Case study of the application

in a large industrial facility

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© ARTVILLE

ONVENTIONAL METHODS OF SYS- Load Shedding

C
insufficient load reduction.
tem load shedding are too slow and do not
effectively calculate the correct amount of
load to be shed. This results in excessive or
In general, load shedding can be defined as the amount of
load that must almost be instantly removed from a power
system to keep the remaining portion of the system opera-
tional. This load reduction is
This article demonstrates the in response to a system disturb-
BY FARROKH SHOKOOH,
need for a modern load-shedding J.J. DAI, SHERVIN SHOKOOH, ance (and consequent possible
system and introduces the new JACQUES TASTET, HUGO CASTRO, additional disturbances) that
technology of intelligent load TANUJ KHANDELWAL, & GARY DONNER results in a generation-deficiency
shedding (ILS) that goes be- condition. Common disturban-
yond a contingency-based load-shedding scheme. A case ces that can cause this condition to occur include faults,
study of the application of an ILS scheme in a large indus- loss of generation, system islanding, switching errors, and
trial facility is provided. lightning strikes.
When a power system is exposed to a disturbance, its
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2010.939814
44
Date of publication: 21 January 2011 dynamics and transient responses, including synchronous
1077-2618/11/$26.00©2011 IEEE
generator rotor angle, frequency, and of primary concern if the load-shed-
voltage dynamics, are mainly con- ding action is not set correctly and/or
trolled through two major dynamic
ILS IS FAST AND timed properly.
loops. One is the synchronous genera- OPTIMAL BY Moreover, the type of disturbance
tor excitation [including automatic can impact the dynamic response of
voltage regulator (AVR)] loop that will UTILIZING SYSTEM the prime mover. For instance, a short
control the generator reactive power circuit at the power station busbar may
output and system voltage. Another is TOPOLOGY AND result in acceleration of the generator
the prime-mover (including speed prime mover. When this occurs, the
governor) loop, which will control the ACTUAL speed regulator will initiate closing of
generator active power output and sys- the fuel or gas inlet valve in turbines.
tem frequency. A brief discussion of OPERATING After the fault is cleared, the turbines
these two dynamic loops is given. CONDITIONS are responsible to pick up the load still
connected. At this time, the turbine
Excitation/Generator–Reactive TEMPERED WITH fuel or gas inlet valves remain closed,
Power–Voltage making their reacceleration difficult.
During a fault condition, one of the KNOWLEDGE OF
direct effects of fault current is the Conventional Implementation
drainage of reactive power from the PAST EVENTS. of Load Shedding
system. This reactive power is essen- This section is a review of a number of
tial for the conversion of mechanical load-shedding techniques that have
energy to electrical energy (and vice versa) in the rotating been previously devised. Each technique and scheme has
machines (generators and motors). After fault clearance, its own set of applications and limitations/drawbacks.
the system is faced with partially collapsed flux energy in
the rotating machines and has to balance its generation Breaker Interlock Scheme
and load levels while rebuilding its magnetic energy. This is the simplest method of carrying out load shedding.
During this time, depending on the motor residual volt- For example, a source breaker (grid connection breaker)
age (back electromotive force), the system also demands would be interlocked via hardwired or remote signals to a
additional reactive power from the motor loads under re- set of load breakers that have been preselected to trip.
acceleration conditions. When a generator breaker is lost for any reason, tripping
The voltage regulation and operating voltage of the signals are automatically sent to the load breakers to open.
overall system will directly depend on the amount of reac- The speed of this scheme is very fast, since there is no

