Power System Stability

Electrical power oscillations can occur on power systems that contain generation
equipped with fast acting excitation systems. These oscillations occur when a large
amount of power is transmitted over long transmission lines. Power oscillations of small
magnitude and low frequency (<10Hz) often persist for long periods of time. In some
cases, this presents a limitation on the amount of power able to be transmitted within the
system. Power system stabilizers have been developed to aid in the damping of these
power oscillations by modulating the excitation supplied to the synchronous machine.
This paper will discuss the various types of power system instability. It will cover the effects
of system impedance and excitation on stability. Synchronizing torque and damping
torque will be discussed and a justification will be made for the addition of supplemental
stabilization. A review of various types of Power System Stabilizers is presented, with a
concentration on the dual input, integral-of-accelerating-power style of stabilizer.
BASIS FOR STEADY-STATE STABILITY
In an interconnected power system, the rotors of each synchronous machine in the system
rotate at the same average electrical speed. The power delivered by the generator to the
power system is equal to the mechanical power applied by the prime mover, neglecting
losses. During steady state operation, the electrical power out balances the mechanical
power in. The mechanical power input to the shaft from the prime mover is the product of
torque and speed, PM = TM . The mechanical torque is in the direction of rotation. An
electrical torque is applied to the shaft by the generator and is in a direction opposite of
rotation as seen in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Mechanical and Electrical Torque Applied to the Shaft

When the system is disturbed due to a fault, or the load is changed quickly, the electrical
power out of the machine changes. The electrical power out of the machine can change
rapidly, but the mechanical power into the machine is relatively slow to change. Because
of this difference in speed of response, there exists a temporary difference in the balance
of power. This power unbalance causes a difference in torque applied to the shaft, which
causes it to accelerate or decelerate, depending on the direction of the unbalance. As the
rotor changes speed, the relative rotor angle changes.
Figure 2 shows the relationship between the rotor (torque) angle, , the stator magnetomotive force (MMF), F1, and the rotor MMF, F2. The torque angle, , is the angle between the
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rotor MMF, F2, and the resultant of the vector addition of the rotor and stator MMFs, R, as
seen in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Stator, Rotor, and Resultant MMFs and Torque Angle

Figure 3 is a circuit representation of a synchronous generator connected through a transmission system to an infinite bus.

Figure 3: Synchronous machine tied to infinite bus

The synchronous machine is modeled by an ideal voltage source, Eg, in series with an
impedance, Xg. The terminal voltage of the machine, ET is increased to transmission system levels through a Generator Step-Up (GSU) transformer, which is represented by an
impedance, XT. The high voltage side of the GSU is connected to the infinite bus via a
transmission line represented by reactance, XL. The power output from the generator on a
steady state basis is governed by equation:
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Pe = E g E T sin 
Xg
Equation 1: Steady State Electrical Power Output
where is the angle between the generator terminal voltage and the internal voltage of the
machine. As the power transfer increases, the angle increases. A disturbance in the
system can result in a change in electrical power flow, resulting in a change in the power
angle, . This can be seen graphically in Figure 4.

Eg
j IX g

ET
E0 jIXE

Figure 4: Phasor Diagram, Generator tied to infinite bus

If a fault causes the current I to increase and the terminal voltage to decrease, the electrical
power out of the machine will decrease, since the impedance seen by the generator is
now mainly inductive. This disturbance causes the rotor angle to increase, perhaps beyond the limits of generator synchronous operation. The resulting variations in power flow
as the rotor accelerates will cause a well-designed protective relaying system to isolate
that generator from the rest of the system. The disturbance on the remaining system, due
to the loss of generation, may result in additional units tripping off line and, potentially, a
cascading outage.
TRANSIENT STABILITY
Generators are connected to each other by a network that behaves much like weights
interconnected by rubber bands (see Figure 5). The weights represent the rotating inertia
of the turbine generators, and the rubber bands are analogous to the inductance of the
transmission lines. By pulling on a weight and letting go, an oscillation is set up with several of the weights that are interconnected by the rubber bands. The result of disturbing
just one weight will result in all of the weights oscillating. Eventually, the system will come
to rest, based on its damping characteristics. The frequency of oscillation depends on the
mass of the weights and the springiness of the rubber bands. Likewise, a transient disturbance to the generator/network can be expected to cause some oscillations due to the
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inability of the mechanical torque to instantaneously balance out the transient variation in
electrical torque.

