Power System Grid Management
Advanced treatment of the information, modeling, control, and security functions used to operate a changing electric grid. The course connects weather and renewable-generation forecasting with energy markets, energy management systems, smart-grid and synchrophasor technology, power-system dynamics, and cyber-resilient SCADA operation.
Objectives
- Explain how weather observations and numerical models support variable-generation forecasting and grid operations.
- Relate wind forecasts and forecast uncertainty to energy-market scheduling and dispatch decisions.
- Describe the principal functions and evolution of energy management systems and modern control centers.
- Compare conventional SCADA measurements with time-synchronized phasor measurements.
- Explain how smart-grid and synchrophasor technologies improve situational awareness and control.
- Develop dynamic models of synchronous machines and interconnected power systems for small-signal analysis.
- Use modal concepts, eigenvalues, mode shapes, and participation factors to interpret power-system oscillations.
- Describe SCADA and smart-grid attack surfaces, risk-assessment methods, and defense-in-depth strategies.
- Explain the security considerations of DNP3, ICCP, IEC 61850, NASPInet, and advanced metering infrastructure.
- Apply standards, vulnerability assessment, and operational best practices to cyber-resilient grid management.
Modules
Description: Introduces atmospheric variability, weather observations, numerical weather-prediction models, forecasting and backcasting, and the wind and solar measurements used for project assessment and power-system operations.
Description: Examines operational wind-power forecasting across time horizons, the conversion of weather predictions into plant-power forecasts, uncertainty and error, geographic diversity, ramp events, and the use of continuously updated forecasts in control-room decisions.
Description: Connects variable-generation forecasts to day-ahead and real-time market operations, unit scheduling, reserve needs, congestion and curtailment decisions, forecast updates, and the economic dispatch of wind within a reliable power system.
Description: Reviews the electricity supply chain and the evolution of control centers and energy management systems. It introduces SCADA data acquisition, network applications, generation control, operator decision support, vulnerability assessment, and the operational need to balance supply and demand continuously.
Description: Explores the progression toward a smarter grid through advanced sensing, communications, automation, distributed resources, responsive demand, and integrated control-center applications that improve reliability, efficiency, and operational flexibility.
Description: Introduces GPS-synchronized phasor measurements, PMUs, phasor data concentrators, high-rate time-aligned measurements, and the contrast with conventional SCADA. Applications include disturbance detection, oscillation monitoring, angle and frequency awareness, and wide-area control-center deployment.
Description: Reviews synchronous-machine modeling for stability studies, including stator and rotor circuits, flux linkages, the abc-to-dq0 transformation, rotor dynamics, and reduced-order machine representations used in dynamic simulations.
Description: Develops the small-signal model of a one-machine infinite-bus system, linearizes the dynamic equations, relates torque components to oscillatory behavior, and introduces phase compensation and power-system-stabilizer design.
Description: Extends dynamic modeling to interconnected multi-machine systems by combining generator, exciter, network, and operating-point equations into a common state-space representation suitable for stability and oscillation studies.
Description: Uses eigenvalues, right and left eigenvectors, mode shapes, observability, controllability, and participation factors to identify local and inter-area oscillation modes and to select effective locations and signals for stabilizer design.
Description: Introduces smart-grid and SCADA architectures, cyber-physical attack surfaces, threat actors, malware, denial-of-service and protocol attacks, information-security principles, and the operational consequences of compromised grid control systems.
Description: Develops a security life-cycle model, qualitative and quantitative risk assessment, defense in depth, intrusion and anomaly detection, attack resilience, mitigation planning, and the coordination of technology, process, people, and regulation.
Description: Examines the security properties and deployment roles of ICCP, DNP3, IEC 61850 MMS, GOOSE and sampled values, then extends the discussion to synchrophasor-network architecture, NASPInet, advanced metering infrastructure, and customer privacy.
Description: Covers vulnerability scanning and disclosure, security testing tools, patch and configuration management, NERC CIP and related standards, GridEx exercises, incident preparedness, and practical security practices for utility control environments.