FUTURE GRID
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Role of CIRCE
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Description and objectives
The first generation of analog measurement and control systems in power grid substations is nearing the end of its useful life.
Increasingly their replacement is based on digital substation automation solutions according to IEC 61850.
In order to support the European power industry, this project will provide the missing solutions for the calibration and timing of the new type of substation instrumentation.
The project will also support the standardization organizations in their work of revising the related standards, with the specific aim of proposing solutions that will allow more accurate measurements in the future.
The decarbonization of energy systems is leading to significant and unprecedented changes in power grids due to the large-scale introduction of decentralized renewable energy resources.
Consequently, future power grids will require real-time monitoring and control systems to ensure stability under increasingly complex and challenging conditions.
The associated high voltage digital sensors and digital measurement systems must be managed through accurate and reliable time synchronization over a wide area.
This is reflected in objective 4. New standards have recently been published in IEC 61869 for low power instrument transformers (LPITs), or are expected to be published for electronic current and voltage transformers in the future, as well as for stand-alone fusing units (SAMUs) in 2018.
Due to the introduction of these new standards, the move from traditional analog instrument transformer (IT) technology to new digital instrumentation technology is expected to gain speed in both transmission (>100 kV) and distribution (<100 kV).
Value proposition
To support this change, new metrological tools and methodologies are needed. The need to provide test systems for new LPIT and SAMU technologies is addressed in objectives 1 and 2. Test systems are also needed to test the performance of smart electronic devices, such as digital energy meters or critical real-time all-digital PMUs.
This is addressed in objective 3. Finally, to enable industrial adoption and uniformity, the active support of standardization organizations is required, which is addressed in objective 5.
- Establish calibration methods to support dynamic testing of digital instrument transformers (IT) for rated voltages up to 400/√3 kV and at least 2 kA.
- Develop reference standards for calibration of instruments with digital input or output to support the transition to digital substations.
- Develop metrological tools for the characterization of devices that exploit sampled values in digital substations, such as fully digital power and power quality meters and phase measurement units (PMU).
- Develop traceable reference standards for verification of timing and synchronization methods.
- Facilitate the adoption of the metering technology and infrastructure developed in the project.
Project partners
PTB, CIRCE