Figure 5: Rubber Band Analogy

The synchronous machines electrical power output can be resolved into an electrical
torque, Te multiplied by the speed, . Following a disturbance, the change in electrical
torque can be further resolved into two components:

Equation 2: Change In Electrical Torque

Where:
Ts is the component of torque that is in phase with the rotor angle change.
This is known as the synchronizing torque.
TD is the component of torque that is in phase with the speed change.
This is known as the damping torque.
Both components of torque act on each generator in the system. A lack of sufficient synchronizing torque will result in loss of synchronism. Such loss of synchronism can only be
prevented if sufficient magnetic flux can be developed when a transient change in electrical torque occurs. This is facilitated by a high initial response excitation system having
sufficient forcing capability and sufficiently fast response to resist the accelerating or decelerating rotor. In order to be effective for both accelerating and decelerating rotor response,
the exciter must be capable of forcing both positively and negatively. When the rotor is
accelerating with respect to the stator flux, the rotor angle is increasing due to mechanical
torque higher than electrical torque. The exciter system must increase excitation by applying a high positive voltage to the alternator field as quickly as possible. Conversely, when
the rotor angle is decreasing due to mechanical torque less than electrical torque, the
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exciter system must decrease excitation by applying a high negative voltage to the alternator field as quickly as possible.

Figure 6: Transient Stability Illustration

Transient stability is primarily concerned with the immediate effects of a transmission line
disturbance on generator synchronism. Figure 6 illustrates the typical behavior of a generator in response to a fault condition. Starting from the initial operating condition (point 1),
a close-in transmission fault causes the generator electrical output power, Pe, to be drastically reduced. The resultant difference between electrical power and the mechanical turbine power causes the generator rotor to accelerate with respect to the system, increasing
the power angle (point 2). When the fault is cleared, the electrical power is restored to a
level corresponding to the appropriate point on the power angle curve (point 3). Clearing
the fault necessarily removes one or more transmission elements from service and at least
temporarily weakens the transmission system. After clearing the fault, the electrical power
out of the generator becomes greater than the turbine power. This causes the unit to decelerate (point 4), reducing the momentum the rotor gained during the fault. If there is
enough retarding torque after fault clearing to make up for the acceleration during the fault,
the generator will be transiently stable on the first swing and will move back toward its
operating point. If the retarding torque is insufficient, the power angle will continue to
increase until synchronism with the power system is lost.
Power system stability depends on the clearing time for a fault on the transmission system.
A comparison of the two examples in Figure 7 illustrates this point. In the example of
slower fault clearing (left figure), the time duration of the fault allows the rotor to accelerate
so far along the curve of PE, that the decelerating torque comes right to the limit of maintaining the rotor in synchronism. The shorter fault clearing time (right figure) stops the
acceleration of the rotor much sooner, assuring that sufficient synchronizing torque is
available to recover with a large safety margin. This effect is the demand placed on protection engineers to install the fastest available relaying equipment to protect the transmission
system.
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Figure 7: Effect of Fault Clearing Time

EFFECT OF THE EXCITATION SYSTEM ON STABILITY
Maintaining power system stability also depends on excitation system speed of response
and forcing capacity. Increasing forcing capability and decreasing response time increases
the margin of stability. This effect is illustrated in Figure 8, where the lower curve, A, represents the power angle curve of a lower forcing, slower response excitation system. Comparing the area under the curve for acceleration when the electrical load is less than the mechanical load to the area under curve A for deceleration clearly shows that a machine under
the example condition will lose synchronism. For curve B, representing a faster and higher
forcing exciter, the area under the curve where electrical power exceeds mechanical power
is much greater, sufficient to allow the generator to recover from this swing. This effect is the
source of the demand placed on generation engineers to install the fastest available excitation equipment with very high levels of positive and negative forcing to secure the highest
level of immunity to transient loss of synchronism.

