTROL

PDU.GOP.04R0


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m (8

-10

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s)

Auto

mat

ic R

espo

nse

and

Grid

Con

trol

s

EPRI

Wor

k

Oth

er S

take

hold

ers

Key

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ston

e

Deve

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Adva

nced

Aut

omat

ed C

ontr

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or D

ata

(e.g

. Syn

chro

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ors)

Deve

lop

& A

pply

Ada

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otec

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& C

ontr

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Equi

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Dem

onst

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Adv

ance

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VC) T

echn

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& D

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/Coo

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PDU.GOP.04R0



A full set of applications, tools, and systems will be avail-able to provide the visualization and situational awareness required by system operators, customers, and regulators.


• Grid operators will have sufficient real-time informa-tion to enhance situational awareness and “look ahead” capability to enhance their decision-making. Tools will determine the appropriate (MW and Mvar) margins to display for operators based on the location and system conditions. Real-time tools, including mitigation strat-egies, will be available to guide the operator in decision-making to steer through security situations.

• Synchrophasor data will be available to facilitate instant diagnosis of the performance of the entire system, which will then be displayed, based on the needs of the operators.

• Applications, tools, and systems will enable grid opera-tors to identify in real-time potential areas of voltage instability and the corresponding dynamic and static reactive-power requirements by area, to avoid instabil-ity. For each potential voltage-security or collapse sce-nario identified in off-line studies, synchrophasor data will be used to calculate margins available in real time before a voltage collapse can occur. Specific operating steps (responses) will be automatically presented to the operators based on potential problems identified by synchrophasor data.

• Information about the health of critical equipment will be available for use by operators to identify potential equipment problems and incorporate this information in real-time contingency analysis to arrive at potential mitigation strategies.

GAPS

• Enhanced situational-awareness tools and analytical techniques are required to support the system operators in several areas, including: reserve monitoring (reactive reserve and operating reserve); alarm-response proce-dures; proactive operating procedures; operating guides (mitigation plans); load-shed capability; system reas-sessment and re-posturing; and blackstart capability in real time.

• Tools and applications may also use sensor data (syn-chrophasors, dynamic thermal ratings, and so on) to calculate available MW margins in real time and assess-ment of voltage-stability margins across a wide area. Algorithms will be required to interpret the data and provide information regarding asset and system health in a usable form for operators, asset managers, and planners. This information should include suggested mitigation measures.

• To improve wide-area visibility, it will be necessary to develop vendor-neutral interfaces that will enable the exchange of EMS models, transfer of real-time data to simulation programs, and information and data exchange data between all operators and control centers within an interconnection.

• Adequate and secure information and communication infrastructure are required to integrate new sensor tech-nologies and to enable a smarter transmission grid. It must accommodate collection of data from diverse resources (such as equipment-health sensors, synchro-phasors, intelligent electronic devices, weather sensors, and devices used to measure parameters of a power sys-tem) in large quantities (volume and frequency) from across the grid and interconnections with other regions. EPRI Grid Operations and Planning (GOP) efforts should be coordinated with the Intelligrid and Trans-mission & Substation programs.

• Information and data-handling, sorting by priority, and filtering techniques will be required to ensure that only relevant information is communicated to opera-tors of control centers and other users. EPRI GOP efforts should be coordinated with the Intelligrid and Transmission & Substation programs.

ACTION PLAN

It is essential for grid operators to know the present condi-tions within and around their power systems and to have an indication of system conditions anticipated during the next few hours.

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

PDU.GOP.05R0


To achieve this Future State, RD&D will need to be directed in four principal areas: (1) Grid Monitoring and Sensors; (2) Decision Support and Visualization Tools; (3) Real-Time Tools for Voltage and Frequency Control and Support; and (4) Analysis of Monitored Data. The following RD&D activities focus on various enabling and emerging technologies, processes, and tools that will sup-port grid operators and planners in achieving this Future State.

Grid Monitoring and Sensors

Real-Time Visualization of Supply-Side and Demand-Side Resources and Technologies: Provide real-time visualiza-tion of supply-side and demand-side resources, technolo-gies, and devices in control centers to meet the needs of grid operators. This will require information and appropri-ate level of detail related to wind and solar generation, dis-tributed energy resources, demand response, storage, plug-in electric vehicles, and so on to be integrated with other EMS information.

Synchrophasor Technology Applications: Develop syn-chrophasor technology-based applications that provide wide-area, high-resolution, synchronized real-time moni-toring of power system performance.

Decision Support and Visualization Tools

Advanced Visualization Techniques: Develop advanced human-centric visualization techniques. Tools and tech-niques are needed to display information in control centers that is succinct and intuitive for operators. Operators also need comprehensive visualization techniques to display operating boundaries for guidance on security limits and margins.

