Albany, New York - Bigwood Systems, Inc., a leading software vendor and consulting firm to the electricity sector, will spearhead project efforts to deal with sub-synchronous oscillations in the state electric grid. The project team will be composed of five NY State utilities.
Bigwood Systems, Inc. today announced its High Performing Grid – Sub-Synchronous Oscillations (SSO) project has been awarded funding from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The project seeks to screen and identify SSOs that may exist in the electrical grid due to the interaction of long‐distance transmission systems having series compensation with generators, wind turbines, and control devices.
SSOs are oscillations that can happen in the electrical grid due to varying renewable resources and equipment issues that can cause significant damage to power generation facilities including wind farms, which New York State intends to add more of (including 9,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035). This project will support the development and catering of future engineering solutions for New York State’s electric power companies to combat potential future SSO issues.
Bigwood Systems, Inc. (BSI), based in Ithaca, NY, has been working with electric power companies across the state, the United States, and the world for over 25 years on engineering projects and implementation of production-grade engineering software solutions for both utility operations and planning. The idea for a project focused on SSO first came from project idea discussions with one of the larger NY State utilities. The SSO project quickly drew interest as several other NY State utilities signed on to join the project, including National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E), and PSEG Long Island (which operates the Long Island Power Authority’s transmission and distribution system under a long-term contract), among other state utilities, demonstrating a common interest in dealing with SSO across the state.
BSI will lead the engineering study on SSO screening and mitigation methods with guidance and feedback from all partner utilities across the state and ultimately, incorporate newly developed technology into practical software solutions. The SSO screening, analysis, and mitigation application will be built into BSI’s commercial small signal stability analysis product and supplied to all participating NY State utilities for their use in operating a reliable and secure power grid.