Figure 8: Effect of High Initial Response Excitation System

While fast excitation systems provide tremendous benefits to transient stability following
large impact disturbances to the system, the benefit may be outweighed by the impact of
the excitation system on damping the oscillations that follow the first swing after the disturbance. In fact, the fast responding excitation system can contribute a significant amount of
negative damping to oscillations because it can reduce damping torque. Thus, an excitation
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system has the potential to contribute to small signal instability of power systems. With
very old electromechanical excitation systems, the transient response was relatively slow
compared to systems introduced today. This slow response has minimal effect in reducing
the damping torque.
SMALL SIGNAL STABILITY
Small signal stability is defined as the ability of the power system to remain stable in the
presence of small disturbances. These disturbances could be minor variations in load or
generation on the system. If sufficient damping torque doesnt exist, the result can be rotor
angle oscillations of increasing amplitude. Generators connected to the grid utilizing high
gain automatic voltage regulators can experience insufficient damping to system oscillations.
To further understand the difference between the good effect of high performance excitation systems and the side effect of reduced damping torque, remember the equation

Equation 2: Change In Electrical Torque

we discussed earlier that breaks down the change in electrical torque,
, into the two
components of synchronizing torque and damping torque. The synchronizing torque
increases the pull between rotor and stator flux, decreasing the angle , and reducing the
risk of pulling out of step. The damping torque, on the other hand, results from the phase
lag or lead of the excitation current. Like the timing of pushes to a swing, the excitation
current acting to improve synchronizing torque normally is time delayed by the characteristics of the excitation system, the time delay of the alternator field, and the time delay of the
exciter field (if used). These time delays cause the effect of a high initial response excitation system to cause negative damping, resulting in loss of small signal stability. Loss of
small signal stability results in one or more of the types of oscillations listed below, involving rotor swings that may grow without bound or may take a long time to dampen.
Three types of oscillations that have been experienced with large interconnected generators and transmission networks (shown in Figures 9 through 11) include:

Figure 9: Inter-unit Oscillations

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Inter-unit Oscillations - These oscillations involve typically two or more synchronous

machines at a power plant or nearby power plants. The machines swing against each
other, with the frequency of the power oscillation ranging between 1.5 to 3 Hertz.

Figure 10: Local Mode Oscillations

Local Mode Oscillations - These oscillations generally involve one or more synchronous
machines at a power station swinging together against a comparatively large power system or load center. The frequency of oscillation is in the range of 0.7 Hertz to 2 Hertz.
These oscillations become troublesome when the plant is at high load with a high reactance transmission system.

Figure 11: Inter-area Oscillations

Inter-area Oscillations - These oscillations usually involve combinations of many machines on one part of a power system swinging against machines on another part of the
power system. Inter-area oscillations are normally in the frequency range of less than 0.5
Hertz.
New, fast excitation systems installed to aid in improving transient stability can be a source
of these types of oscillations. These systems recognize a change in voltage due to load
change up to 10 times faster than older excitation systems. Thus, small oscillations of the
unit cause the excitation system to correct immediately. Because of the high inductance in
the generator field winding, however, the field current rate of change is limited. This introduces considerable lag in the control function. Thus, from the time of recognition of a
desired excitation change to its partial fulfillment, there is an unavoidable time delay. During this delay time, the state of the oscillating system will change, causing a new excitation
adjustment to be started. The net result is that the excitation system tends to lag behind
the need for a change, aiding the inherent oscillatory behavior of the generators interconnected by transmission lines. The excitation system acts to introduce energy into the
oscillatory cycle at the wrong time.
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Positive synchronizing torque can be provided to restore the rotor back to the steady state
operating point if the excitation system can be made to appropriately accelerate or decelerate the rotor. Positive damping torque damps out the rotor oscillations of the torque
angle loop to return the system back to normal. For most power systems, the configuration
of the network and the generator control systems maintains stable damping forces that
restore equilibrium to the power system. In some system configurations, however, unstable
oscillations can result from the introduction of negative damping torques caused by a fast
responding excitation system. This can occur when the system is connected to a high
impedance transmission system as compared to one connected to a low impedance
transmission system.

