US DOE, utilities to install enhanced grid monitoring system
Washington (Platts)--10Aug2004
A joint project by the US Dept. of Energy and several utilities will allow transmission system operators in several states to see a clearer picture of grid operations in a short period of time, improving grid reliability, DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said Monday. The effort, dubbed the Phasor Project, is designed to improve situational awareness among grid operators, allowing them to see grid conditions in other regions that could affect operations in their territory and it will play a large role in preventing another blackout like the one that occurred Aug 14, 2003, DOE said. Later this month, the Phasor Project will be operating on the systems of Ameren, American Electric Power, Entergy, Tennessee Valley Authority, the New York Independent System Operator and the Midwest ISO. Thus far, utilities have invested about $1-mil toward the effort and DOE has provided $750,000. The project is designed to cover major transmission corridors and it samples grid conditions on a much faster basis than existing systems, which can take up to several minutes to give operators a snapshot of conditions only in their area, explained Matt Donnelly, project manager with the DOE lab. "A lot can change in one minute" and the Phasor system can provide 30 samples per second over a vast territory, giving operators "a better picture in a shorter time frame." Future applications of the system could allow for automated control of grid operations, leading to the type of "self-healing grid," that many in the electric industry have been pursuing for years, Donnelly said. "If this system had been in place last year, it may have helped system operators take steps to avoid the Aug 14 blackout," he said.
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