SUCCESS STORIES

BSI in cooperation with the Tennessee Valley Authority developed an on-line Var Management System (VMS) for regional reactive reserve monitoring and control. The TVA Regional VAR management system runs voltage stability under a full N-1 contingency list, monitors regional VAR demand and calculates the regional VAR capability of local and imported VAR resources using State Estimator snapshots. The system began producing current status and alarms for the reactive reserves of the 15 reactive regions within the TVA control area in 2011. In subsequent months, the system identified several issues with the TVA System not detected in any production system. The VMS detection and alarm allowed TVA engineers to verify the problem and take corrective action before the issue became real time. In 2012, the VMS was put in production in the TVA System Control Center. The reactive reserve management system is characterized by three key functional elements: (1) situational awareness enhancement, (2) alarm and visualization, and (3) corrective control. Currently, TVA system operations are able to monitor quantities from the EMS system and produce accurate information for reactive reserve management in the critical reactive reserve regions. The system accuracy has eliminated the frequent false alarms previously raised by the EMS reactive reserve monitoring system. In addition, the system provides corrective control suggestions to eliminate VAR problems.