Power system blackouts : lessons learned

In August 2003, large areas of the Midwest and Northeast United States and Ontario, Canada, experienced an electric power blackout. The outage affected 50 million people and about 62000 megawatts (MW) of electric load. The final report on the August 14, 2003 blackout by the US-Canada Power System Outage Task Force makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented! Similar events, but in a lesser extent, happened in Europe at about the same time. Some other major outages had occurred around the globe prior to the great blackout of 2003. What are the lessons learned from these blackouts? This paper will partially address this question. It will also explore the relevance of these lessons to the electric power network in Australia

Strategic planning for the upgrade of the power system in Nhulunbuy

The power distribution system servicing the town of Nhulunbuy has undergone limited upgrade since the completion of the town in 1971. As a consequence a large number of key system components are operating close to their capacity limits. The issue is further amplified by major expansion of accommodation facilities within the town. This paper discusses the long term load forecast of this distribution system and proposes two options for upgrade of the system to ensure continuing security of supply. Currently there is monitoring of the condition of the system through regular load and protection surveys, however whilst these reports identify key issues with the system the recommendations are difficult to incorporate into the budgeting process as they indicate the current state of the system only, providing no opportunity for planning of upgrades. The desired outcome of this project is to provide an overview of the system improvement required as the town demand increases. This plan will also develop options for the improvement of current system limitations

An innovative linkage of curricula design, power engineering industries and universities in Queensland Australia to promote engineering education

ABSTRACT: The demand for engineers and their educators has been continuously growing in Australia. In recent years, the academia and industry leaders have proposed and implemented a number of strategies to meet the demand. One of these strategies in the State of Queensland has been the formation of Power Engineering Alliance (PEA), which brings together Industry and University Partners with a common interest in education, research and professional development associated with Power Engineering. The Objectives of the PEA are to boost the quality and number of engineering graduates with the skills and motivation for a career in power engineering, and to contribute to their ongoing professional development. Central Queensland University (CQU) has been one of the leading University Partners to this alliance. CQU has been recognised as a provider of engineering teaching excellence to the Central Queensland region and beyond

Distribution of electrical power to rural areas : Australian experience and implementation possibility in developing countries

The broad development needs of rural areas place numerous demands on the power utility systems. There are a number of different schemes to supply electrical power to rural areas, such as extension of the power grid (network), local diesel generation, renewable energies including photovoltaic, wind energy, and small hydropower plants. Each of these techniques may have different types, each with its specific advantages and disadvantages. For example, extending the power grid may be performed with different distribution system configurations with different levels of complexity, cost and reliability. In this paper, these various options will be discussed. Then, the paper will focus on the technologies used in Australia. Especially, a cost-effective distribution technique, called Single-Wire Earth-Return (SWER) system, will be explained. Its advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. Some issues with regard to the increase in load demands in rural areas related to the SWER systems will be raised, with possible solutions using the emerging technologies. The possibility of implementing this distribution system in some rural areas in Iran will be investigated

The blackouts of the power grid of North America : a review

The interconnected electrical power system is a complicated dynamic system. The stability of this complex dynamic system is a mafor issue when a disturbance or fault occurs in the sytem. There is a possiblility that a major disturbance may lead to instability and regional blackout, as we observed it recently (August 14, 2003) in the North American continent with a major blackout that affected 50 million people in a very large area. Depending on the nature of the fault, system configuration and operating conditions, various types of instability such as transient instability, dynamic (or small-signal) instability or voltage instability (voltage collabse) may occur and if not contained by on time control actions lead to major outage (blackout) of the electrical power. This article reviews some problems related to the blackouts with an emphasis on the technical and structural issues as well as problems related to human resources and educational aspects of power systems

Electrical engineering education in the brave new world : a program based philosophy to graduate development