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tive power that the generators could deliver to the system. processing required, and decisions about the amount of
On severe disturbances, the generators may automatically load to be shed were made long before the fault occurred.
call upon their overexcitation capability (ceiling voltage), In Figure 1, the load is supplied by a combination of
which helps in recovering system stability. generator and power grid. A disturbance outside the facil-
ity causes the main breaker (MainBreaker) to operate and
Prime Mover/Generator–Real Power–Frequency open. This would isolate the system from the power grid,
Turbine governors and the type of prime movers also have a causing the system load to be solely supplied by the local
substantial impact on the performance of power systems generator (STG1). The opening of the main breaker would
during major disturbances. The frequency conditions of signal the interlocked load breakers (LoadCB_1. . . n) to
the overall system directly depend on the amount of real
power that the generator prime mover (plus import from
the grid) can deliver to the system. Also, the mechanical
Utility
energy available to help the generator prime mover ride
through a fault or other disturbances plays an important
role in the system behavior. This energy varies dramatically MainBreaker Utility
between that of a gas turbine, steam turbine, and hydro
Industrial User
units. As a consequence, the performance of power systems Main XFMR
supplied by the different types of prime movers and speed
governor controls will behave very differently under both
steady-state and transient conditions. Load Load
In addition to the system upsets caused by faults, there CB_1 CB_n Gen XFMR
are disturbances caused by switching surges or lightning Load
Load
strikes. As an example, some switching disturbances can Feeder_1
Feeder_n
result in a loss of generation or cause a system to separate Gen Bus
from the utility grid (system islanding condition). This Gen
Loads Breaker
condition can cause the power system to collapse and will
be adversely impacted by an inappropriate load reduction
caused by an improper load-shedding scheme. For some STG 1
switching disturbances (resulting in a loss of generation or 1
45
system islanding condition), the cascading effects may be Breaker interlock load-shedding scheme.
 trip without any intentional time delay. nuisance tripping and then trips one or
This preselected breaker interlock list more load breakers. This is done to
is typically determined without any TURBINE allow the frequency to recover. If the
knowledge of system transient response frequency continues to decay, the relay
and is often too conservative, resulting GOVERNORS will wait for the next stage to be reached
in unnecessary load shedding. and, after an additional time delay, opens
In addition, the breaker interlock AND THE TYPE OF other load breakers. For the system
scheme has other inherent drawbacks: shown in Figure 2, after the Main-
n It is difficult to change load
PRIME MOVERS Breaker opens to an outside disturb-
priority since the actions for load ALSO HAVE A ance, the frequency relay detects the
shedding are hardwired and the first load-shedding stage and the inter-
amount of load shedding is calcu- SUBSTANTIAL locked load circuit breakers (LoadCB_1
lated for the worst-case scenario. to LoadCB_i) are tripped accordingly,
n Only one stage of load shed- IMPACT ON THE which will reduce the real and reactive
ding is available. power demand on the generator. If the
n This often results in shedding PERFORMANCE frequency continues to decay, then sub-
more loads than necessary. sequent load-shedding stages will be
n The operation of this type of
OF POWER reached, and additional load breakers
load-shedding scheme will most SYSTEMS DURING (LoadCB_j to LoadCB_k) will be tripped
likely shut the entire industrial until the frequency returns to normal.
facility down in a nonorderly MAJOR The load-shedding scheme that uses
manner; This unplanned outage conventional frequency relays are primar-
may result in processing equip- DISTURBANCES. ily used for the static control of system
ment damage, reduced equipment loads. The frequency-relay-based load-
lifetime, or worse. shedding scheme has a number of inher-
n Plant restarting may be delayed ent drawbacks:
because of the requirement to shut down and then 1) Slow Response Time of Frequency Relays: Frequency
restart other remote facilities that have been affected relay tripping is inherently slow for two reasons.
by the loss of the main facility, before the main facility First, it takes time for the frequency to reach relay
can be started. settings, and second, there is usually an intentional
time delay setting for the relay to prevent nuisance
Underfrequency Relay tripping during frequency spikes and transient
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(ANSI Device 81) Scheme deviations. Because of the disturbances like three-
Frequency relays do not detect disturbances but react to phase faults that prevent the flow of real power, the
frequency variations caused as a result of disturbances. total time delay may be further prolonged because
They detect either a rapid change in frequency or gradual of the overfrequency condition that can occur dur-
frequency deterioration and initiate staged operation of ing fault.
interlocked breakers. When the first stage is reached, the As shown in Figure 3, when a three-phase fault
relay waits for a predetermined amount of time to avoid occurs outside the facility in the Figure 2 system,

