Operation of today’s increasingly complex power systems requires comprehensive training of plant generation operators, system operators, and operations engineers. By increasing their awareness and understanding of electrical grid behavior and its interaction with renewable and non-renewable power generation sources, the risk of blackout conditions on the electrical grid is reduced.
Large scale solar power plants and wind farms are working their way into the world’s generating capacity. These power plants can be complex and operators will greatly benefit from a full-scope, high-fidelity simulator for both operator training and system analysis.
WSC has updated its library of simulators through the development of the world’s largest solar plant. The simulator was developed in the 3KEYMASTER™ environment using standard components available in the component model library. The primary consideration of the solar plant model is to accurately model the heat flux on the collector surface. The rest of the plant model follows a conventional thermal power plant schematic: including a boiler, turbine, and all of the balance of plant auxiliaries.
The impact of solar and wind energy is most apparent in grid management and control. This makes grid simulators an essential element in educating system and plant operators on active and reactive power flow, frequency and voltage control, voltage and angle stability, and power system oscillations.
The electrical grid is expected to evolve into a new operational paradigm: the smart grid, an enhancement of the current electrical grid. Traditional electrical grids generally are used to carry power from a few central generators to a large number of users or customers. In contrast, emerging smart grid technology uses two-way rows of electricity and information to create an automated, distributed, and intelligent energy delivery network.
The smart grid allows the power industry to observe and control parts of the system at a higher resolution system wide. The smart grid integrates recent advances in technology, allowing real time information to be sent and received to and from various parts of the grid, facilitating efficient grid operation.
This evolution in technology is best tested and verified through high-fidelity simulators. WSC, through the development of electrical generation simulators, has accumulated the knowledge and expertise required to simulate the intricate interactions between generation, transmission and distribution systems. This knowledge was critical in the development of a generic grid simulator with high-fidelity modeling functionality for generating units (renewable and non-renewable sources) as they interact with the grid for education and engineering purposes.
3KEYMASTER Introductory Training
