Module 1

Introduction: Operating States of Power System, Objectives of Control, Key

Concepts of Reliable Operation, Preventive and Emergency Controls, Energy
Management Centres. R1
Supervisory Control and Data acquisition (SCADA): Introduction,
components, application in Power System, basic functions, and advantages.
Building blocks of SCADA system, components of RTU, communication
subsystem, IED functional block diagram. R2
Classification of SCADA system: Single master–single remote; Single master–
multiple RTU; Multiple master–multiple RTUs; and Single master, multiple
submaster, multiple remote.
Reference books
1 Computer-Aided Power System Analysis G. L. Kusic CRC Press 2nd Edition.2010
2 Power System SCADA and Smart Grid Mini S Thom and John D. McDonald CRC Press
2015
3 Power system operation and control Uma rao

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 MODULE 1
Introduction
• AC systems is most popular system than DC
➢ AC generators are simpler than DC generators.
➢ Transformation of voltage levels is simple at generation, transmission,
distribution.
➢ AC motors are commonly used more economical than DC motors.
• The network is large , with number of generating stations ,several transmission
interconnections and distribution network.
• Hence its not simple to handle massive structure without failures and disruptions.
• Power system scenario….
• Grids are interconnected in three phase systems between generation and transmission
sides
• Generation; alternators, prime mover.
• Transmission; stepping up of voltage levels
• Distribution; stepping down of voltage levels
• Load; Industrial(three phase), residential(single)
• Transmission system interconnects major generating stations

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

Operating States of a Power system

• Equality constraints are power balance between generation and load.

• Inequality constraints are limits on different operating parameters, such as voltage,
generation limits, currents.
• Normal state: Both E and I are satisfied , all system variables are within the normal
range.
• Alert state: in this state also Both E and I are satisfied. security level falls below a
certain limit of adequacy because of a disturbance • generation shifting (security
dispatch) , Increased reserve.
• Emergency state: E is satisfied but I is violated. severe disturbance • fault clearing,
generation tripping, load curtailment In extremis, cascading outages • load shedding
and controlled system separation.
• In extreme state: Both E and I are violated generation and load demand are not
matching, emergency measures must be taken to prevent a total grid collapse
• Restorative state: E is violated but I is satisfied and control action is being taken to
reconnect all the facilities and to restore system load. Can transit either to alert or
normal state
Objectives of power system control
• Fundamental requirements
✓ The system must able to meet changing demand in active and reactive power.
✓ Power quality should meet certain standards with regards to frequency,
amplitude and wave shape

✓ Energy should be supplied at a minimum cost

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 • Generators are provided with excitation control and prime mover control.
• Prime mover control is concerned with regulation of speed.
• Power system stabilizers used to damp oscillations of generator following disturbance
• AGC is required to balance active power balance
• Transmission control includes power and voltage control devices
• Distribution level controls used to provide quality power to consumers
• Stability: Continued intact operation of the system following a disturbance. This
depends on operating condition and nature of disturbance
• Security: degree of risk in the power system ability to survive contingencies without
interruption to the customer
• Reliability: Probability of satisfactory operation over a long period. Ability of the
system to supply adequate service on continues basis.

Key concepts for reliable operation

• Balance the generation and load : AGC used to match generation with demand.
Though demand is dynamic still predictable . Failure to match demand will cause
frequency deviation from nominal value.
• Balance reactive power generation and demand: This is required to maintain the
scheduled voltages. The AVR control voltage level of the generators.
• Ensure thermal limits are not exceeded: heating limits of overhead lines must not
exceeded. the lines may be sag into below objects
• Maintain system stability: IEEE/CIGRE “Power system stability is the ability of an
electric power system for a given initial operating condition, to regain a state of
operating equilibrium after being subjected to a physical disturbance, with most system
variables bounded so that practically the entire system remains intact”

