Wide-area Situational Awareness Application Developments

This dissertation expands the topics from the wide-area situational awareness application development, system architecture design, to power system disturbance analysis. All the works are grounded on the wide-area Frequency Monitoring Network (FNET). The FNET system takes GPS-synchronized wide-area measurements in a low-cost, easily deployable manner at 120V single-phase power outlet. These synchronized observations enables the monitoring of bulk power systems, and provides critical information for understanding power system disturbances and system operations.

Firstly, the work addresses the viability of angle measurement to serve different types of situational awareness applications, including the development of new angle-based event location estimation methods, the design of real-time system visualization framework using angle measurement. Secondly, a sound FNET power system event monitoring and automatic event reporting system framework is introduced, with NERC Frequency Response Initiative (FRI) tasks included to improve power system situational awareness capability. Lastly, the work covers different types of power system disturbance analysis, including the statistical analysis of frequency disturbances in NA power grid from 2008 to 2011; analysis of typical frequency response characteristics of the generation and load loss events in Europe power grid; analysis of some major disturbances in NA power grid from 2010 to 2011; and the inter-area oscillation modal analysis in the WECC system.