Dispatcher training simulator

A dispatcher training simulator (DTS) is a computer system for training operators of electrical power grids. It performs this role by simulating both the characteristics of the electrical network forming the power system and the user interface by which it is controlled. Student operators may therefore develop their skills from exposure to adverse operational situations without compromising the security of supply on a real transmission system.

Description

Early simulations modelled the transmission system with banks of analog computers interconnected with scaled-down representations of the interconnecting lines. The operator would simulate the operation of circuit breakers by physically operating their miniature replicas. As transmission systems grew in size, their increased complexity could not be adequately represented in this manner, and computerised simulations came to the fore.

A modern DTS combines or simulates the following elements:

• An energy management system (EMS): a computer system for controlling a power grid. The EMS enables remote operation of electrical equipment, such as circuit breakers or transformers. It also facilitates the transmission of information back to an electrical control centre, such as the status of equipment or notification of alarms.

• A SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) system: the means of providing periodic data collection and responding to operator instructions.

• A load-flow study to calculate power flows and voltages on the transmission system and to model its responses to events such as line trips and generator-demand mismatch.

Operation

A DTS is frequently purchased by a customer (such as a transmission system operator) at the same time as an energy management system, and is usually designed to mimic it as closely as possible. Operational scenarios are created on the DTS to represent the operator's transmission system under a variety of conditions. These may represent normal operating conditions, or be specially designed to test the student's responses to adverse circumstances, such as frequent line trips during severe weather. They may also represent circumstances that the system operator hopes never occur, such as complete system shut-down, and allow it to develop strategies for restoration of service (known as black start).

To enable the DTS to respond as realistically as possible to the student's commands, the power flow study at its heart must run on a frequent time step, such as every few seconds.