Figure 12: Block Diagram of Generator Under Voltage Regulator Control

One solution to improve the dynamic performance of this system and large scale systems
in general would be to add more parallel transmission lines to reduce the reactance between the generator and load center. This solution is well known, but usually it is not acceptable due to the high cost of building transmission lines. An alternative solution adds a
power system stabilizer (PSS) acting through the voltage regulator. Working together, the
excitation output is modulated to provide positive damping torque to the system.
POWER SYSTEM STABILIZERS
The Power System Stabilizer (PSS) is a device that improves the damping of generator
electromechanical oscillations. Stabilizers have been employed on large generators for
several decades, permitting utilities to improve stability-constrained operating limits. In
order to describe the application of the PSS, it is necessary to introduce general concepts
of power system stability and synchronous generator operation.
When disturbed by a sudden change in operating conditions, the generator speed and
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electrical power will vary around their steady-state operating points. The relationship between these quantities can be expressed in a simplified form of the swing equation:

Equation 3: The Swing Equation

where:

r
Tm
Te
H
KD

= rotor angle, in radians

= angular speed of rotor (the base or rated value = 377 rad/s)
= angular speed of rotor
= mechanical torque in per-unit
= electrical torque in per-unit
= combined turbogenerator inertia constant expressed in MW-s/MVA
= damping coefficient

For small deviations in rotor speed, the mechanical and electrical torques are approximately equal to the respective per unit power values. The base value of power is selected
to be equal to the generator nameplate MVA. The swing equation dictates that, when
disturbed from equilibrium, the rotor accelerates at a rate that is proportional to the net
torque acting on the rotor divided by the machines inertia constant.
Equation 3 can be rewritten in terms of small changes about an operating point:

Equation 4: Small Signal Version of Swing Equation

where the expression for electrical-torque-deviation has been expanded into its synchronizing and damping components:
TS = synchronizing coefficient
TD = damping coefficient
= rotor angle change
From Equation 4, it can be seen that for positive values of TS, the synchronizing torque
component opposes changes in the rotor angle from the equilibrium point (i.e. an increase
in rotor angle will lead to a net decelerating torque, causing the unit to slow down relative
to the power system, until the rotor angle is restored to its equilibrium point, = 0).
Similarly, for positive values of TD, the damping torque component opposes changes in the
rotor speed from the steady-state operating point. A generator will remain stable as long as
there are sufficient positive synchronizing and damping torques acting on its rotor for all
operating conditions.

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DAMPING OF ELECTROMECHANICAL OSCILLATIONS

For positive values of the damping coefficient and constant input power, the rotor angles
response to small disturbances (i.e. the solution of Equation 2) will take the form of a
damped sinusoid. The relationship between rotor speed and electrical power following
small disturbances is illustrated in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Response of Speed and Angle to Small Disturbances

A number of factors can influence the damping coefficient of a synchronous generator,
including the generators design, the strength of the machines interconnection to the grid,
and the setting of the excitation system. While many units have adequate damping coefficients for normal operating conditions, they may experience a significant reduction in the
value of TD following transmission outages, leading to unacceptably low damping ratios. In
extreme situations, the damping coefficient may become negative, causing the electromechanical oscillations to grow, and eventually causing loss of synchronism. This form of
instability is normally referred to as dynamic, small-signal, or oscillatory instability to differentiate it from steady-state stability and transient stability.
By adding a power system stabilizer to a high initial response excitation system, the benefit
of higher synchronizing torque is available, and the possibility of decreased damping
torque can be corrected. The function of the power system stabilizer is to counter any
oscillations by signaling to change excitation at just the right time to dampen the oscillations. The source of reduced damping is that the phase lags due to the field time constants
and the lags in the normal voltage regulation loop. Thus, the PSS (power system stabilizer)
uses phase compensation to adjust the timing of its correction signal to oppose the oscillations it detects in the generator rotor.
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Figure 14: PSS with AVR, Exciter, and Generator

