Unified Real Time Data State Measurement

1. Introduction of WAMS and URTDSM

Introduction to WAMS and URTDSM

Presently real time operations of the Power system are being carried out through
SCADA/EMS system which is an essential tool for Grid Operation as well as market,
operations. These tools are to be supplemented by providing more advance techniques based
on Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS). To implement this advance technology on
large scale POWERGRID has taken up Unified Real Time Dynamic State Measurement
(URTDSM) Project. The intent of this URTDSM project is to provide complete observability
of the Indian Power system in real time at NLDC (National Load Desptach Centre), RLDCs
(Regional Load Despatch Centres) & all SLDCs (State Load Despatch Centers) of the
country through installation of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) at the Power Plants &
Substations, and Phasor Data Concentrators (PDCs) at all the control centers. In the context
of this project the NLDC/RLDCs/SLDCs have also been referred as control centers. These
Control Centres shall acquire the PMU measurement of Power Systems of their respective
area of jurisdiction. It is also proposed to provide required data acquisition & visualization
tools along with PDC & other components for PMU data presentation and archiving.
URTDSM Project shall involve installation of PMUs at all the 400kV and above substations
& Power Plants transmitting power at 220kV and above. The PMUs shall measure currents of
all the feeders and Voltages of the all the Buses and all line feeders. Under URTDSM project
WAMS system shall be implemented in all the entire country. WAMS of each region shall
comprise of PMUs, PDCs and associated H/W &S/W for all the control centers of the
country.
These PMUs shall transmit the substation data in IEEE C37.118protocol to Phasor Data
Concentrators (PDCs) to be located in that State/Region. The data from the PDCs at State
level/Regional level shall be transmitted to National Level PDCs.
In principle, PDCs shall work as a node in the Communication network where synchrophasor
data from a number of PMUs or other PDCs is correlated and fed out as a single stream to
the higher level PDCs and or applications. The PDCs shall correlate synchrophasor data by
time tag to create a system-wise measurement set.
Based on the area of location of PDC, they are named as Master and Super PDCS. All
PDCs to be located in SLDCs (State Level) are termed as Master PDC (MPDC). MPDCs
shall aggregate data from multiple PMUs within that State. All PDCs to be located in RLDCs
(Regional Level) and at NLDCs (National Level) are termed as Super PDCs. A Super-PDC at
RLDC level shall collect the phasor measurement data from hundreds of PMUs within that
region and multiple Master PDCs of States. Super PDCs at NLDC level shall collect the data
from all the RLDCs and may collect the data from few of the PMUs directly. Super PDC at
NTAMC shall collect the data from PMUs located in POWERGRID substations

Indian Power Sector

The exchange of power among the synchronized regions takes place through
765/400/220kV transmission lines and HVDC interconnections whereas the power
exchange with Southern region is through HVDC interconnections. The operation of the
each regional grid is managed by the Regional Load Dispatch Centre (RLDC) with
underlying State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDCs) and Sub-LDCs. At National level to
supervise the RLDCs and to monitor the interregional & international power exchanges,

a National Load Dispatch Centre at New Delhi is in operation. All SLDCs, RLDCs and
NLDC control Centers are equipped with SCADA/EMS systems.
Commensurate with economic development, Indian Electricity Grid is expanding
exponentially with increased number of interconnections between Regions and
increased power flow across the regions. Apart from the Inter-Regional connectivity, a
large number of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Ultra Mega Power Projects
(UMPPs) are coming up along with associated 765 / 400kV interconnections within and
across the region rendering power system operation more and more complex. The
penetration of renewable in the grid is increasing at a fast pace. Above all with the
implementation of open access market and Power Exchange, the contracts are to be
implemented by the system operators which demand that the existing lines / corridors
are to be loaded to their limits. It is the responsibility of the system operators to meet the
market requirements and at the same time maintaining grid security and safety and to
satisfy the consumer aspiration for quality and reliable power supply. Hence power
system operator needs to be provided with the necessary tools to meet such complex,
multi-dimensional requirements of ever increasing demands of the customers while
complying with the regulatory requirements. The overall impact is achieving newer
dimension in power flow
quantum and direction.
POWERGRID, a Govt. of India Enterprise, the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) of
India and a Navaratna Company is engaged in Power transmission business with the
mandate for planning, coordination, supervision and control over complete inter-state
transmission system and operation of National & Regional Power Grids.
POWERGRID is responsible for establishment and operation of inter-state EHV
transmission lines, substations and communication facilities in a coordinated and
efficient manner. This gigantic transmission network, spread over length and breadth of
the country, is consistently maintained at an availability of over 99% through deployment
of state-of-the-art Operation & Maintenance techniques which are at par with Global
Standards. About 51% of total power generated in the country is wheeled through
POWERGRIDs transmission network. The function of grid operation at Regional and
National level is carried out through POSOCO, a 100% subsidiary of POWERGRID. At
State level SLDCs are responsible for grid operation.
POWERGRID in March 2009 has set up a subsidiary company named Power System
Operation Corporation Ltd. (POSOCO) with 100% ownership for discharging the
statutory functions of RLDCs(Regional Load Despatch Centre) and NLDC(National Load
Despatch Centre) under applicable provisions of Indian Electricity Act. The supervision
and control of all aspects concerning system operations and manpower requirement of
RLDCs and NLDC is being taken care by POSOCO.