Utility Frequency Relay (81) Response

62
Frequency (Hz)

MainBreaker 61 Clear Fault

Utility Fault
60 81
Industrial User 81 Load Shed
Main XFMR Pickup
59 Initiated
81
Load CB_1 58
0 5 10 20 30 40 50
Load Time (Cycles)
CB_n 3
First Gen XFMR System frequency response depicting Stage 1
Stage nth Stage frequency setting.
Gen Bus
Gen TABLE 1. SAMPLE LOAD-SHED TABLE.
Loads Breaker Stage Frequency (Hz) Delay (s) MW Shed
Stage 1 58.5 0.25 10
STG 1
2 Stage 2 57.5 2.00 30
46
Underfrequency relay (81) load-shedding scheme.
 the frequency initially increases. Programmable Logic
The fault is cleared when the Controller-Based Load Shedding
MainBreaker trips and opens. FREQUENCY The use of programmable logic con-
The system separation eliminates trollers (PLCs), microprocessor relay,
utility real-power support, and RELAYS DO NOT and other protection-class equipment
as the frequency decays, under- (collectively referred to as controllers)
frequency relay set point is DETECT for the automatic sequencing of load
reached at 0.25 s (15 cycles). An has become an important part of sub-
intentional time delay of 0.25 s DISTURBANCES station automation in recent years. The
is introduced in the frequency BUT REACT TO application of controllers in industrial
relay to avoid any nuisance trip- load management and curtailment
ping. The first set of breakers FREQUENCY schemes started in the early 1980s.
trip in 30 cycles after the onset However, it wasn’t until power man-
of the fault, resulting in a total VARIATIONS. agement systems were combined with
load-shedding time of 0.583 s, microprocessor-based relays/controllers
including load-breaker operating that distributed fast load-shedding sys-
time of 83.3 ms. tems became a reality.
If the amount of load shed in the first stage is With a common type of PLC-based load-shedding scheme,
insufficient and the frequency continues to decay, load shedding is initiated based on the system frequency
the system frequency will reach the next set point, deviations or other triggers. The circuit breaker tripping
and additional load shedding will be initiated. The can be programmed based on the system loading, available
next block of load is shed with an additional time generation, and other specific logics. Each subsystem is
delay. Hence, each additional stage introduces a delay equipped with a controller that is programmed to shed a
in the load-shedding process. Table 1 outlines the preset sequence of loads. This static sequence is continued
sample settings for the various frequency-relay stages until the frequency returns to a normal condition. Modifi-
and the corresponding amount of load to be shed for cation of the logic means changing the logic programmed
each stage. by the controllers
2) Incorrect Load May Be Dropped Causing Undesirable A PLC-based load-shedding scheme offers many advan-
Blackouts: The settings of a frequency relay are tages over a frequency-based scheme, since it has access to
usually determined by the most severe disturbance information about the actual operating status of the power
conditions and the minimum amount of local gen- system. However, power system monitoring is limited to the
eration. This type of relay setting will result in sections of the system that are connected to the data acquisi-

