Staff from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) and its regional entities recently issued a report outlining recommendations for real-time assessments of grid operating conditions.
Real-time assessments evaluate system conditions using real-time data to measure existing and potential operating conditions to ensure continued reliable operation of the bulk electric system. The joint staff review focuses on strategies and techniques used by reliability coordinators and transmission operators to perform these assessments following a loss or degradation of data or tools used to maintain situational awareness. The review included on-site discussions with representatives of nine participating reliability coordinators and transmission operators.
The report concludes that system operators are prepared to manage limited impairments of their primary assessment tools or data through system redundancy and redundant data sources.
However, infrequent events involving significant real-time data loss or the failure of primary analysis tools lasting more than two hours require the development of alternative data sources, tools, and analyses work to mitigate the potential loss of visibility and control resulting from the impairment of their primary tools.
The report addresses seven technical areas related to real-time assessments, focusing on five primary issues and objectives:
- Maintaining situational awareness when tools are affected.
- Ensuring actions are known and consistent in timing and scope.
- Having feasible, accurate backup plans with related training programs.
- Establishing verification procedures to ensure that models are accurate and consistent.
- Maintaining awareness of changes/upgrades to their tools.
The report is available here.