Existing Load Dispatch and Communication Facilities

Presently Indian Power System is being monitored using Supervisory Control And Data
Acquisition/Energy Management Systems (SCADA/EMS) for real time operation. In
existing SCADA/EMS systems, the field data is obtained from RTUs/SAS. The RTUs
acquire and forward parameters like voltage, frequency, MW, MVAR, Breaker and
Isolator Positions etc. to Sub-LDC/SLDC/RLDC in real time. The Central Sector data is
directly transmitted to RLDCs and the state sector data is transmitted to SLDC in the
respective state. For data exchange between control Centres, ICCP protocol has been

used. All the RTUs/SAS commissioned are communicating on IEC-60870-5-101

protocol. The SCADA data of RLDCs system is integrated with NLDCs. Hierarchical
diagram is shown in Figure below.

Overview of WAMS
Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS) shall provide sophisticated tools to the
operators for grid monitoring and operation. WAMS shall consist of PMUs placed at
geographically spread locations and Phasor Data Concentrators (PDCs) at Control
Centre along with historian and visualization tool.
The approach adopted for deployment of PMU and PDC at State and Central sector
stations and transmission lines in a unified manner is as follows:
a. Approach on PMU Placement:
i.All substations at 400 kV and above
ii.All generating stations at 220 kV and above
iii.HVDC terminals and inter-regional and inter-national tie lines
iv.Both ends of all the transmission lines at 400kV and above
b. Approach on PDC placement:
The PDCs shall be placed at the Control Centres namely SLDCs, RLDCs, NLDC,
NTAMC and Strategic locations in States. Each SLDC and RLDC shall acquire data from
Substations and Power Plants falling under its area of jurisdiction directly. SLDCs shall
exchange data with respective RLDC and RLDCs shall exchange data with Main &
Backup NLDCs. Data from PMUs at POWERGRID stations are to be sent to Master
PDC at NTAMC. The design of PDC shall be such that it meets the capability
requirement of PMU data. Based upon this PMU data several online and offline functions
shall be performed based upon the requirement of Power System operation and
planning. Therefore this data shall be provided to several utilities. Due to large size and
nature of the project, it is intended to use latest computer hardware and software for
data along with presentation and archiving as well as cyber security aspects.

c. Sizing Requirement of PDCs

The naming of the super PDC or Master PDC has been done considering the level of control
center in the hierarchy. The power system size in each region is different therefore, to meet
the functional requirement of the WAMS system envisaged in each region under this project
all super PDCs and Master PDCs need not to be of the same size, though all the PDCs shall
perform the same functions. The PDC sizing requirement in terms of its capacity for
collecting the PMU data directly from the PMUs and indirectly through other PDCs as per
requirement of PMU. All the PMUs shall send data at 25 frames/second at each PDC
Location. However, all the PDCs shall be designed and tested to accommodate 50%
additional PMU data (direct as well as indirect reporting) without compromising the
performance on any account.

Proposed Communication System

To meet the Power system communication requirement, the project to establish fibre
optic based communication network is under implementation. The communication
system required for URTDSM project is not under the scope of this project. Fiber optic
communication system at all the proposed PMU locations and PDC locations is either
available or under implementation in separate projects.
Communication system being established shall be based upon SDH technology with
STM-16 forming the backbone and STM-4 on the branches. The communication
equipment shall be provided with Ethernet connectivity. The overall network shall
establish VLAN of 1Gbps exclusively for WAMS System. The envisaged network shall
provide minimum two physical paths.