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excessive load shedding for other faults that are tion system. This drawback is further compounded by the
not as severe. The off-nominal system frequency implementation of predefined load-priority tables in the
signal to the frequency relay does not provide controllers. These load-reduction tables are sequentially exe-
other pertinent information, such as the type and cuted to curtail blocks of load until a preset load-shedding
location of the disturbance. In addition, the elec- level is achieved. This process may be independent of the
trical distance between the generators and loads dynamic changes in the system loading, generation, or oper-
are unknown. ating configuration. The system-wide operating conditions
In response to a frequency-mandated operation, are often missing from the controller’s decision-making
the frequency relays operate a set of fixed circuit process, resulting in insufficient or excessive load shed-
breakers, independent of their actual operating load. ding. In addition, the load-shedding system’s response
The operating load on the breakers may be different time (time period for which the load-shedding trigger is
from the loading used to determine frequency-relay detected by the controller or relay up to the time when
settings. Additionally, the sequence of operation of the trip signal is received by the circuit breaker) during
the breakers may not be correct and/or optimal. transient disturbances is often too long, requiring for even
Modification cost is high, since it may require field more load to be dropped.
changing of hardware. The state-of-the-art load-shedding system uses real-time
3) Analysis Knowledge Is Lost: Conventional load-shed- system-wide data acquisition that continually updates a
ding schemes that rely solely on frequency measure- computer-based, real-time system model. This system pro-
ments cannot be programmed with the knowledge duces the optimum solution for system preservation by
gained by the power system designers. The system shedding only the necessary amount of load and is called
engineer must perform numerous system studies the ILS.
that include all of the conceivable system-operating
conditions and configurations to correctly design the Intelligent Load Shedding
power system. Unfortunately, the engineer’s knowl-
edge of the system, which is gained through the The Need for an ILS
studies, is not fully utilized. Most data and study Because of the inherent drawbacks of existing load-
results are simply lost. This unavailability of infor- shedding schemes, an ILS system is necessary to improve
mation for future changes and enhancements of response time, accurately predict the system frequency
the system significantly reduces the protection sys- decay, and make a fast, optimum, and reliable load-shed-
47
tem performance. ding decision.
 Unlike simple contingency-based, n on-site generator dynamics, es-
load-shedding schemes from protection- pecially the real power-generation
class equipment, a modern ILS system SYSTEM-WIDE pick-up rates
must have the following capabilities: n updated status and actual load-
n provide a power-system topol-
OPERATING ing of each sheddable load
ogy builder and processor to CONDITIONS ARE n dynamic characteristics of sys-
automatically analyze and track tem loads, including rotating
the system changes OFTEN MISSING machines, constant impedance
n able to map a very complex and loads, constant current loads,
nonlinear power system with a FROM THE PLC’S constant power loads, frequency-
limited number of data-collection dependent loads, or other types
points to a finite space DECISION- of loads
n automatically remember the n power flow participation matrix
system configuration, operation MAKING to depict real power contribu-
conditions as load is added or tion from each generator to each
removed, and the system response
PROCESS. load center. This important piece
to disturbances with all of the of information will allow to pre-
system configurations cisely determine effective load-
n recognize different system patterns to predict system shed location due to loss of a specific generating unit.
response for different disturbances
n utilize a built-in dynamic stability knowledge base Additional Requirements for an ILS System
trainable by user-defined cases Some additional requirements must be met during the
n acquire adaptive self-learning and automatic training designing and tuning of an ILS scheme:
of system knowledge base due to system changes n carefully selected and configured knowledge base cases
n determine the loading and generation participation n ability to prepare and generate sufficient training
factor matrix (PFM) cases for the system knowledge base to ensure
n make fast, correct, and reliable decisions on load- accuracy and completeness
shedding priority, based on the actual loading status n ability to ensure that the system knowledge base
of each breaker is complete, correct, and tested
n able to configure a minimum amount of load to shed to n ability to add user-defined logics
maintain system stability and nominal frequency n ability to add system dependencies
n shed the optimal combinations of load breakers n ability to have an online monitoring system that is
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with defined objectives by using complete knowl- able to coherently acquire real-time system data
edge of system dependencies n ability to run in a preventive and predictive mode
n able to verify and validate the logic and operation so that it can generate a dynamic load-shedding
of the load-shedding scheme before going online. table that corresponds to the system configuration
In addition to the aforementioned list of capabilities, an changes and prespecified disturbances (triggering)
ILS system must have a dynamic knowledge base. For the n provide a centralized distributed local control system
knowledge base to be effective, it must be able to capture for the power system that the ILS system supervises.
the key system parameters that have a direct impact on the
system’s frequency response following disturbances. These Functional Block Diagram of an ILS
parameters include but are not limited to the following: In Figure 4, an ILS engine is a training knowledge base
n power exchanged between the system and grid using carefully selected transient-stability cases from off-
before and after a disturbance line system studies and simulations. System dynamic
n generation available before and after disturbances responses, including frequency and voltage variation to dif-
n spin reserve of on-site generators ferent types of disturbances, are among the outputs of the
knowledge base.
An ILS engine runs in the background of an advanced
ILS monitoring system, which is constantly monitoring sys-
System Distributed Co tem-operating conditions, including generations, loads,
Loading ntrollers
Controller and circuit breaker status. The monitored data, together
CB Status 1 with the network model captured by the knowledge base
Engine
Generation
Controller
that contains electric properties of the system component
2 and generator dynamics, provide a complete topology, gen-
eration, and load information for the protected power sys-
Validation Controller tem. Based on the input data and system updates, the ILS
n
engine periodically calculates the required load-shedding
megawatts (MWs) for each disturbance trigger under the
System Disturbance current system-operation condition. To ensure optimal
Trigger combination of loads to be shed for the most effective
4 frequency recovery, the ILS engine utilizes a generation to
48
Functional block diagram of an ILS system. load PFM that is formulated following each state and load
estimation (SLE) calculation by the the advantages of the ILS over the con-
advanced monitoring system to decide ventional load-shedding schemes.
a final load-shedding table. The load-
ILS HAS THE ABILITY
shedding tables are downloaded to the TO RUN IN A The ILS Case Study: Installation
distributed controllers that are located and Implementation in a
close to the circuit breakers for the PREVENTIVE AND Real Industry Facility
sheddable load. Finally, when a dis-
turbance does occur and the signal goes PREDICTIVE System Description
directly into the distributed control- A working example of an ILS system
lers, a fast load-shedding action takes MODE. was installed at PT Newmont Nusa
place right away to achieve minimum Tenggara, a mining plant in Indonesia.
processing time. An overall one-line diagram is shown
The ILS system also has the capability to perform a in Figure 8. This islanded system draws power from four
transient stability verification and validation simulation for 34-MW steam turbine-driven generators (STGs) and nine
the calculated load shedding. This function is used to vali- 5.1-MW diesel engine-driven generators (DGs). The 11-kV
date the load-shed strategies generated by the ILS engine by
implementing them on a full-scale system dynamic model
and executing complete time-domain transient studies.
ILS
Implementation Configuration of an ILS System
The ILS knowledge base and computation engine reside Disturbance
in an ILS server computer. The server interfaces with an System Data
advanced real-time power system monitoring and sim-
ulation system that continuously acquires real-time sys-
tem data. Based on ILS calculations, the server dynamically
updates the load-shedding tables and downloads that infor- Load
Circuit
mation to the distributed PLCs (or any other controllers). Server Breakers
Upon detection of any disturbance by the PLCs (or control-
lers), load shedding is initiated. The load circuit breakers
will be tripped based on the pregenerated optimal load-
shedding tables. This is shown in Figure 5. Load
Circuit