Central Queensland University (CQU) has long been recognised as a provider of engineering teaching excellence to the Central Queensland region and beyond. As the requirements of the stakeholders in the engineering education process has changed, CQU has adapted its offerings and incorporated new, brave and innovative approaches to maintaining its market share in this industry. CQU currently offers electrical engineering undergraduate programs at Associate Degree (ADE), Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BET) and Bachelor of Engineering (BE) Levels.This paper will outline the history of innovation at CQU, the previous program structure and the items which this review has tried to improve. The paper will also explore the process of review, the factors influencing decision making and the proposed new structure for all levels of undergraduate electrical engineering programs. In addition to the increased integration of the programs, the electrical engineering program has a greater power engineering focus and a stronger emphasis on Project/Problem Based delivery across the suite of programs. The new programs and associated assessment/delivery processes will shape the future of engineering education into the new millennium

Development of a software tool under AS61000.3.7, to provide assessment of voltage flicker caused by fluctuating loads

AS61000.3.7 “Emission Limits for Fluctuating Loads in MV and HV Power Systems” was introduced as the governing standard in Australia and New Zealand in 2001, for the assessment of flicker in MV and HV systems. Unlike the previous Australian Standard, no software currently exits to assess loads under AS61000.3.7, and so the aim of this paper is to define and develop such a tool. The software tool must provide assessment of voltage flicker under the standard, emitted by a range of common fluctuating loads. This software tool is hoped to aid application and acceptance of the standard within the power utility industr

Optimal electrical design of condenser graded high voltage AC bushings

The application of Genetic Algorithm for optimal electrical design of high voltage bushing concentric foils in transformers is investigated. Condenser-bushings contain concentric conductive foils which are isolated against another. By adjusting the number, diameter and length of these cylinders as well as the electrical strength of insulating material between foils, the voltage drop and also electrical stress in the core and along the surface can be affected by variation of partial capacitances between the conducting cylinders. This paper aims to find optimal design of concentric conductive foils for having lower maximum and well-distributed electric stress and also a constant voltage drop for different layers subject to some practical constrains by using Genetic Algorithm optimization method

Transmission augmentation in an oligopoly electricity market. : (mathematical formulation)

This paper proposes a Three-Stage Model for transmission augmentation in restructured electricity markets. The mathematical formulation of the model is developed based on the game theory. Transmission Network Service Provider, TNSP, Generating Companies,GenCos, and Market Management Company, MMC, are placed in different stages of the model. These stages are linked to each other using the Leader-followers game and the concept of Nash equilibriums. An increase in transmission capacity can have two benefits for the electricity market; firstly, efficiency benefit in terms of improving the social welfare of the electricity industry, and,secondly, competition benefit which leads to increasing competition among generating companies. The introduced Three-Stage Model can capture both benefits of transmission projects in electricity markets. An effective numerical method is designed for solving the developedThree-Stage Model. A modified IEEE 14 example system is employed to show the effectiveness of the methodology. This paper has been organized in two parts. First part deals with the mathematical formulation of the algorithm and second part deals with the numerical studies. What follows is the first part of the paper

Transmission system augmentation based on the concepts of quantity withheld and monopoly rent for reducing market power

This paper proposes two mathematical structures for considering the market power effect of transmission capacity in transmission augmentation assessment. These mathematical structures use the concepts of monopoly rent and quantity withheld in economics for market power modeling in the assessment process of transmission augmentation. The simultaneous-move and sequential-move games in applied mathematics are used to model the interactions of the transmission network service provider, generating companies, and the market management company in the proposed mathematical structures. The solution concept of Nash equilibria is reformulated as an optimization problem, and the multiple Nash equilibria is tackled through an introduced concept termed worst Nash equilibrium. A numerical solution is developed to solve the proposed mathematical structures. The numerical solution is an island parallel genetic algorithm nested in a standard genetic algorithm. The six-bus Garver’s example system and the IEEE 14-bus test system are modified and studied. The results prove the strong mechanism of the developed structures for modeling the market power effect of transmission capacity in the assessment of transmission augmentation