Smart grid testbed for Wide-Area Monitoring and Control systems

Wide Area Monitoring and Control (WAMC) of power grids is one application from emerging smart grid technologies. WAMC systems require distributed measurement and control devices, for example Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), a centralized control center(s), WAMC application(s), and two-way digital communication between IEDs, system operators and controllers. Both the performance and security of this system is critical for WAMC applications. A smart grid testbed for the study and development of WAMC systems has been developed. The test-bed consists of a physical emulation of a power system, ten IEDs with integrated Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), a Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) and user interface for data acquisition and control connected via a local area network. Additionally, emulation of more complex communication networks is achieved using SITL (System-in-the-Loop) communication network simulations to interface the IEDs and other physical hardware. The testbed has the capability of testing and analyzing the performance and the security, both physical and cyber, of WAMC applications. This paper presents an overview of the testbed and discusses the methodology of each system component: power system emulation, communication hardware/emulation, and measurement and control system. Some preliminary results are presented which showcase operation of the testbed.