Copyright P.

Kundur
This material should not be used without the author's consent

1539pk

Outline
Nature and description of frequency stability
problems
Examples of frequency instability incidents
Analytical techniques for investigation of
frequency stability problems
Case studies
Mitigation of frequency stability problems

FS - 1

1539pk

 Ability to maintain a steady frequency within a

nominal range, following a disturbance resulting in a
significant imbalance between system generation
and load
of interest is the overall response as evidenced by
mean frequency, rather than relative motions of
machines

In a small "island" system, frequency stability could

be of concern for any disturbance causing a
significant loss of load or generation
In a large interconnected system, frequency stability
could be of concern only following a severe system
upset resulting in the system splitting into one or
more islands
Depends on the ability to restore balance between
generation and load of island systems with minimum
loss of load and generation
Generally, frequency stability problems are
associated with inadequacies in equipment
responses, poor coordination of control and
protection systems

FS - 2

1539pk

 Results in sustained frequency deviations

speed control and the subsequent responses of
prime mover and energy supply systems play a
major role
often, situation compounded by high- or low-voltage
conditions

Undergenerated condition:
frequency will decline
if sufficient spinning generation reserve is not
available, frequency may reach low levels at which
thermal units are tripped by underfrequency
protection
therefore, underfrequency load shedding used

Overgenerated condition:
speed governors respond to frequency rise
performance of island depends on the ability of
power plants to sustain a "partial load rejection"

FS - 3

1539pk

 Reactive power balance:

a significant mismatch could lead to high- or lowvoltage conditions
generator under/over excitation, loss-of-excitation
protections may be activated

Powerplant auxiliaries:
decrease in power supply voltage and frequency can
degrade performance of induction motors
may lead to loss of condenser vacuum, high turbineexhaust temperature, insufficient condensate/
feedwater
many nuclear units are equipped with relays set to
trip plant at low voltages (0.7 pu) and low frequency

Power system loads respond to variations in voltage

and frequency

FS - 4

1539pk

Following protection/controls have significant

influence:
Prime mover/energy supply system
turbine overspeed control
turbine underfrequency protection
power plant auxiliaries protection

Generator and excitation system

loss-of-excitation relay
under/overexcitation limiter
volts/Hz limiter and protection

Electrical network
transmission and distribution system relays
underfrequency and undervoltage load shedding
relays

FS - 5

1539pk

 Hydro turbines have a peculiar response due to

water inertia: a change in gate position produces an
initial turbine power change which is opposite to
that sought
For stable control performance, a large transient
(temporary) droop with a long resetting time is
therefore required. This is accomplished by the
provision of a rate feedback or transient gain
reduction compensation.

Governor with transient droop compensation

FS - 6

1539pk

 For stable operation under islanding conditions,

optimum settings:

Where TW = water starting time

TM = mechanical starting time = 2H
For loading/unloading during normal operation,
above settings result in too slow a response. For
satisfactory loading rates, TR should be close to
0.5 s.
Dashpot bypass arrangement used to meet above
conflicting requirements
with dashpot bypassed, TR has reduced value,
resulting in acceptable loading rates
dashpot bypassed only for brief periods during
loading/ unloading

FS - 7

1539pk

1. April 19, 1972 disturbances in Ontario

islanding of Eastern Ontario

2. January 20, 1974 disturbance

islanding of Toronto area

3. February 13, 1978 disturbance causing separation of

portions of Missouri and Illinois systems

FS - 8

1539pk

 Incident:
230 kV lines east of Toronto tripped due to
communication malfunction; ties to New York at St.
Lawrence tripped
generation rich island formed in eastern Ontario
(G = 3900 MW, L = 3000 MW)
frequency rose to 62.5 Hz and then dropped to 59.0
Hz due to speed governor
underfrequency load shedding
frequency rose to 62.6 Hz and dropped to 58.7 Hz
significant loss of generation and load
stabilized at 60.8 Hz with 1875 MW generation

Source of problem:
overspeed controls associated with prime-mover
governors of Pickering "A" NGS

FS - 9

1539pk

 Incident:
severe ice storm caused separation of power
system in Toronto area
island consisting of Lakeview GS supplying
Manby and Cooksville TSs
generation rich island
(G = 1400 MW, L = 760 MW)
frequency rose to 63.4 Hz, dropped to 60.7 Hz,
rose again to 62.3 Hz and oscillated for several
seconds
boiler trips occurred on 4 of the 5 units at
Lakeview
frequency dropped to 59 Hz
underfrequency load shedding restored frequency
to 59.6 Hz

