Angle Instability Detection in Power Systems with High-Wind Penetration Using Synchrophasor Measurements

The alternating current machines in a power system have the ability to remain synchronized following a severe disturbance such as loss of generations, line switching, or fault. This is described as power system transient stability. During system transients, the machines will accelerate or decelerate because of the mismatch between electrical torque and mechanical torque. Their power angles will travel and finally settle down to a new equilibrium, if the system has enough stored energy to absorb the disturbance, and rest the system at another steady state. In case of system instability, some machines will have aperiodic angular separation from the rest of the system and finally lose synchronization. Therefore, the power system transient stability is also called angle stability. The total system inertia is an essential force to rest the system transient. The inertias stored in all rotating masses that are connected to a power system, such as synchronous generators and induction motors, typically respond to disturbances voluntarily, without any control actions; however, several types of renewable generation, particularly those with power electronic interfaces, have an inertial response governed by a control function. To ensure bulk power system stability, there is a need to estimate the equivalent inertia available from a renewable generation plant. An equivalent voluntary inertia constant analogous to that of conventional rotating machines can be used to provide a readily understandable metric, such as the angle instabilities detections, because one of the most difficult obstacles for angle instability detection is the knowledge of the real-time generator inertias. This paper explores a method that utilizes synchrophasor measurements to estimate the equivalent inertia of a power source such as synchronous generators or wind turbine generators. This paper also investigates the angle instability detection method for a system with high wind power penetration using the synchrophasor measurements.