Power Grid Architecture

This chapter describes the basic architecture of the power grid and differentiates the predominant power architectures of previous decades from emerging ones, which are broadly classified as smart grids. Grid applications of power electronics became more common, resulting in more flexibility and faster control for the system operator. The chapter provides an overview of classical power system architectures of the past 50 years and discusses recent trends toward smarter power grids. Grid architecture is one of the main tools to describe, define, and understand an electrical power grid. Two trends of interest are the emergence of smarter grids and growing interest in microgrids. The chapter also provides overviews of power system configurations, power systems operations, and of the power system planning process. The operation of the power system mainly relies on the control of active and reactive power. The chapter helps the readers learn the measures of power system performance.