Alarm-Management Techniques: Develop advanced tech-niques to manage the alarm data received from the system by converting the data to information displayed succinctly for the operators.

State Estimation Using Synchrophasor Technology: Enhance State Estimator solution techniques by incorpo-rating synchrophasor data.

Equipment Health Information: Develop processes and tools to integrate real-time health information of critical equipment in control centers. Grid operators have expressed the need for information on equipment health to facilitate their decision-making.

Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) Technology: Develop and demonstrate processes and tools to deploy DTR tech-nology in system operations and market practices and processes.

Real-Time Tools for Voltage and Frequency Control and Support

Voltage Stability: Develop and demonstrate tools and processes for real-time assessment of voltage stability and stability margins. The industry needs analytical tools to assess voltage-stability performance and calculate stabil-ity margins in a real-time environment. Also, tools and processes are needed to display this information in con-trol centers.

Reactive-Power Management: Develop study tools and methods to assess voltage stability and to manage reactive-power resources to mitigate stability problems. Also, tools and processes are needed to display this information in control centers. This activity will take on an additional importance due to: a) retirement of conventional genera-tors, which provide robust dynamic voltage support; and b) large-scale integration of variable generation, which may not provide as robust voltage support as provided by con-ventional generation.

Frequency Response: Develop and demonstrate tools and processes for real-time assessment of frequency response. The industry needs processes and tools that can promptly analyze system frequency response to events such as gen-erator or line trips and display the information succinctly for the operator to assess adequacy of the frequency response.

Management of Operating Reserve Resources: Develop and demonstrate tools and processes for real-time manage-ment of operating reserve resources. This will require the combined use of the following tools indicated in the flow-chart for Future State 3: all the tools mentioned under the “Resource Adequacy and Flexibility” track and the fore-casting tools for operating reserve requirements mentioned under the “Forecasting” track.

Analysis of Monitored Data

Automated System-Event Analysis: Develop automated processes and tools to analyze system events. The industry needs such tools to be able to quickly identify the signature of an event and act to mitigate its effect. Eventually, such tools and processes can help in real-time postmortem of major disturbances.

The above activities are arranged in technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of roadmap activities is attached. The attachment shows four tracks: (1) Grid Monitoring and Sensors; (2) Decision-Sup-port and Visualization Tools; (3) Real-Time Tools for Volt-age and Frequency Control and Support; and (4) Analysis of Monitored Data. In each track, the associated activities related to the grid operations and planning function are

PDU.GOP.05R0


summarized in the boxes. The length of each box indicates the expected start/end times and duration for that specific activity.

VALUE AND RISK

The lack of situational awareness was found to be one of the primary causes for the 8/14/03 blackout. The efforts mentioned in the above action plan are essential to enhance the knowledge of an operator of power system conditions and to support the operator’s decision-making.

Without such efforts, risk of emergencies and blackout could increase, especially in light of increasingly larger operational footprints.

PDU.GOP.05R0

Power Delivery & Utilization Sector Roadmaps 22 PDU.GOP.05R0

Futu

re S

tate

Com

pone

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Grid

Mon

itorin

g &

Sen

sors

Anal

ysis

of M

onito

red

Data

EPRI

Wor

k

Oth

er S

take

hold

ers

Key

Mile

ston

e

Real

Tim

e To

ols f

or V

olta

ge

and

Freq

uenc

y Co

ntro

l &

Supp

ort

Nea

r-Te

rm (1

-3 Y

ears

)M

id-T

erm

(4-7

Yea

rs)

Long

-Ter

m (8

-10

Year

s)

Deci

sion

Supp

ort &

Vi

sual

izatio

n To

ols

Prov

ide

Real

Tim

e Vi

sual

izatio

n of

Sup

ply-

and

Dem

and-

Side

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sour

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Devi

ces i

n Co

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ters

Deve

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, In

clud

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unda

ries

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and

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Man

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s

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grat

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in

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rs

Deve

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and

Dem

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rate

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s to

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vide

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In

form

atio

n in

Con

trol

Cen

ters

Deve

lop

and

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rate

Too

ls/Pr

oces

ses

for R

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Asse

ssm

ent o

f Vol

tage

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bilit

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d St

abili

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argi

ns

Deve

lop

and

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oces

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agem

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ssm

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lop

and

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onst

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ls/Pr

oces

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for R

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Man

agem

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Deve

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Auto

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The future workforce will have access to interactive training in power system fundamentals, power system analysis, safety, security, public policy, economics, and the latest IT techniques and approaches.


• Handheld, portable, and virtual devices will be avail-able to facilitate interactive power system training.

• A comprehensive training database, including docu-mented institutional knowledge and nationally funded training material (such as the University of Illinois material), will be available to facilitate training of grid operators and planners.

• Interactive tools used in the performance of routine operational and planning analysis will be adaptive to the level of user experience to provide additional intel-ligence and analysis of system conditions and develop-ment of mitigation measures.