Source of problem:
overspeed controls associated with prime-mover
governors

FS - 10

1539pk

 System separation was experienced by Union

Electric Co. and portions of Illinois Power Co. and
Associated Electric Cooperative Systems
Generation rich island caused rapid closure of
steam valves in 11 of 14 units at 6 plants
4 units tripped out
2 by boiler trip
1 by boiler and turbine trip
1 manual trip

FS - 11

1539pk

Modeling Requirements
Power plant representation
effects of large changes in frequency and voltage
plant auxiliaries and associated motors
wide range of protection/controls
processes involving physical variables used as
input signals to protection/controls

Transmission network representation

protection/controls, VAr compensation and voltage
control devices
effects of off-nominal frequency operation
effects of high voltage; transformer saturation

Fast as well as slow processes

FS - 12

1539pk

Analytical Techniques
Early programs, such as LOTDYS, assumed uniform
system frequency and modelled only slow
phenomena
allowed use of low order explicit integration

Present approach recognizes need to model fast as

well as slow phenomena
facilitated by use of implicit numerical integration
dual mode (short- and long-term) simulation
gear-type backward differention; automatic
adjustment of time-step

Singular perturbation analysis to decouple fast and

slow transients
systematic derivation of reduced order models,
including off-nominal frequency effects
tracking of fast states to determine when to switch
modes

FS - 13

1539pk

Based on ETMSP; modelling extended to include the

following:
Fossil-fuelled plant: furnace, fuel system,
secondary air system, flue gas system, feedwater
system, boiler, main and reheat system, control
and protection systems, auxiliaries
Nuclear plant (PWR, BWR, CANDU): reactor core,
primary heat transport system, steam generator,
feedwater system, main and reheat steam system,
control and protection, auxiliaries

FS - 14

1539pk

1. Case study of an overgenerated island

impact of turbine overspeed controls
2. Case study of an undergenerated island
performance of underfrequency load
shedding

FS - 15

1539pk

 Based on experiences with auxiliary governors used

on some of the generating units in Ontario
Demonstrates the impact of turbine generator
overspeed controls on the performance of a
generation-rich island
Scenario
Island formed as a result of separation from the rest
of the interconnected system of an area consisting of
9,650 MW of generation and 4,750 MW of
consumption (load plus losses) is considered
Prior to separation, the area is exporting 4,900 MW;
MVAr generation and consumption within the area
are nearly equal
Islanded area
Rest of
Interconnected system

Generation = 9,650 MW
Load + losses = 4,750 MW
Flow prior
to separation
4,900 MW, 52 MVAr

Fig. 16.5
FS - 16

1539pk

The area generation:

4,000 MW of nuclear generation at a plant with eight 500 MW
units
3,850 MW of fossil-fuelled generation at two plants, each
with four 500 MW units; and
1.800 MW of hydraulic generation at 6 plants

Turbine governing systems:

Nuclear units are equipped with mechanical-hydraulic
control (MHC) governors (Fig. 9.31)
System uses an "auxiliary governor" for overspeed control,
which becomes operative when the speed exceeds its
setting V1 = 2%
acts in parallel with the main governor to effectively
increase the gain of the speed control loop by a factor of
about 8
limits overspeed by rapidly closing the control valves (CVs)
as well as the intercept valves (IVs)

Fossil-fuelled units have MHC governors (Fig. 9.32)

FS - 17

1539pk

Parameters:
KG = 20

V1 = 0.02

KAX = 149

TSM = 0.23

LC1 = 1.0

LC2 = -3.0

TS1 = 0.23

L11 = 1.0

L12 = -2.5

TSR = 0.7

IVOB = 1.17

Fig. 9.31 MHC turbine governing system with auxiliary

governor*
FS - 18

1539pk

Parameters:

KG = 20

TSR = 0.1s

TSM = 0.2s

TS1 = 0.2s

LC1 = 0.2

LC2 = -0.5

L11 = 0.2

L12 = -2.5

Fig. 9.32 MHC turbine governing system

FS - 19

1539pk

Parameters:
TP

Pilot valve and servomotor time constant

0.05 s

KS

Servo gain

TG

Main servo time

0.2 s

TP

Permanent droop

0.04

RT

Temporary droop

0.4

TR

Reset time

5.0

5.0 s

Constraints:
Maximum gate position limit = 1.0
Minimum gate position limit = 0
Rmax open

= maximum gate opening rate

0.16 p.u./s

Rmax close

= maximum gate closing time

0.16 p.u./s

Rmax buff

= maximum gate closing rate in buffered region 0.04 p.u./s

Gbuff

= Buffered region in p.u. of servomotor stroke

0.08 p.u.