A power system stabilizer can increase a generators damping coefficient, thus allowing a
unit to operate under conditions where there is insufficient natural damping.
PSS THEORY OF OPERATION
Modulation of generator excitation can produce transient changes in the generators electrical output power. Fast-responding exciters equipped with high-gain automatic voltage
regulators (AVRs) use their speed and forcing to increase a generators synchronizing
torque coefficient (TS), resulting in improved steady-state and transient stability limits.
Unfortunately, improvements in synchronizing torque are often achieved at the expense of
damping torque, resulting in reduced levels of oscillatory or small-signal stability. To counteract this effect, many units that utilize high-gain AVRs are also equipped with power
system stabilizers to increase the damping coefficient (TD) and improve oscillatory stability.
SPEED BASED STABILIZERS
To supplement the units natural damping, the stabilizer must produce a component of
electrical torque that opposes changes in rotor speed. One method of accomplishing this
is to introduce a signal proportional to measured rotor speed deviation into the voltage
regulator input, as depicted in Figure 15.

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Figure 15: Speed-based Stabilizer

Figure 15 illustrates the steps used within the speed-based stabilizer to generate the output signal. These steps are summarized below:

Measure shaft speed using a magnetic-probe and gear-wheel arrangement.

Convert the measured speed signal into a dc voltage proportional to the speed.

High-pass filter the resulting signal to remove the average speed level, producing a change-in-speed signal. This ensures that the stabilizer reacts only to
changes in speed and does not permanently alter the generator terminal voltage
reference.

Apply phase lead to the resulting signal to compensate for the phase lag in the
closed-loop voltage regulator.

Adjust the gain of the final signal applied to the AVR input.
With some minor variations, many of the early power system stabilizers were constructed
using this basic structure.
DUAL INPUT STABILIZERS
While speed-based stabilizers have proven to be extremely effective, it is frequently difficult
to produce a noise-free speed signal that does not contain other components of shaft
motion such as lateral shaft run-out (hydroelectric units) or torsional oscillations (steamdriven turbogenerators). The presence of these components in the input of a speed-based
stabilizer can result in excessive modulation of the generators excitation and, for the case
of torsional components, in the production of potentially damaging electrical torque variations. These electrical torque variations led to the investigation of stabilizer designs based
upon measured power.

Equation 4: Small Signal Version of Swing Equation

Equation 5: Speed Deviation from Net Accelerating Power

The simplified swing equation can be rearranged to reveal the principle of operation of
early power-based stabilizers. Based on Equation 5, it is apparent that a speed deviation
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signal can be derived from the net accelerating power acting on the rotor; i.e., the difference between applied mechanical power and generated electrical power. Early attempts at
constructing power-based stabilizers used the above relationship to substitute measured
electrical and mechanical power signals for the input speed. The electrical power signal
was measured directly using an instantaneous watt transducer. The mechanical power
could not be measured directly and instead was estimated, based on the measurement of
valve or gate positions. The relationship between these physical measurements and the
actual mechanical power varies based on the turbine design and other factors, resulting in
a high degree of customization and complexity.
This approach was abandoned in favor of an indirect method that employed the two available signals, namely electrical power and speed. The goal was to eliminate the undesirable components from the speed signal while avoiding a reliance on the difficult-to-measure mechanical power signal. To accomplish this, the relationship of Equation 5 was
rearranged to obtain a derived integral-of-mechanical power signal from electrical power
and speed:

Equation 6: Accelerating Power Based on Integral of Mechanical and Electrical Power

Since mechanical power normally changes slowly relative to the electromechanical oscillation frequencies, the derived mechanical power signal can be band limited using a lowpass filter. The low-pass filter attenuates high frequency components (e.g. torsional components, measurement noise) from the incoming signal while maintaining a reasonable
representation of mechanical power changes. The resulting band limited derived signal is
then used in place of the real mechanical power in Equation 3 to derive a change-in-speed
signal with special properties.
Equation 3 has been written in the frequency domain using the Laplace operator s, to
represent complex frequency. The final derived speed signal is derived from both a band
limited, measured speed signal and a high-pass filtered integral-of-electrical power signal.
At lower frequencies the measured speed signal dominates this expression, while at
higher frequencies the output is determined primarily by the electrical power input.
The integral-of-accelerating-power arrangement is illustrated in the block diagram of
Figure 16.

