Real Time Dynamics Monitoring System (RTDMS): Phasor Applications for the Control Room

The Real Time Dynamics Monitoring System (RTDMS) has been developed to enable utilization of time-synchronized phasor measurements for reliability management with the overall objective of accelerating the adoption and fostering greater use of the technology within North America. Since 2003, it has been serving as a platform to translate research concepts and algorithms into actual applications for power system operators, reliability coordinators, and operating engineers both within the Eastern and Western Interconnections. The system supports an open, scalable and modular system design that adheres to a Server-Client architecture offering a suite of applications for wide-area real time visibility, monitoring and alarming on key metrics related to grid stress, dynamics, and the power system's proximity to instability, and performing offline forensic event analysis and baselining functions on normal operating conditions, limits and alarms. This paper provides an overview of the RTDMS system: its system architecture functionalities and applications.

1. Introduction

The electric power grid in the US has evolved from a vertically integrated system to a mixture of regulated and deregulated competitive market system. Grid oversight is transitioning from local utilities to an assortment of transmission companies, regional Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs). Regulatory and economic pressures have caused new transmission construction to lag the growth in demand. These forces have increased pressure on electricity markets and caused operators to maximize the utilization of the system. The result is an operating environment where operators are faced with quick changing and previously unseen power flow patterns and operational conditions with limited information available for real-time operation and decision-making. Furthermore, the aging transmission lines, lack of transmission expansion and environmental constraints makes reliable system operation a more challenging task.