Voltage monitoring and control for enhanced utilization of power grids

Transmission operators in deregulated power markets are increasing the utilization of the transmission system with a minimum of investment in new infrastructure. This trend leads to smaller safety margins and increased risk of system wide power blackouts. This work presents results from a collaborative R&D effort by a research institute, a transmission company, and an industry company, with the objective to increase power transfer limits with the use of sophisticated control algorithms and advanced measurement technologies. A prototype voltage instability predictor (VIP) terminal, and a centralized control scheme for dynamic reactive resources have been implemented and tested in a real 420 kV power transmission grid.