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Figure 16: Block Diagram of Dual-Input Power System Stabilizer

SPEED SIGNAL
Shaft speed can be either measured directly or derived from the frequency of a compensated voltage signal obtained from the generator terminal VT and CT secondary voltages
and currents. If directly measured, shaft speed is normally obtained from a magnetic-probe
and gear-wheel arrangement. On horizontal turbo-generators operating at 1800 RPM or
3600 RPM, there are normally several gear wheels already provided for the purpose of
speed measurement or governing. The shaft location is not critical as long as it is directly
coupled to the main turbogenerator shaft. On vertical turbogenerators (hydraulic), the
direct measurement of shaft speed is considerably more difficult, particularly when the
shaft is subjected to large amounts of lateral movement (shaft run-out) during normal
operation. On these units, speed is almost always derived from a compensated frequency
signal. In either type of generator, the speed signal is plagued by noise, masking the
desired speed change information.

Figure 17: Speed derived from VT and CT signals

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The derivation of shaft speed from the frequency of a voltage phasor and a current phasor
is depicted graphically in Figure 17. The internal voltage phasor is obtained by adding the
voltage drop associated with a q-axis impedance (Note: For salient pole machines, the
synchronous impedance provides the required compensation.) to the generator terminal
voltage phasor. The magnitude of the internal phasor is proportional to field excitation and
its position is tied to the quadrature axis. Therefore, shifts in the internal voltage phasor
position correspond with shifts in the generator rotor position. The frequency derived from
the compensated phasor corresponds to shaft speed and can be used in place of a physical measurement. On round-rotor machines, the selection of the correct compensating
impedance is somewhat more complicated; simulations and site tests are normally performed to confirm this setting.
In either case, the resulting signal must be converted to a constant level, proportional to
speed (frequency). Two high-pass filter stages are applied to the resulting signal to remove
the average speed level, producing a speed deviation signal. This ensures that the stabilizer reacts only to changes in speed and does not permanently alter the generator terminal voltage reference. Each high-pass filter is implemented with the following transfer
function where the range of adjustment of the time constant is:

Figure 18 shows the high-pass filter transfer function blocks in frequency domain form (the
letter s is used to represent the complex frequency or Laplace operator).

Figure 18: Accelerating-Power Design (Speed Input)

GENERATOR ELECTRICAL POWER SIGNAL
The generator electrical power output is derived from the generator VT secondary voltages
and CT secondary currents. The power output is high-pass filtered to produce the required
power deviation signal. Then, this signal is integrated and scaled, using the generator
inertia constant (2H) for combination with the speed signal. Figure 19 depicts the operations performed on the power input signal to produce the integral-of-electrical power deviation signal.

Figure 19: Integral of Electrical Power Block Diagram

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DERIVED MECHANICAL POWER SIGNAL

As previously described, the speed deviation and integral-of-electrical power deviation
signals are combined to produce a derived integral-of-mechanical power signal. This
signal is then low-pass filtered, as depicted in the block diagram of Figure 20.

Figure 20: Filter Configurations for Derived Mechanical Power Signal

A low-pass filter can be configured to take on one of the following two forms:

The first filter, a simple four-pole low-pass filter, was used to provide attenuation
of torsional components appearing in the speed. For thermal units, a time constant can be selected to provide attenuation at the lowest torsional frequency of
the turbogenerator set. Unfortunately, this design requirement conflicts with the
production of a reasonable derived mechanical power signal, which can follow
changes in the actual prime mover output. This is particularly problematic on
hydroelectric units where rates of mechanical power change can easily exceed
10 percent per second. Excessive band-limiting of the mechanical power signal
can lead to excessive stabilizer output signal variations during loading and
unloading of the unit.