GAPS

• Industry will require processes and techniques to cap-ture the knowledge and experience of retiring staff and succession plans, including assessment of impacts of retirements.

• Standardized curricula and recruiting strategies with community colleges, apprenticeship programs, and universities may be developed to inform individuals of career possibilities. Industry needs to seek grant fund-ing (EPA, DOE, and Job Training & Partnership Act) and create a standard evaluation for assessing new employees regarding their previous knowledge and skills.

• EPRI Grid Operation and Planning (GOP) efforts should be coordinated with the industry and other areas of EPRI (Distribution, Generation, and Trans-mission and Substations).

ACTION PLAN

As the GOP workforce transforms due to retirement of expe-rienced staff, industry will need to pay particular attention to developing the skills of those entering the workforce.

To achieve this Future State, activities will need to be directed in three principal areas: (1) Skills, (2) Training Tools, and (3) Training Database. A large portion of these activities is not specifically related to RD&D, but it repre-sents process improvements and mechanisms that will assist in the development of the future workforce.

Skills

Inventory of Industry Skill-Set Requirements: Create an inventory of industry skill-set requirements (through IEEE, PSERC, EPRI, and other entities).

Update of Industry Skill-Set Requirements: Update skill-set requirements as needed to reflect industry changes.

Loss of Institutional Knowledge: Develop processes to track the loss of institutional knowledge (such as EMTP expertise).

Training Tools

Electromagnetic Transients (EMT) Studies: Develop train-ing material to conduct EMT studies for digital simulation of transients involving electromagnetic and electromechani-cal phenomena. These studies are typically conducted using programs such as Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP), PSCAD software, and Alternative Transients Pro-gram (ATP).

Knowledge Capture and Transfer Tools: Develop knowl-edge capture and transfer tools. Develop on-the-job and coop training programs.

Syllabi and Courses: Develop and evergreen syllabi and courses for technical training with universities and Web trainers.

Courses for Mandatory Training: Develop courses for man-datory training such as that required by NERC.

Operator Training Simulators: Develop digital/operator training simulators, real-time digital simulators, and the corresponding training modules.

WORKFORCE AND SKILLS

PDU.GOP.06R0


Training Database

Training Material: Develop training material on industry skill sets (need-based).

National Training Database: Develop national database of training material.

The above activities are arranged in technology tracks (also referred to as swimlanes). This graphical representation of roadmap activities is attached. The attachment shows three tracks: (1) Skills, (2) Training Tools, and (3) Training Data-base. In each track, the associated activities that are related to the grid operations and planning function are summa-rized in the boxes. The length of each box indicates the expected start/end times and duration for that specific activity.

VALUE AND RISK

The efforts outlines in the above action plan are designed to address the growing workforce concerns and depletion of skill sets in the power industry.

A risk exists that the workforce and skill sets may deplete if industry-wide efforts to develop training tools and databases are not pursued and especially if training activities continue to take low priority as has been the case for decades.

PDU.GOP.06R0

Grid Operations and Planning 25 PDU.GOP.06R0

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Trai

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Too

ls

Trai

ning

Dat

abas

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r-Te

rm (1

-3 Y

ears

)M

id-T

erm

(4-7

Yea

rs)

Long

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m (8

-10

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s)

Skill

s

Upd

ate

Skill

Set

Req

uire

men

ts a

nd E

verg

reen

the

Proc

ess

Deve

lop

Proc

esse

s to

Tra

ck th

e Lo

ss o

f In

stitu

tiona

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Crea

te a

nd In

vent

ory

of In

dust

ry S

kill

Sets

Deve

lop

Trai

ning

Mat

eria

l for

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ctro

mag

netic

Tr

ansie

nts (

EMT)

Stu

dies

Deve

lop

Know

ledg

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ptur

e an

d Tr

ansf

er T

ools

Deve

lop

On-

the-

Job

and

Coop

Tra

inin

g Pr

ogra

ms

Deve

lop

Cour

ses

for M

anda

tory

Tra

inin

g (N

ERC,

et

c.)

Deve

lop

and

Ever

gree

n Sy

llabu

s and

Cou

rses

for T

echn

ical

Tra

inin

g w

ith U

nive

rsiti

es a

nd W

eb

Trai

ners

Deve

lop

Digi

tal/O

pera

tor T

rain

ing

Sim

ulat

ors &

Rea

l-Tim

e Di

gita

l Sim

ulat

ors a

nd

Corr

espo

ndin

g Tr

aini

ng M

odul

es

Deve

lop

Trai

ning

Mat

eria

ls on

Indu

stry

Ski

ll Se

ts (N

eeds

Bas

ed)

Deve

lop

Nat

iona

l Dat

abas

e of

Tra

inin

g M

ater

ials

Documents

GRID OPERATIONS AND PLANNING