8/7/2015 TheNeedforLoadSheddingInGenerating,TransmissionandDistributionSystems|EEP

TheNeedforLoadSheddingIn
Generating,Transmissionand
DistributionSystems

Theneedforloadsheddingingenerating,transmissionanddistributionsystems(photobythekochireporter.com)

Demands,Demands
Theneedforloadsheddinggenerallyarisesfromunforeseencauses,lackof
sufficientpowersupplyfromdeficienciesingenerating,transmissionand
distributioncapabilities.

Theseconditionsmaystemfromunusuallyhigherthanforeseendemandsthat
maybeduetothefollowing:

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Unusualseasonalchanges,
Specialeventsthatmaycauselossofdiversity,and
Failureoroverloadofsomeelementsinthefacilitiesmakingupthesupply
system.

Occasionally,theseconditionsmayalsooccurinlocalareasfromloadgrowth
unaccompaniedwithconstructionofnewfacilities.

Theremedytothesesituationsistoreducethedemandonthesupplybus
tomatchtheincomingpoweravailable.

Forrelativelysmalldeficiencies,resortmaybehadtothereductionofvoltageonthe
supplybus.Thisisbecauseagreatpartofthedemandmayconsistoflighting(unity
powerfactor)loadwhosepowerrequirementsdiminishalmostdirectlywiththe
loweringoftheappliedvoltagemotorpowerrequirementsareessentiallynotaffected
bythevoltageattheirterminals.

Anothermeansofloweringthedemandonthesupplybusistheperiodic
disconnectingoffeedersforrelativelyshortperiodsoftimeonapredetermined
schedule.

Thisissometimesreferredtoasabrownout.

Sometimesboththesemethodsmaybeemployedand,iftheconditiondeteriorates,
entiresubstationsmaybetakenoutofservicetemporarily.

Ifconditionscontinuetoworsenwheretheoverloadingofvitalfacilitiesmaycause
themtobeendangered,anentireareamaynecessitateashutdownofthesystem
involved,anoperationreferredtoasblackout.

Asubstationasapartofanelectricalgeneration,transmission,anddistributionsystem
(photobyAshtari_MrviaFlickr)

Voltageregulation
Voltagereductionisusuallyaccomplishedbycontrollingtheregulatorson
individualfeedersor,asthecasemaybe,onthebusvoltageregulator.

Voltagemayalsobereducedbycontrollingregulatorsatsubtransmissionand
transmissionsubstationswheretheymayexist.Inthiscase,theregulatorson

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individualfeedersor
onthe
distributionsubstation
busesarelockedin
placetopreventtheir
negatingtheeffectof
thevoltagereduction
ontheincoming
supply.

Voltagereductionisusuallyaccomplishedinstepsbutmaybeself
defeatingasthelightoutputoflampsmaydecreasetothepoint
whereadditionallampsmaybeturnedonontheotherhand,motors
maydrawmorecurrentbutcontinuetooperatesatisfactorilyuntilthe
voltagemaybecometoolow,torquedecreases,theybecomeoverheated,
andeventuallystall.

Caremustbeexercisedinloweringthevoltageonfeederssupplyinglowvoltage
networks.Operationoftheirregulatorsmustbecoordinatedsothattheloadshedby
onefeedermaynotbepickedupbytheothersupplyfeeders.

Ifnotdoneassimultaneouslyaspossible,theloadthuspickedupbythefeeders
whosevoltagemaynotbeloweredmaycausenetworkprotectorstoopenonthe
feederwithloweredvoltage,andmaycausetheotherfeederstotripfromoverload,
resultinginacascadingeffectinwhichallofthesupplyfeedersmaytrip,
shuttingdownthenetwork.

Insomecases,itmaybenecessarytoblocktheovercurrentrelaystopreventthe
feederstrippinguntilalloftheregulatorshavebeenadjustedandlockedatthe
desiredvoltagelevel.

Shouldthenetworkshutdown,itsreenergizationmaybeaccomplishedbyblocking
theovercurrentrelaysandclosingthecircuitbreakersofthesupplyfeedersas

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simultaneouslyaspossible.Batteriesoperatingtheclosingmechanismsshouldbe
checkedtoascertainsufficientoutputisavailableforsatisfactoryoperationofthe
circuitbreakerssimultaneously.

Pickingupapieceofthenetworkatatime
Ifthenetworkisshutdownforanylengthoftimeanddiversityislost,itmaybe
necessarytocutthenetworkphysicallyintosmallerpieces,blockingopenthe
networkprotectorsonthetransformersofpiecesofthenetworksotheydonotpickup
load,pickingupapieceofthenetworkatatime.