Fig. 9.10 Model of governors for hydraulic turbines

FS - 20

1539pk

Simulation
Simulated by simultaneous opening of all ties
connecting the area to the rest of the system
resulting in an island with generation nearly twice
the load

Generators and excitation system are represented

in detail
Loads are represented as nonlinear functions of
voltage and frequency
Performance of the islanded system is examined
with the auxiliary governors of the nuclear units inservice and out-of-service

FS - 21

1539pk

a) With auxiliary governor in-service:

Fig. 16.6 shows plots of speed deviation, CV and IV
positions, and mechanical power of one of the
nuclear units
The speed increases rapidly to a maximum of
about 6.4% above the normal speed of 1,800 rpm
oscillates with little damping between 3.5% above
and 0.7% below the normal speed

Oscillation due to the action of the auxiliary

governors
when the overspeed exceeds the setting V1 of 1%,
the auxiliary governors close the steam valves
and reduce the mechanical power of the nuclear
units to zero
the deficit in the generated power reduces the
speed rapidly, and the valves open again
resultant increase in mechanical power is such
that the speed exceeds the auxiliary governor
setting of 1%, and the valves close again.
cycle repeats with a period of about 7 seconds

FS - 22

1539pk

Fig. 16.6 Transient response of nuclear units with

auxiliary governor
FS - 23

1539pk

b) With auxiliary governor out-of-service:

Fig. 16.7 shows the speed deviation reaches a
maximum of about 7.7% and damps to a steady
state value of nearly 2% above the nominal
Removal of the auxiliary governor results in stable
frequency control
only the CVs respond to speed changes and the
IVs remain fully open because the main governor
alone is not enough to overcome the intercept
valve opening bias

FS - 24

1539pk

Fig. 16.7 Transient response of nuclear units with

auxiliary governor out-of-service
FS - 25

1539pk

Conclusions
The auxiliary governors cause instability of the speed
control during system islanding conditions
other units in the island respond to oscillations of
the units with auxiliary governors
causes oscillations of all units
resulting movements of steam valves or wicket
gates continue until the hydraulic systems of the
governors run out of oil, causing unit tripping and
possibly a blackout of the island
oscillations may also give rise to "priming" of the
boilers of the fossil-fired units, causing water from
the boilers to come in contact with the high
temperature superheat and HP stages

One solution is to replace the auxiliary governor with

an electronic acceleration detector

FS - 26

1539pk

 Illustrates performance of an undergenerated island

as influenced by underfrequency load shedding and
power plant control
Demonstrates the requirement for adequate voltage
and reactive control
Power generation and conditions
Island formed as a result of separation of an area
consisting of 2,218 MW generation and 3,283 MW
load is considered
Prior to islanding, the area is importing 1,103 MW
and exporting 1,590 MVAr, as shown in Fig. 16.8

Area separated
Area generation: 2,218 MW, 1,434 MVAr
Area load: 3,283 MW, 1,720 MVAr
Line charging and shunt capacitors: 2,680 MVAr

1,103 MW

Rest of
Interconnected
system

1,590 MVAr

Fig. 16.8

FS - 27

1539pk

 1,200 MW nuclear generation supplied by two units in

one plant operating at load limits
1,018 MW of hydraulic generation supplied by six
plants with 170 MW spinning reserve
Underfrequency load shedding
Frequency trend relays are used to shed up to 50%
load in four blocks depending on the frequency drop
and the rate of frequency decline
Load shedding is delayed by about 0.5 seconds after
the relay has operated

Fig. 11.31 Tripping logic for frequency trend

relay

FS - 28

1539pk

Simulation of islanding condition

Simulated by opening the ties between the area
under consideration and the rest of the
interconnected system
Representation of the power plants and other
elements of the system is similar to that of the
previous case
Nuclear units are equipped with thyristor exciters,
with power system stabilizers, and electrohydraulic
governing systems
Hydraulic units are equipped with rotating dc exciters
and mechanical hydraulic governors
Loads are represented as nonlinear functions of
voltage and frequency
Two cases are considered:
a) with no capacitor switching
b) with capacitors having a nominal rating of 700 MVAr
switched out following islanding

