Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has selected Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories' SEL-487E Station phasor measurement unit (PMU) for its PMU installation in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council's Western Interconnect Synchrophasor Project (WISP).

BPA plans to install approximately 160 PMUs throughout the Northwest over the next three years. Program goals include situational awareness, wide-area control and protection, model validation, system performance and event analysis. To implement system integrity protection schemes (SIPS) based on wide-area, time-synchronized phasor measurements, BPA developed a strict set of PMU requirements to meet its needs beyond those defined in the IEEE C37.118-2005 standard. The wide-area SIPS will improve the reliability and overall stability of the electric grid in the western United States.

Ten different PMU vendors participated in the evaluation. Each vendor was given details of BPA's performance criteria along with a test plan describing the methodology and specific test procedures. BPA performed all testing in its Vancouver, Washington, laboratory. PMU evaluation criteria included measurement performance and functionality of particular features. Performance tests measured steady-state accuracy, harmonic rejection, out-of-band rejection, modulation response and dynamic response. Functionality tests included conformance to IEEE C37.118 in data format, testing communications and more subjective tests, such as ease of use, software, cost, quality and customer support.

BPA is a not-for-profit federal electric utility that operates a high-voltage transmission grid comprising more than 15,000 miles (24,140 km) of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. It markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest.

To learn more, visit www.bpa.gov and www.selinc.com.