Afteronepiecehasbeenenergized,restoringdiversity,itmaybenecessary
toopenallofthesupplyfeeders,unblockthenetworkprotectorsonthe
samefeederinanotherpieceofthenetwork,thenreclosingthefeedersto
pickupthetwopieces.

Theoperationmayberepeateduntilallofthepiecesarereenergizedthepiecescan
thenbereconnected.

Simulationofpreventingthesystemcollapse
ExaminethesystemshowninFigure1.Imaginethefollowingscenariothat
showsseveralchancesforaloadshedsystemtopreventasystemcollapseand
showssomeaspectsofhowanapparentlystablesystemmayactuallybeslowly
progressingtowardasystemcollapse.

Figure1Examplesystemforloadshedding

AtfirstitappearsthatbusesD,E,F,andGaretoowelltiedtothesystemgrid
(representedbyA,BandC)foranislandingconditiontooccur.Supposethatbuses
D,E,F,andGaredrawingpowerfromtherestoftheworldandthatloadingoverallis
quiteheavyatthistime.

NowsupposelinesADandBDareonacommontransmissiontowerrightofway
andforsomereasonasingleevent(e.g.,atowerfailure)tookbothlinesoutof
service.

Tosomeextentthisisalmostatriplecontingencysituation:Itassumestheloss

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oftwolinesatatimeof
heavysystemloading.But
itisapossiblescenario
thatisnotbeyondthe
realmofpossibility.
SupposethatlineCEis
nowoverloaded,andthat
voltageinthesystemhas
decayed.Thisrelieves
loadingtosomeextent.

SupposegeneratorEis
smallinrelationtothelocal
loadingandthat
generatorEtriestosupport
voltageanditsfieldbegantosupplyVARsbeyonditslongtermcapacity.

SystemoperatorsmightseetheeventwherelinesADandBDwerelostand,from
theirremotelocation,thinkthesystemwassurvivingtheevent,butwith
moderatelydepressedvoltage.However,oneminuteaftertheevent,tapchangers
throughoutthesystemstarttocorrectforlowvoltageandthesystemloadstartsto
rise.TwominutesaftertheeventthefieldexcitationlimiteratgeneratorDforcesthe
fieldtobackdownandvoltageattheloadsfallsagain.

Thenoneminutelatertapchangersstarttoraiseloadvoltageagainandloadagain
rises.OperatorsmightseetheheavyloadingonlineCEandbecomeconcernedbut
decidetoacceptthecondition.Iftheycouldmonitorthegenerationandrealizethat
theexcitationlimitershadkickedin,theymightevenbemoreconcerned.

Butthisisapproachinginformationoverloadandpossiblyonlyasmart
SCADAsystemcouldidentifythatthesystemisonthevergeofvoltage
collapse.

Priortovoltagecollapse,anotherunforeseeneventoccurs.Theprotectiverelaying
ontheheavilyoverloadedlineCEtripsduetoloadencroachmentthatlookslikea
zone3distancefault.ThesystemconsistingofbusesD,E,F,andGhasislanded
withinsufficientgenerationtosupportitsload,severalminutesaftertheinitialevent.

Atthispointfrequencybasedloadsheddingmaybetheonlymethodthatcan
stoptheimminentcollapseoftheisland.
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8/7/2015 TheNeedforLoadSheddingInGenerating,TransmissionandDistributionSystems|EEP

Thisprocessshowsallthemeansofloadsheddingthatcouldhavebeenused
intheprocess:

1. Thelastresort,underfrequencyrelaying,wasthefinaldefenseagainstisland
collapseoncetheislandwascreated.Theconditioncouldhavebeencaught
earlier.
2. Undervoltagerelayingcouldfeasiblyhavedetectedaconditionandshedload.
3. BeforetheeventeveroccurredstudiesbyaSystemPlanninggroupcouldhave
beenperformedthatcouldhaveshownthatifthedoublelineoutagecondition
occursduringheavyloadingtherewouldberiskofthesystemcollapse.System
operatorsawareoftheconditioncouldhaveshedloadmanually.
4. Similarly,aproperlyprogrammedSCADAsystemfeasiblycouldhaverecognized
Get theconditionandflaggedanoperatorthatloadneededtobeshedoreven
PDF performedtheloadsheddingautomatically.

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REFERENCES:
SHARE

PowerTransmissionandDistributionAnthonyJ.Pansini,E.E.,P.E
LoadsheddingforutilityandindustrialpowersystemreliabilityBaslerElectric
Company

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AboutAuthor//

Edvard Csanyi
EdvardElectricalengineer,programmerandfounderofEEP.Highlyspecializedfor
designofLVhighpowerbusbartrunking(<6300A)inpowersubstations,buildingsand
industryfascilities.DesigningofLV/MVswitchgears.ProfessionalinAutoCAD
programmingandwebdesign.PresentonGoogle+

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