Power system management using wide area network digital control

The Wide Area Control System (WACS) supports electrical utilities in making optimal usage of the transmission grid capacity and preventing the spreading of disturbances. By providing real-time information to facilitate mitigation controls on the power system, WACS gives early warning of power system disturbances that, if left unattended, could cascade into system wide blackouts. This paper describes a use case on a novel Intelligent Electronics Device (IED) network for a WACS featuring Wide-Area Ethernet using IEC 61850 peer to peer communication protocol between three substations in the Easter Goldfields system of Western Power, WA, Australia. System design, analysis and performance are provided to show that by successfully utilizing WACS utilities can potentially save millions of dollars by differing capital expansion and increasing system security and stability.