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 • Meet N-1 reliability criteria: system should remain operational and secure even after
loss of the largest generator in the system(N is no of generators, N-1 is loss of one
generator)
• Plan design and maintain to operate reliably: the system should operate reliably and
within safe limits at all times.
• Prepare for emergencies: Operator must trained to prepare for emergencies like
weather fluctuations, operator error, software failure etc
Preventive and emergency controls
Keep the system in normal state or bring it back to the normal state from alert state
• Rescheduling of active power generated by various units to match changing load.
• Start up of generation units and providing adequate spinning reserve
• Switching of shunt elements for reactive power control
• Change of reference points of controllable devices as FACTS controller , phase shifting
transformer etc
• Change in the voltage reference points of generators and voltage control devices
• Change of substation configuration , like bus bar splitting etc
Common emergency control measures
• Tripping of generators
• Load shedding
• Fast valving which is fast reduction in generation
• Controlled disconnection of interconnected systems, to prevent spreading of frequency
problems
• Controlled is landing to create local generation load balance
• Blocking of tap changers of transformers
• Fast hvdc power transfer control
• Application of braking resistors
Energy management centers
EMC comprise both hardware and software to monitor and control the system, monitoring is
fully automated, controlling is both manual and automation
• Dispatch subsystem: involves the function of unit commitment, economic dispatch,
automatic generation and demand forecasting
• Data subsystem: it is essentially for data acquisition and processing . It contains units
of SCADA, state estimation.
• Security subsystem: used to monitor secure operation of power system. It includes
security monitoring, contingency analysis. Also on AVR support to be provided in the
system voltage profile monitoring

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 ndvdudion,to poues Sstcm S
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 1

SUPERVISORY CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION

(SCADA)
Introduction
Automation is used worldwide in a variety of applications ranging from the gas and petroleum
industry, power system automation, building automation, to small manufacturing unit
automation. The terminology SCADA is generally used when the process to be controlled is
spread over a wide geographic area, like power systems. SCADA systems, though used
extensively by many industries, are undergoing drastic changes. The addition of new
technologies and devices poses a serious challenge to educators, researchers, and practicing
engineers to catch up with the latest developments. SCADA systems are defined as a collection
of equipment that will provide an operator at a remote location with sufficient information to
determine the status of particular equipment or a process and cause actions to take place
regarding that equipment or process without being physically present. SCADA implementation
thus involves two major activities: data acquisition (monitoring) of a process or equipment and
the supervisory control of the process, thus leading to complete automation. The complete
automation of a process can be achieved by automating the monitoring and the control actions.
Automating the monitoring part translates into an operator in a control room, being able to
“see” the remote process on the operator console, complete with all the information required
displayed and updated at the appropriate time intervals.
This will involve the following steps:
• Collect the data from the field.
• Convert the data into transmittable form.
• Bundle the data into packets.
• Transmit the packets of data over the communication media.
• Receive the data at the control centre.
• Decode the data.
• Display the data at the appropriate points on the display screens of the operator.
Automating the control process will ensure that the control command issued by the system
operator gets translated into the appropriate action in the field and will involve the following
steps:
The operator initiates the control command.
• Bundle the control command as a data packet.
• Transmit the packet over the communication media.
• The field device receives and decodes the control command.
• Control action is initiated in the field using the appropriate device actuation.

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 2

The set of equipment measuring elements helps in acquiring the data from the field, and the set
of equipment controlling elements implements the control commands in the field, as shown in
below Figure

Monitoring and controlling process

Components of SCADA systems

Components of SCADA system

SCADA is an integrated technology composed of the following four major components:

1. RTU: RTU serves as the eyes, ears, and hands of a SCADA system. The RTU acquires
all the field data from different field devices, as the human eyes and ears monitor the
surroundings, process the data, and transmit the relevant data to the master station. At
the same time, it distributes the control signals received from the master station to the
field devices, as the human hand executes instructions from the brain. Today Intelligent
Electronic Devices (IEDs) are replacing RTUs.
2. Communication System: This refers to the communication channels employed
between the field equipment and the master station. The bandwidth of the channel limits
the speed of communication.
3. Master Station: This is a collection of computers, peripherals, and appropriate input
and output (I/O) systems that enable the operators to monitor the state of the power
system (or a process) and control it.
4. Human-Machine Interface (HMI): HMI refers to the interface required for the
interaction between the master station and the operators or users of the SCADA system.

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 3

SCADA in power systems

SCADA systems are in use in all spheres of power system operations starting from
generation to transmission, to distribution, and to utilization of electrical energy. The SCADA
functions can be classified as basic and advanced application functions.
SCADA basic functions
• The basic SCADA functions include data acquisition, remote control, human machine
interface, historical data analysis, and report writing, which are common to generation,
transmission, and distribution systems.
• Data acquisition is the function by which all kinds of data—analog, digital, and pulse—are
acquired from the power system. This is accomplished by the use of sensors, transducers, and
status point information acquired from the field.
• Remote control involves the control of all the required variables by the operator from the
control room.
• In power systems, the control is mostly of switch positions; hence, digital control output points
are abundant, such as circuit breaker and isolator positions and equipment on and off positions.
• Historical data analysis is an important function performed by the power system SCADA,
where the post-event analysis is done using the data available after the event has happened.
➢ An example is the post outage analysis where the data acquired by the SCADA system
can provide insights into such information as the sequence of events during the outage,
malfunctioning of any device in the system, and the action taken by the operator.
• This could be a powerful tool for future planning and is extensively used by power engineering
personnel.
SCADA application functions
Below figure illustrates the use of SCADA in power system with the initial SCADA
block depicting the basic functions.

