Pumped storage hydro-plant models for system transient and long-term dynamic studies

The detailed dynamic modeling of pumped storage hydro-plants for system dynamic studies is revisited in this paper. Both rigid and elastic dynamic models for different water tunnel penstock configurations are presented. During the generating mode, the system is modeled following the conventional modeling method for hydro-turbines. During the pumping mode, the system is modeled using the pump head-flow curve, and the gating effects are introduced as an additional friction to the system. Different plant operating conditions under different system contingencies are simulated to study the transient and the long-term dynamic responses. The results show that a rigid model is sufficient for system transient dynamic studies, while an elastic model is more accurate for long-term dynamic studies.