Taking the pulse of power systems: Monitoring oscillations by wavelet analysis and wide area measurement system

Real-time monitoring of power system dynamics can help in identifying poorly damped modes of oscillation and possible threats to the security of the system. System monitoring can avoid or mitigate the effects of black-outs if equipped with a good Man-Machine Interface. In this paper, a monitoring architecture based on wavelet spectral analysis and WAMS is proposed. The wavelet analysis of real-time trajectories can show the occurring of disturbances on the network, even when the measurements are performed very far from the disturbance. Test results on a representation of the Italian power grid during the black-out in 2003 are presented. Analyses of real data measured by PMUs during an experiment on large scale are also reported.