• The generation SCADA, represented by SCADA/AGC (Automatic Generation Control),

implemented in the generation control centers across the world.
• The transmission SCADA is shown as SCADA/EMS (Energy Management Systems) where
the basic functions are supplemented by the energy management system functions. This is
implemented in the transmission control centers.

Use of SCADA in Power system

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 4

• The EMS software applications are the most expensive component of the SCADA/EMS,
mainly due to the complexity of each application.
• The distribution functions superimposed on the basic SCADA functions, beginning at the
SCADA/distribution automation system and further expanding to the distribution management
system functions. (i.e., the basic SCADA system is the simplest and least expensive, the
SCADA/AGC is more involved and a little more expensive, and the SCADA/EMS is much
more complex and expensive). The same is true for distribution. The SCADA/DA is more
involved and more expensive than the basic SCADA system. The SCADA/ DMS is much more
complex and expensive.
Generation SCADA application functions
As discussed earlier, generation SCADA, in addition to the basic functions discussed earlier,
will include the following application functions.
• Automatic Generation Control (AGC): a compendium of equipment and computer programs
implementing closed-loop feedback control of frequency and net interchange
• Economic Dispatch Calculation (EDC): the scheduling of power from all available sources
in such a way to minimize cost within some security limit
• Interchange Transaction Scheduling (ITS): ensures that sufficient energy and capacity are
available to satisfy load energy and capacity requirements
• Transaction Evaluation (TE): evaluates economy of transactions using the unit commitment
results as the base condition
• Unit Commitment (UC): produces the hourly start-up and loading schedule which minimizes
the production cost for up to one week in the future
• Short-Term Load Forecasting (STLF): produces the hourly system load for up to one week
into the future and is used as input to the unit commitment program
• Hydrothermal coordination: the scheduling of power from all available hydro generation in
such a way to minimize cost within constraints (e.g., reservoir levels)
Transmission SCADA application functions
The transmission SCADA will include energy management system (EMS) functions such as
• Network Configuration/Topology Processor: analyzes the status of circuit breakers as well as
measurements to automatically determine the current model of the power system
• State Estimation: provides a means of processing a set of redundant information to obtain an
estimate of the state variables of the system
• Contingency Analysis: simulates outages of generating units and transmission facilities to
study their effect on bus voltages, power flows, and the transient stability of the power system
as a whole
• Three-Phase Balanced Power Flow: obtains complete voltage angle and magnitude
information for each bus in a power system for specified load and generator real power and
voltage conditions

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 5

• Optimal Power Flow: optimize some system objective function, such as production cost,
losses, and so on, subject to physical constraints on facilities and the observation of the network
laws
Distribution automation application functions
Distribution automation/distribution management systems (DA/DMS) include substation
automation, feeder automation, and customer automation. The additional features incorporated
in distribution automation will be
• Fault identification, isolation, and service restoration
• Network reconfiguration Load management/demand response
• Active and reactive power control
• Power factor control
• Short-term load forecasting
• Three-phase unbalanced power flow
• Interface to customer information systems (CISs)
• Interface to geographical information systems (GISs)
• Trouble call management and interface to outage management systems (OMSs)

Advantages of SCADA in power systems

Automating a system brings many advantages, and the case of power systems is no different.
Some of the advantages are as follows:
• Increased reliability, as the system can be operated with less severe contingencies and the
outages are addressed quickly
• Lower operating costs, as there is less personnel involvement due to automation
• Faster restoration of power in case of a breakdown, as the faults can be detected faster and
action taken
• Better active and reactive power management, as the values are accurately captured in the
automation system and appropriate action can be taken
• Reduced maintenance cost, as the maintenance can be more effectively done (transition from
time-based to condition-based maintenance) with continuous monitoring of the equipment
• Reduced human influence and errors, as the values are accessed automatically, and the meter
reading and related errors are avoided
• Faster decision making, as a wealth of information is made available to the operator about the
system conditions to assist the operator in making accurate and appropriate decisions
• Optimized system operation, as optimization algorithms can be run and appropriate
performance parameters chosen

