Applications in Voltage Stability

The industry, by experience and research, now understands more about voltage stability than it did just a few short years ago.  Phenomena such as slow and fast collapse, the voltage ledge, self-restoring loads and composite load-voltage relationships have become a part of the practical operating experience rather than abstruse theoretical concepts.  The course brings you to the actual indicators, analytical methods and operating bases for voltage instability, still based on sound theory, but focused on models, measurements and controls that are rooted in the practical power system.  Speak and apply voltage stability with a new confidence with knowledge you bring to work from this course.

Attendees

The course is oriented to be of most benefit to

• Transmission Operators
• Reliability Operators
• Generator Operators
• Market Operators
• Operations and Planning Engineers 

Ratings

To ensure the quality and timeliness of our courses, Pterra asks participants to provide feedback and to rate each course.  This allows to adjust to the changing needs of the industry.  Assessment ratings are made on a scale of 5 with highest being 5.0.  Ratings are applied to individual topics, individual speakers and instructors, and aspects of course presentation such as materials, notes and interaction.  Below is a summary of overall ratings for this course for recent sessions:

• Course held on June 3-5, 2008 in Albany, NY - 5.0
• Course held on November 5-9, 2007 in Rensselaer, NY - 4.86
• Course held on September 4-6, 2007 in Albany, NY - 4.71
• Course held on December 12-15, 2006 in Albany, NY - 5.0
• Course held Oct 9-12, 2006 in Albany, NY - 4.73

You may find other ratings results (after 2008) on the Pterra TechBlog site.

Course Materials

Course materials include workbook, presentation slides and exercise files provided in a hard binder and CD.

Click here for a sample of the Workbook. 

Format

The training is presented in a classroom format, using lectures, hands-on exercises and review tests. In the lectures, concepts, methods and techniques for each learning objective are presented, with provision for Q&A sessions to address specific questions.  The exercises provide for a basis to apply the concepts in real-world simulation software, and interpret the results from a physical standpoint. The test reviews determine if there is sufficient retention of the course material to support the award of CE credits.

The course is presented over three days with two sessions per day. Each session comprises of 3 classroom hours.  Participants receive bound Course Notes which contain a copy of the material presented in the lectures, including supplementary material for reference, description of the exercises and answer sheets for the exercises.

The exercises are presented with an overview and explanation of the sample system and provided data, a list of questions and space for the participants to enter responses, comments and additional notes.  

Computers will be provided for course participants.  Participants who wish to bring their own laptops with their own licensed analytical software may do so.  Pterra's instructors can provide coaching for most software packages.  

Outline

Outline of the course:

• Section 1. Overview of Voltage Stability
• Section 2. Analytical Methods
  • Steady-State Methods
    • The Power Flow
    • Contingency Analysis
    • Q-V Curves
    • Nose Curves
  • Dynamic Methods
• Section 3. Voltage Response of Equipment and Systems
  • Power Generation Equipment
    • Synchronous Machines
    • Synchronous Condensers
    • Induction Generators
  • Transmission Equipment
    • Transmission Lines
    • Underground and Submarine Cables
    • Transformers
    • Static VAR Systems
  • Distribution Equipment
    • LTC Transformers
    • Distribution Capacitors
    • Customer Loads
  • System Response
    • Stiffness
    • The Voltage Ledge
    • Operating Distribution Systems in Low Voltage
    • Observability and Controllability
• Section 4. Voltage Response Criteria for Stability
  • Basis for Voltage Stability Criteria
  • Transient and Post-Transient Criteria
  • Load Modeling in Criteria
  • References for Voltage Stability Planning Criteria
• Section 5. Countermeasures to Voltage Instability
  • Switched Capacitors
  • Static VAR Devices
  • Undervoltage Load Shedding
• Section 6. Case Studies
• Section 7. Exercises
  • Exercise 1: Contingency Analysis to Screen for Voltage Sensitivity
  • Exercise 2: Reactive Margins
  • Exercise 3: Nose Curves
  • Exercise 4: Voltage Stability Assessment Via Dynamic Simulation
  • Exercise 5: Identifying a static solution
  • Exercise 6: Identifying a dynamic solution
     

Duration

The course is scheduled for 18 class hours over a period of 3 days.

Location

The course will be held at Pterra's Training Facility in Albany, New York, located 5 minutes from Albany International Airport on Wolf Road.  Over 20 hotels and restaurants within 10 minutes make this an accessible location.  Also, the location is within a day's driving distance from anywhere in the Northeast US and eastern Canada.

Further Information 

For further logistical information, please follow this link.   

For more information, please contact info@pterra.us. 

Post-Course Forum

For follow-up questions and discussion after the course, the instructors moderate a users forum.  To sign-up, please visit the following:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pterravoltagestability/

Class Pictures