The second low-pass filter configuration deals with this problem. This filter,
referred to as a ramp-tracking filter, produces a zero steady-state error to ramp
changes in the input integral-of-electrical power signal. This limits the stabilizer
output variation to very low levels for the rates-of-change of mechanical power
that are normally encountered during operation of utility-scale generators. The
range of adjustment of the filter time constant is:

STABILIZING SIGNAL SELECTION AND PHASE COMPENSATION

As depicted in the simplified block diagram of Figure 16, the derived speed signal is modified before it is applied to the voltage regulator input. The signal is filtered to provide phase
lead at the electromechanical frequencies of interest, i.e., 0.1 Hz to 5.0 Hz. The phase lead
requirement is site specific and is required to compensate for phase lag introduced by the
closed-loop voltage regulator.

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Figure 21: Output stage of PSS to AVR

The diagram of Figure 21 depicts the phase compensation portion of the digital stabilizer.
The transfer function for each stage of phase compensation is a simple pole-zero combination where the lead and lag time constants are adjustable within the range:
0.01 s TLD 6.0 s
0.01 s TLG 6.0 s
TERMINAL VOLTAGE LIMITER
Since the Power System Stabilizer operates by modulating the excitation, it may counteract the voltage regulators attempts to maintain terminal voltage within a tolerance band.
To avoid producing an overvoltage condition, the PSS may be equipped with a terminal
voltage limiter that reduces the upper output limit to zero when the generator terminal
voltage exceeds the set point, ET_LIM. The limit set point may be adjusted within the
range:
0.9 pu Et ET_LIM 1.25 pu Et
This level is normally selected such that the limiter will operate to eliminate any contribution from the PSS before the generators time delayed overvoltage or V/Hz protection
operates.
The limiter will reduce the stabilizers upper limit, PSSPLUS, at a fixed rate until zero is
reached or the overvoltage is no longer present. The limiter does not reduce the AVR
reference below its normal level; it will not interfere with system voltage control during
disturbance conditions. The error signal (terminal voltage minus limit start point) is processed through a conventional low-pass filter to reduce the effect of measurement noise.
The range of time constant adjustments is as follows:
0.0 s TL 5.0 s
CASE STUDIES
Case 1
A small hydro turbine generator was experiencing potentially damaging power oscillations
when the unit load was increased to more than 0.5 pu, with oscillations triggered by small
changes in load or terminal voltage. The oscillations could be triggered by a step change
in unit terminal voltage. The waveforms in Figure 22 illustrate the test results indicating that
the oscillations under the test condition were damped, but with significant duration. This
condition occurred after the unit was upgraded from manual control to a modern static
exciter system with high initial response characteristic.
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Figure 22: Hydro Generator without PSS

When the dual input type power system stabilizer was implemented, the response of the
turbine generator was substantially improved, showing much greater damping capability
compared to the performance in Figure 22. In operation, with the settings of the PSS set as
indicated in Figure 23, the unit was able to deliver rated load once again, with no danger
from power oscillations threatening to damage the machine. This is an example of a local
area oscillation. The combination of high performance excitation and the compensation of
the PSS provides the best combination of performance benefits for this hydro turbine
installation.

Figure 23: Hydro Generator with PSS

(Basler PSS-100 Stabilizer, Phase Lead = (1+0.05s)/(1+0.01s), Gain = 40)

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Figure 24: On-line Step Response, Frequency Type PSS

Ks=6, 92MW Hydro Turbine Generator
Case 2
The benefits of a newly installed dual-input type power system stabilizer (Figure 25) versus
those of the existing single input power system stabilizer (Figure 24) can be seen in the
on-line step response of a 92MW hydro turbine generator to system oscillations. The
speed-based stabilizer produces a significant amount of noise in the stabilizing signal. This
noise limits the gain that can be used. With the dual-input type, the noise is considerably
less, allowing higher gains and more effective damping as seen in Figure 25.