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K

 6

Power system field

Electricity is generated at the generating stations and transmitted over the transmission system
to the distribution substation, from where it is distributed to the consumers. In the current
scenario, to this traditional system, renewable generation is added at transmission and
distribution, including the customer premises. Hence, SCADA systems will acquire data from
all these components, and a brief discussion of these components follows.
Transmission and distribution systems
The generated electricity reaches the customer premises passing through a variety of
substations which are classified as follows:
• Switchyard or generating substations
• Bulk power substations or grid substations. Distribution substations
• Special-purpose substations (e.g., traction substation, mining substation, mobile substations,
etc.)
A transmission substation (generating or grid substation) usually has the following
components:
• Transformers (with or without tap changers)
• Station buses and insulators
• Current transformers
• Potential transformers
• Circuit breakers
• Disconnecting switches (isolators or fuses)
• Reactors, series or shunt
• Capacitors, series or shunt
• Relays/relay IEDs
• Substation batteries
• Line or wave trap and coupling capacitors for power line carrier communication

Building blocks of SCADA systems

The SCADA system has four components
• The first being the remote terminal unit (RTU) or data concentrator, which is the link of the
control system to the field, for acquiring the data from the field devices and passing on the
control commands from the control station to the field devices.
➢ Modern-day SCADA systems are incomplete without the data concentrators and
intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) which are replacing the conventional RTUs with
their hardwired input and output (I/O) points.

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 7

• The second component is the communication system that carries the monitored data from the
RTU to the control center and the control commands from the master station to the RTU or
data concentrator to be conveyed to the field.
➢ The communication system is of great significance in SCADA generally and in power
automation specifically, as the power system field is widely distributed over the
landscape, and critical information that is time bound is to be communicated to the master
station and control decisions to the field.
• The third component of the SCADA system is the master station where the operator monitors
the system and makes control decisions to be conveyed to the field.
• The fourth component is the user interface (UI) also referred to as the human-machine interface
(HMI) which is the interaction between the operator and the machine.
✓ All automation systems essentially have these four components, in varied proportions
depending on the process requirements. Power system SCADA systems are focused on the
master stations and HMI is of great significance, whereas process automation is focused on
controllers, and master station and the HMI has less significance.

Remote terminal unit (RTU)

The RTU is the eyes, ears, and hands of the SCADA system. In older days, RTU was a slave
of the master station, but now RTUs are equipped with internal computational and optimization
facilities. RTU collects data from the field devices, processes the data, and sends the data to
the master station through the communication system to assist the monitoring of the power
system as “eyes” and “ears” of the master station. At the same time, the RTU receives control
commands from the master station and transmits these commands to the field devices, thus
justifying the comparison to the “hands” of the master station.
Components of RTU
RTU has the following major components to accomplish the tasks of monitoring and
controlling the field devices:
1. Communication Subsystem: Communication subsystem is the interface between the
SCADA communication network and the RTU internal logic.
This subsystem receives messages from the master, interprets the messages, initiates
actions within the RTU which in turn initiates some action in the field.
RTU also sends an appropriate message to the master station on the completion of the
task.
It also collects data from the field and processes and conveys relevant data to the master
station. RTU may report to a single master or multiple masters.
2. Logic Subsystem: The logic subsystem consists of the main processor and database and
handles all major processing—time keeping, and control sensing. The logic subsystem also
handles the analog-to-digital conversions and computational optimization, in most of the cases.
3. Termination Subsystem: The termination subsystem provides the interface between RTU
and external equipment such as the communication lines, primary source, and substation
devices. RTU logic needs to be protected from the harsh environment of the substation.
4. Power Supply Subsystem: The power supply converts primary power, usually from the
substation battery, to the supply requirements of the other RTU subsystems.

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5. Test/HMI Subsystem: This subsystem covers a variety of components, built-in

hardware/firmware tests, and visual indicators, within the RTU, and built-in or portable
test/maintenance panels or displays. .

Components of RTU

Typical RTU in Substation

Communication subsystem
✓ The communication subsystem is the interface between the SCADA communication network
and the RTU internal logic.
✓ Messages from the master station are received and interpreted by the communication
subsystem, and the required action is initiated within the RTU.
✓ The RTU then initiates the requisite control action in the field, on the completion of which an
appropriate message is transmitted to the master station.
✓ The communication subsystem receives data from the field, processes the data, bundles the
relevant data in the appropriate protocol, and conveys the data to the master station, via the
SCADA communication network.
➢ Hence, it is evident that the communication subsystem of the RTU is responsible for
interpreting the messages from the master station, as well as formatting the messages to be
transmitted to the master, including the message security.

