Opportunities to exploit Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and synchrophasor measurements on the GB Transmission Network

As a result of CO2 reduction legislation at both EU and government level, the GB electricity grid operator National Grid is tasked with connecting up to 30GW of wind generation to the existing transmission system by 2020. The inherent variability in this method of generation will require the System Operator to maximise the use of existing transmission corridors, running lines closer to their thermal limits. In addition, transmission technologies currently unfamiliar to National Grid such as series compensation, intra-network HVDC and an increase in the number of HVDC interconnections will also be implemented to help integrate the additional generation. It is understood that the networks will need to become more flexible in order to maintain security of supply; to achieve this, improvements of overall system monitoring will also be required. Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and synchronised phasor measurements have become the 'measurement technique of choice for electric power systems' and to this extent are viewed as a key tool in monitoring oscillations within the GB power system. PMUs are being deployed, initially as an extension to Dynamic System Monitoring (DSM) and with this paper the authors discuss the challenges involved with implementing a Wide Area Monitoring System (WAMS) solution. In addition a number of additional roles and applications that the PMU system could exploit in order to improve control of the network is also proposed.