FS - 29

1539pk

a) With no capacitor switching:

Switching sequence
Time
(seconds)

Event

0.5

Island is formed by simultaneous tripping of ties

0.9

System frequency drops to 59.5 Hz and rate of

frequency decline is 1.25 Hz/s; the conditions for
tripping the first two blocks of load are satisfied

1.4

25% of area load is rejected

1.6

System frequency drops to 58.8 Hz; the condition for

tripping the 4th block of load is satisfied

2.2

Additional 15% load is rejected

50.0

Simulation is terminated

(Note: The rate of frequency does not exceed 2 Hz/s; hence, the 3rd
block of load is not shed)

FS - 30

1539pk

Fig. 16.9 System frequency with underfrequency

load shedding and no capacitor switching

FS - 31

1539pk

 System frequency drops below 58.5 Hz in about 2

seconds
remains below this level in spite of shedding about
40% of area load
reason for this is evident from Figs 16.10 and 16.11
surplus reactive power in the area, the system
voltage increases significantly after islanding,
and this keeps the load power high even after
shedding load

Reactive power absorbed by the nuclear units

exceeds the continuous end-region heating limit of
the generators
plot of apparent impedance seen by a loss-ofexcitation (LOE) relay located at the terminals of one
of the nuclear units shows impedance locus does
not enter the trip characteristic of the relay

FS - 32

1539pk

Fig. 16.10 Nuclear unit terminal voltage and reactive

power, and load bus voltage; with load shedding and
no capacitor switching

FS - 33

1539pk

Fig. 16.11 Total generated mechanical and electrical power,

and load power; with load shedding and no capacitor
switching

Fig. 16.12 Locus of apparent impedance seen by LOE relay;

impedance expressed in per unit on 100 MVA base
FS - 34

1539pk

b) 720 MVAr's of shunt capacitors switched out:

Switching sequence
Time
(seconds)

Event

0.5

Island is formed

0.9

The conditions for tripping first two blocks of load are

satisfied

1.4

25% of area load is shed; 485 MVAr capacitors are

switched out

1.8

Frequency drops below 58.8 Hz; the condition for

tripping the 4th block of load is satisfied

2.3

Additional 15% load is shed; 235 MVAr capacitors are

switched out

50.0

Simulation is terminated

FS - 35

1539pk

Fig. 16.14 Nuclear unit terminal voltage and reactive

power, and load bus voltage; with load shedding and
capacitor switching
FS - 36

1539pk

Fig. 16.15 Total generated mechanical and electrical

power and load power; with load shedding and capacitor
switching
FS - 37

1539pk

 System voltage does not rise as high as in the

previous case
Following load shedding, the total active power
supplied to the loads falls below the available
generation
system frequency recovers to the nominal value (60
Hz) in about 20 seconds, and reaches a maximum
value of about 60.1 Hz
steady state frequency settles at a value slightly
above the nominal value, as determined by the
droop characteristics of the speed governors of all
the generating units in the area

The terminal voltage of the nuclear unit increases

rapidly during the period between 5 to 10 seconds,
and then gradually drops to about 1.05 pu
due to the action of the power system stabilizer, and
can be to some extent modified by changing the
parameters of the PSS

With capacitor switching, the reactive power

absorbed by the nuclear unit is within the continuous
capacity of the generator

FS - 38

1539pk

 More emphasis on appropriate setting and

coordination of protections and controls
protective systems should recognize not only
equipment safety but also power system
performance requirements

Design of power plants so as to be able to

successfully withstand "partial load rejections" and
islanding conditions
achieved by proper design of overall plant control,
boiler/reactor control, and turbine overspeed
control; and
ensuring vital auxiliaries will not trip out due to the
voltage and frequency variations

A well designed underfrequency load shedding

scheme
selection of possible areas of separation and load
blocks for shedding
due consideration to power plant and network
protections/controls
recognition of requirement for adequate voltage and
reactive power control

FS - 39

1539pk

1. IEEE Working Group Report, "Guidelines for

Emergency Power Plant Response to Partial Load
Rejections", IEEE Trans. Vol. PAS-102, No. 6, pp.
1501-1504, June 1983
2. P. Kundur, "A Survey of Utility Experiences with
Power Plant Response during Partial Load Rejections
and System Disturbances", IEEE Trans. Vol.
PAS-100, No. 5, pp. 2472-2475, May 1981.
3. Executive Summary of CIGRE TF 38.02.14 Report,
"Analysis and Modelling Needs of Power Systems
Under Major Frequency Disturbances", Final Draft,
January 1999