The RTU communication subsystem handles the following functions

1) Communication protocols
A large variety of communication protocols exist in the power system, and the RTU
communication system is designed to format and interpret the data in the required protocol.
SCADA communication protocols generally “report by exception” or give information on the

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points that have changed since the last scan, to reduce the communication system load. For
analog points, this means changing beyond their dead band between scans.
2) Message security
The data handled by the SCADA system are critical, and any corruption in the data can lead to
serious consequences. Parity check is the simplest method, where a single bit is added to the
message so that the sum is always odd. Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is another error-
checking mechanism used, which is more reliable. Here, each block of data is divided by a 16-
degree polynomial; the remainder of the division is added to the end of the message block. The
message will have a fixed length preamble of overhead characters, depending on the protocol
used, the station address, the function code, and other details. CRC code is calculated separately
for the preamble and the data block.
3) Multi-port communication
Modern RTUs have to communicate to the higher SCADA hierarchy to more than one master
station, and at the same time, communicate with peer RTUs and IEDs in a variety of protocols.
The communication subsystem should be designed to handle this capability.

Intelligent electronic devices (IEDs)

✓ The industry standard definition of an IED is “Any device incorporating one or more processors
with the capability to receive or send data/control from or to an external source (e.g., electronic
multifunction meters, digital relays, and controllers).”
✓ IEDs have been deployed extensively in power automation systems recently, and the shift from
RTUs to IEDs is evident due to the integration and interoperability features of the IEDs.
✓ The modern IED architecture ensures that the device is multipurpose, modular in nature,
flexible and adaptable, and has robust communication capabilities.
✓ Communication capabilities include multiple selectable protocols, multi-drop facilities with
multiple ports, and rapid response for real-time data.
✓ IEDs also have tremendous data-processing capability for a variety of functions, for various
applications like protection and metering.
✓ IEDs have event recording capability that can be very

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Classification of SCADA systems

SCADA systems can be classified into four categories depending on the complexity and the
number of RTUs and master stations present in the system. The classification will also depend
on the number of points at each RTU and the required update rates, location of the RTUs,
communication facilities, and equipment available.
1. Single master–single remote
➢ The simplest configuration, the single master–single remote supervisory (below Figure) , is
utilized for simple systems where small numbers of points are involved, since it requires one
master station and one communication channel per RTU.
➢ This one-on-one configuration generally has one indicator or display at the master station for
each remote data point. An example could be the control center of a generating station with
one RTU to collect data.

2. Single master–multiple RTU

➢ In the one master–multiple RTU configuration, one master station is shared by several RTUs.
Generally, the master station communicates in turn to each RTU using serial digital data
messages.
➢ This configuration has the advantage over the one-on-one of sharing the master station
communications logic among a number of RTUs. An example could be a power distribution
system with one master station controlling a number of substations with RTUs.
➢ These are generally “off-the-shelf” systems that can be procured easily, and the number of
RTUs is generally restricted to 25.
➢ The communication configuration could be radial or shared line (party line) as shown in below
Figures a and b.

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3. Multiple master–multiple RTUs

➢ In multiple master–multiple RTU configuration, there will be submasters available with
multiple RTUs reporting to each master.
➢ These systems will have a large number of RTUs connected to it, and extensive engineering
and customization are required for commissioning of the system.
➢ The multiple master–multiple remote is also characterized by a sizable number of application
programs. These systems will take a longer time to execute and implement.
➢ An example is a generation and transmission (G&T) utility with multiple distribution members,
where each member has its own SCADA system.
➢ The member’s SCADA masters report upstream to the G&T master.

4. Single master, multiple submaster, multiple remote

➢ In this system there is a single master, with additional submasters, with each submaster
reporting to the master station.
➢ The remote RTUs/IEDs will typically be connected to the submasters. A typical system would
be the hierarchical transmission SCADA used.
➢ Below Figure gives the practical system, which is the National Control Center for the
transmission SCADA in India.
➢ The multiple submasters represent the five regional control centers and also 29 state load
dispatch centers. The RTUs are located in the substations around the country

Reference book: Power system SCADA and SMART Grid by mini-S Thom and John D McDonald

Dept of EEE/PDIT PSOC Module-1 Vinaykumar K