BPA's wide-area stability and voltage control system (WACS) for blackout prevention

Summary form only given. As background, we describe frequently used feed forward wide-area power system stability controls. Then we describe online demonstration of a new response-based (feedback) wide-area stability and voltage control system (WACS). The control system uses powerful discontinuous actions for power system stabilization. The control system comprises phasor measurements at many substations, fiber optic communications, real-time deterministic computers, and transfer trip output signals to circuit breakers at many other substations and power plants. Finally, we describe future development of WACS. WACS is developed as a flexible platform to prevent blackouts and facilitate electrical commerce.