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Figure 25: On-line Step Response, Basler PSS-100

Ks=7.5, 92MW Hydro Turbine Generator
Case 3
This case illustrates the importance of the overall generator system configuration if the
Power System Stabilizer will be effective in damping power system oscillation. This would
ideally consist of a synchronous generator equipped with a static excitation system
employing negative field forcing. In cases where this is not practical, then the voltage
regulator should have sufficient bandwidth over the frequency range of interest along with
a negative forcing output power stage. If the generator is driven by a prime mover with
power pulsations such as a diesel engine, these power pulsations add noise to the signals
used by a PSS, limiting its ability to be effective.
For practical applications, Power System Stabilizers have typically been limited to large
generating units (>75MVA) tied to the transmission system. The use of PSS may also be
mandated at plants where a large number of relatively small units are connected in
parallel. This was the case with a plant consisting of units with reciprocating prime movers
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less than 10MVA each with a combined plant output in excess of 100MVA. The PSS was
applied to the voltage regulator used with a brushless rotating exciter. The AVR in this case
was not a negative forcing type, which, in combination with the non-negative forcing
characteristics typical of brushless rotary exciters, limited the PSSs ability to provide
damping of power oscillations. Additionally, the pulsating nature of the prime mover torque
complicated the settings of the PSS in this application. Eventually the system was
successfully commissioned by using a single input PSS (IEEE model PSS1A) based on
terminal frequency. The before and after graphs shown in Figures 26 and 27 show the
large power variations associated with reciprocating prime movers. The phase
compensation requirements of 30 degrees phase difference between the required
compensation and the PSS phase lead could be met over most of the inter-area frequency
range.

Figure 26: Step Response, Basler PSS-100

All Generators in Service, Stabilizer OFF
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Figure 27: Step Response, Basler PSS-100

All Generators in Service, Stabilizer Gain=1
Case 4
600MW of generation was being added to a 345kV transmission line tying an existing
nuclear plant to the grid. The nuclear plant contained two units, each rated at 1165MW.
One unit already had a PSS; the other did not. Power system studies revealed that a PSS
was needed on the second unit when the new plant came on line. A dual-input Integral of
Accelerating Power type PSS was selected. Step response tests were performed. The
nuclear unit had a 1Hz local mode oscillation and a relatively low frequency 7Hz torsional
mode. A modified version of the standard PSS was installed. The before and after responses are shown in Figures 28 and 29. The PSS response shows an increase in the
23

damping of an already well-damped generator. The real test case as the new 600MW plant
became operational. Operational experience indicated that the new PSS performed well in
this application.

Figure 28: Baseline of 1165 MW Generator - 10 second step of 1.0% terminal voltage test

Figure 29: Final Settings of 1165 MW Generator 10 second step of 1.0% terminal voltage test

24

Case 5
Concerns about the phase characteristics of a magnetic amplifier based compound source
excitation system known as an SCT-PPT (Saturable Current Transformer Power Potential
Transformer) has limited the application of PSS to these types of systems. The PSS philosophy is to compensate for the phase lag in the excitation system and field circuit by
adding an equivalent phase lead in the PSS. It was theorized that the phase lag in the
subject excitation system changed with output power, and thus would limit the effectiveness of the PSS to a narrow range of machine loading. The graphs in Figure 30 indicate a
very predictable phase lag (the machines phase lag was plotted as a phase lead, indicating the required compensation).

Figure 30: SCT/PPT Phase Compensation Requirements and PSS Phase Characteristics

Figure 31: Baseline of an SCT/PPT equipped generator - 2% step in terminal voltage test
25

Figure 32: Final Settings of an SCT/PPT equipped generator 2% step in terminal voltage test
The results show a significant improvement in damping by adding a PSS to an SCT/PPT
equipped generator.
CONCLUSION
In this tutorial, we have demonstrated the effects that excitation systems can have on system stability. We discussed transient and steady state stability. A review of various types of
power system stabilizers was presented, and an example of a successful application of a
PSS to a hydro generator has demonstrated the value of modern excitation equipment on
the performance of todays network connected generator systems.
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4.

E. L. Busby, J. D. Hurley, F. W. Keay, and C. Raczkowski, Dynamic Stability Improvement at Montecelllo Station-Analytical Study and Field Tests, IEEE Transaction on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.Pas-98, May/June 1979, pp. 889-897.
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27

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28

If you have any questions or need

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