Wide Area

Measurements in
Power System
Satyendra Pratap Singh, Research Scholar (Power System)
Prof. S. P. Singh
Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT (BHU) Varanasi

Introduction
The Wide Area Measurement System
(WAMS) effort is a strategic effort to meet critical
information needs of the changing power system.
It can be mentioned that a WAMS needs an
infrastructure to perform its tasks. The WAMS
infrastructure consists of people, operating
practices, negotiated sharing arrangements and all
else that are necessary for WAMS facilities to
deliver useful information. WAMS is a new term,
which has been introduced to power system
literatures in late 1980s. Recently, they are
commercially available in power systems for
purposes of monitoring, operation and control.

related to the restructuring, deregulation and

decentralization.

WAMS Architecture
A generic WAMS architecture can be
depicted as shown in Figure 1. The WAMS
architecture consists of interconnected Phasor
Measurement Units (PMUs) and Phasor Data
Concentrators (PDCs) in different layers of
hierarchy. For applications which require

Need of Wide Area

Measurement in Power System
To be able to monitor, operate and control
power systems in wide geographical area, WAMS
combines the functions of metering devices (i.e.
new and traditional) with the abilities of
communication systems. The overall capability of
this particular combination is that data of the entire
system can be obtained at the same time and the
same place i.e. the control center. This data, which
are obtained from the entire system, can be used by
many WAMS functions, effectively. These facts
indicate that nowadays, WAMS has been a great
opportunity to overcome power systems challenges

Figure 1: A generic representation of a WAMS

Architecture

significant amounts of data transfer and low latency,

fiber-optic communication channels are necessary.
For lesser data volumes and slow response times,
other types of communication channels including
telephone circuits, microwave channels or power
line carrier channels may be adequate. In any case,
a communication network is an essential element of
any WAMS architecture.

Synchrophasor Technologies
Monitoring
devices
called
phasor
measurement units (PMUs) measure the
instantaneous voltage, current, and frequency at
specific locations in an electricity transmission
system. These parameters represent the heart-beat
and health of the power system. Voltage and current
are parameters characterizing the delivery of
electric power from generation plants to end-user
loads, while frequency is the key indicator of the
balance between electric load and generation. Thus
frequency that doesnt deviate very much from
60Hz is key to ensuring the proper operation of the
power system and its reliability. When a phasor
measurement is time-stamped, it is called a
synchrophasor.

SCADA v/s PMUs

Attribute

SCADA

Measurement Analogue
2-4 samples
Resolution
per cycle
Observability Steady State
Local
Monitoring
Phasor Angle No
Measurement

PMUs
Digital
Up to 60 samples
per cycle
Dynamic/Transient
Wide- Area
Yes

Conclusion
Wide Area Measurement Systems is a new
opportunity for system operators to monitor,
operate, control and protect power systems in wide
geographical area. The WAMS combines the data

provided by synchrophasor and conventional

measurements with the capability of new
communication systems in order to obtain dynamic
information of the entire system. WAMS
contributes monitoring systems to shift from the
data acquisition systems to the dynamic
information systems. Dynamic information of
power systems helps power system operators to
overcome generation, operation and planning
challenges that may be resulted from system
restructuring. Furthermore, it has also been shown
that from the big generators to the small home
equipments, WAMS systems are capable of
monitoring and controlling various functions in real
time. It can be concluded that in modern power
systems, WAMS is an essential part of power
system operation and control. As a conclusion, it
can be stated that although the WAMS was firstly
introduced to the power systems in order to obtain
dynamic information of such systems, it can also be
well established in other critical infrastructures (e.g.
natural gas, petroleum, water supply, emergency
services, telecommunication and etc.) to operate,
monitor and control such infrastructures.