End-use load control for power system dynamic stability enhancement

Abstract

Faced with the prospect of increasing utilization of the transmission and distribution infrastructure without significant upgrade, the domestic electric power utility industry is investing heavily in technologies to improve network dynamic performance through a program loosely referred to as Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS). Devices exploiting recent advances in power electronics are being installed in the power system to offset the need to construct new transmission lines. These devices collectively represent investment potential of several billion dollars over the next decade. A similar development, designed to curtail the peak loads and thus defer new transmission, distribution, and generation investment, falls under a category of technologies referred to as demand side management (DSM). A subset of broader conservation measures, DSM acts directly on the load to reduce peak consumption. DSM techniques include direct load control, in which a utility has the ability to curtail specific loads as conditions warrant. A novel approach has been conceived by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to combine the objectives of FACTS and the technologies inherent in DSM to provide a distributed power system dynamic controller. This technology has the potential to dramatically offset major investments in FACTS devices by using direct load control to achieve dynamic stability objectives. The potential value of distributed versus centralized grid modulation has been examined by simulating the western power grid under extreme loading conditions. In these simulations, a scenario is analyzed in which active grid stabilization enables power imports into the southern California region to be increased several hundred megawatts beyond present limitations. Modeling results show distributed load control is up to 30 percent more effective than traditional centralized control schemes in achieving grid stability.