Application of IEEE 1588 to the measurement of synchrophasors in electric power systems

This paper investigates the possibility of using the PTP (Precision Time Protocol) defined in the Standard IEEE 1588 for applications in electric power system, with reference to one of the most challenging measurement problems, i.e. the measurement of synchrophasors. The proposed approach refers to situations in which many measurement devices, connected to each other by suitable communication links, are located in a geographically limited sub-area of the power system. A laboratory experimental setup has been built to evaluate the performance achievable with this solution in terms of both accuracy and robustness. A detailed analysis of the obtained results is presented.