Large scale power system simulation and PMU testing using a real time digital simulator

In recent times the use of PMU's is being investigated as part of wide area power system control. Real time simulation and closed-loop testing is essential to the development of these controllers. This paper introduces the methods used to create large scale power system models on the RTDS Simulator for the testing of PMU's. Data conversion and load flow programs are two tools that are very effective when creating large scale electromagnetic transient simulations. The paper explains the key aspects of these tools. For some applications, high precision pulses are used by PMU's to measure generator rotor angles. A pulse must be given for each revolution of the generator with an accuracy of 3-5 microseconds. This is a challenge for a discrete time simulation operating with a typical timestep of 50-70 microseconds. A technique to provide the pulse with an accuracy of 1 microsecond is introduced. Finally an example is presented to demonstrate the entire process of creating large scale power system models on the RTDS Simulator for PMU testing.