NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL GRID GENERATOR
NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL GRID ARCHIVE

“We receive the SCADA measurements via the Inter-Control Center Communications Protocol (ICCP) from all the individual balancing authorities and transmission operators in the Western Interconnection into our EMS and PI System,” explained Aronson, referring at the end to one component of Esri partner OSIsoft’s suite of software. Peak receives network models from all the power companies within the interconnection and then assembles more extensive models using its Energy Management System (EMS), which monitors and optimizes the performance of the transmission system in real time. While individual power companies model their own transmission networks and the points of interconnection with adjacent power companies, Peak Reliability is the only company in the Western Interconnection that models the entire network.

NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL GRID ARCHIVE

“Since we archive all the real-time data related to the transmission lines throughout the Western Interconnection, we can determine what will happen to any one of the lines if it exceeds our load recommendations, by examining historical data,” said Aronson. These limits are based on the detailed studies WECC conducts on transmission line capabilities and the network models that Peak continually reviews as it monitors the entire Western Interconnection in real time. “This means that if a company owns and operates transmission facilities, it is required to operate those facilities according to the reliability limits that Peak sets.” “Peak determines the reliability operating limits for transmission operators, balancing authorities, and transmission service providers in the Western Interconnection,” said Dayna Aronson, an enterprise solutions architect for Peak Reliability. With its new visualization platform, Peak Reliability has real-time fire visualization information-including location, size, and boundary data-that is updated every five minutes. Peak Reliability, headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, is the primary reliability coordinator for the Western Interconnection. Serving the electricity coordinating councils are companies known as reliability coordinators that continually monitor the interconnection’s Bulk Electric System (the production resources, transmission lines, interconnections, and all related equipment) to ensure that it remains dependable.

The Western Interconnection is managed by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). It is characterized by long transmission lines connecting remote generation facilities to load centers. The Western Interconnection covers more than 1.8 million square miles and stretches from Western Canada south to Baja California in Mexico and eastward over the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains to serve more than 80 million customers. The North American Grid is overseen by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a nonprofit international regulatory authority that is responsible for the reliability and security of North America’s bulk power system.ĭue to the size and complexity of the grid, it is divided into two primary sections, the Western Interconnection and the Eastern Interconnection, as well as three minor ones, the Québec, Texas, and Alaska Interconnections. A Balancing Actīecause electricity is not stored, it is critical to continually monitor and maintain the balance between demand and generation. This requires taking real-time measurements of electricity output and usage and making split-second decisions using this big data-which is why one reliability coordinator, Peak Reliability, is beginning to depend heavily on the ArcGIS platform. Although monitoring and maintaining the electrical output of different parts of the grid fall to several different entities, they must work synergistically to keep all the lights on. Today, the North American Grid consists of a complex network of power plants and transformers that are connected by more than 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. Later, the construction of long-distance transmission lines, coupled with the use of frequency converters to link incompatible generators, allowed the creation of a unified electric system throughout the United States. In 1936, the US government ratified the Rural Electrification Act, which provided federal funds to create local generating plants in rural areas that previously had no electrical power.

NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRICAL GRID GENERATOR

In the 1920s, neighboring generator operators began linking their electricity production capabilities together to share peak load coverage and provide backup power for their respective users. The North American Grid is an interconnected network that generates and distributes electricity throughout the continental United States and parts of Canada and Mexico.

Monitoring and Maintaining the US Power Grid Relies on Real-Time Geovisualizations

North american electrical grid