Synchrophasor measurement network and its applications in Indian grid

Abstract

Indian power sector is expanding at a high rate with present installed generation capacity has reached more than 250 GW as of 30 November 2015. Indian grid is fourth biggest in the world, transferring power using five regional grids. Due to, deregulation, competitive electricity market, expansion of transmission and distribution network, reliable electricity supply, increased applications of power electronics make the India power system more complex. Thus, forcing power system to operate closer to their limits and to utilize the existing assets more efficiently. The process of making national grid of more than 250GW capacity is also underway. For decades, traditional SCADA measurements have been providing the power system steady state information. However, monitoring, operate and control of such large power system Grid only steady state information may not be sufficient. Synchrophasor measurement technology (Wide area measurement technology) is a new term, which provides dynamic view of the grid. In order to achieve the goal of Electricity to all, Ministry of power, Government of India initiated and supported various smart grid projects. The installation of phasor measurement unit (PMU) based wide area measurement system (WAMS) is one of such major initiative. This paper summarizes the details regarding synchrophasor measurement technology planned, installed and application of PMU data in Indian grid to make the Indian grid smart.