FS - 40

1539pk

Reference 1, prepared by an IEEE Working Group, provides guidelines for

enhancing power plant response to partial load rejections. The following is
a summary of these guidelines:
a) Overall plant control. To withstand a partial load rejection, the overall
plant control must promptly decrease the input power (fuel flow) to
correspond to the output electrical power. As there are time lags in this
decrease, the power input must temporarily undershoot the power output.
The ideal source of intelligence to determine the input power reduction is
the actual power output.
b) Boiler control. Without a turbine bypass system, a partial load rejection
appears to the boiler as a step decrease in steam flow. Prompt reduction
of fuel flow is essential, as noted above.
For a one-through boiler, prompt reduction of the feedwater flow, tightly
coupled to the fuel flow, is also required. However, one-through boilers
normally have superheater/turbine bypass systems of limited capacity to
protect the furnace tubes and to assist in pressure control. This bypass
capability can be used to ease the rate of reduction of fuel and feed-water
flow.
For a drum type boiler, the reduction of feed-water flow should be delayed
because the immediate response of the drum water level is to decrease
with steam flow and the resulting rise in drum pressure. In addition,
overfeeding is required to obtain the higher-level water inventory required
at the lower power level. Adequate water-level control is particularly
important for large changes in steam flow. To enhance the ability of waterlevel control during a partial load rejection, consideration should be given to
temporarily increasing the range between high and low water-level trip
limits, or delaying the trip for high feedwater flow.
For either type of boiler, a delay in the reduction of air flow is generally
desirable since the cooling effect of the excess air flow will tend to
compensate for the lags in fuel flow response. However, the air flow to the
operating burners must be controlled relative to the fuel flow to maintain
stable combustion.
For feed pumps driven by auxiliary steam turbines, the closure of intercept
valves will interrupt the steam flow; therefore, it is necessary either to
provide an alternate steam source to the auxiliary turbine or to switch to
motor-driven pumps.
FS - 41

1539pk

c) Turbine-generator control. The turbine overspeed controls are designed

to limit overspeed following full-load rejection to about 1% below the
overspeed trip settings. This will obviously prevent overspeed trips during
partial load rejection.
While the control valves and the intercept valves are closed, there is no
steam flow through the turbine. To prevent overheating of the reheater
tubes, boiler firing must be tripped off if the interruption of steam flow
through the reheater is sustained. However, since the closure of the steam
valves is temporary, tripping of the boiler firing can be avoided by proper
coordination of boiler protection and fuel control with the turbine controls.
In addition, as recommended in reference 4, the overspeed controls must:
i.

not interfere with normal speed governing in such a way that the
performance of the islanded system is adversely affected

ii.

be capable of discriminating between unit rejections and transient

system disturbances; e.g. transmission system faults that
temporarily reduce unit power

d) Power plant auxiliaries. The effect of voltage and frequency variations

experienced during partial load-rejection conditions should be checked to
ensure vital auxiliaries will not trip out.
e) Steam turbine bypasses. The use of a steam bypass system permits the
reduction of boiler power in a controlled manner. A well-designed turbine
bypass system significantly enhances the capability of the power plant to
withstand a partial load rejection.
Nuclear plants normally have steam turbine bypass systems. In North
America, fossil-fuelled power plants with drum type boilers are not usually
equipped with turbine bypass systems. Power plants with once-through
boilers have turbine and superheater bypass systems; these are installed
primarily for startup and shutdown duty.

FS - 42

1539pk

Copies of Papers:
1. Guidelines for Enhancing Power Plant Response to
Partial Load Rejection
2. A Survey of Utility Experiences with Power Plant
Response during partial Load Rejection and System
Disturbances
3. CIGRE TF 38.02.14, Report: "Analysis and Modeling
Needs of Power Systems under Major Frequency
Disturbances

FS - 43

1539pk

FS - 44

1539pk

FS - 45

1539pk

FS - 46

1539pk

FS - 47

1539pk

FS - 48

1539pk

FS - 49

1539pk

FS - 50

1539pk

FS - 51

1539pk

FS - 52

1539pk

FS - 53

1539pk

FS - 54

1539pk

FS - 55

1539pk

FS - 56

1539pk

FS - 57

1539pk

FS - 58

1539pk

FS - 59

1539pk

FS - 60

1539pk

FS - 61

1539pk

FS - 62

1539pk

FS - 63

1539pk