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Breakers
Comparison with Conventional ILS Schemes
A comparison of an ILS system response time with that of 5
frequency-relay load shedding is illustrated in Figure 6. As The ILS implementation diagram.
shown, frequency-relay load shedding will be delayed until
the system frequency drops below the
relay set point (Stage 1). Additional
load shedding will be needed if the 62
system frequency does not recover Clear
Frequency (Hz)

to normal (Stage 2). Thus, the total 61 Fault

Fault
response time for the frequency-relay-
based load shedding is much longer ILS
60
than for the ILS system. 81
81
Load shed
An ILS requires only one load- 59 Pickup
Initiated
shedding stage and has a much faster
response time (less than 20 ms in 58
most cases). In fact, with the advent Normal
of new communication protocols and Loading
ILS Final
substation automation platforms (i.e.,
Loading
International Electrotechnical Com-
mission 61850), the ILS system re- Frequency Relay
sponse time can be less than 10 ms.
A comparison of the ILS system Final
response time with that of PLC-based Loading
load shedding is illustrated in Figure 0 5 10 20 30 40 50
7. The PLC-based load shedding will Time (Cycles)
take a longer time to respond to the ILS Frequency Relay Frequency Relay
fault because of the lack of overall sys- Completed Load Shedding Load Shedding
tem topology, calculation time, and Stage 1 Stage 2
time delays associated with frequency 6
49
relays. These examples demonstrate The ILS versus frequency-relay load shedding.
 generation plant supplies the system load through two 150- Types of Disturbances
kV transmission lines stretching 15 km (10 mi). The voltage The main disturbances considered for load shedding are
is stepped down to supply the distribution system at 33 and n loss of generation due to electrical faults
11 kV. The entire system operates at 50 Hz. n loss of generation due to boiler trip.
Under normal operation, all STGs are online and maintain
an average operating load of 110 MW. The average load per One-Generator Trip
generator is between 25 and 30 MW. The spinning reserve is The loss of a generator has tremendous effects on the system
provided by two DGs. When one STG unit goes offline, five process since the electrical demand is approximately 92% of
to seven DGs are manually brought online to carry approxi- the generating capacity of the steam plant. For example, los-
mately 18–20 MW of plant load, respectively. ing one STG unit reduces the generating capacity by about
Based on historical disturbances, an electrical fault on 20%. As a result of this condition, the two mill motors are
the 150-kV transmission lines would cause the generator shed. Then, the operators have to manually start up the die-
units to trip offline, which in turn triggered the existing sel generators to restart the mill motors.
frequency-relay load-shedding scheme to operate. Because
of the inherently slow speed of this scheme, too much load Two-Generator Trip
was often dropped, resulting in a significant impact on When a fault occurs on the transmission line, two genera-
production, with losses averaging US$200,000 per day. tors (about 45% of the generating capacity) could be
The system utilized a multistage frequency-based load- tripped by the transformer-protection relays. The loss of
shedding scheme with a load-shedding sequence as shown two STG units can potentially escalade very quickly to a
in Table 2. total system shutdown if a proper amount of load is not
shed before the remaining system becomes unstable.

Pulverizer and Boiler Trips

Normal Loading
The powerhouse steam boilers are fired with pulverized
ILS
Final coal. Each boiler has two pulverizers that are capable of
Loading supplying only half of the steam capacity from each pulver-
PLC Based izer. One or both pulverizers can shut down when a mechan-
Final ical problem occurs or the supply of coal is lost. When a
Loading pulverizer is shut down for any reason, the steam-generating

Fault Time TABLE 2. LOAD-SHED TABLE.

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ILS
PLC-Based Stage Frequency (Hz) Delay (ms) MW Shed
Completed
Load Shedding
Completed Stage 1 48 1,000 24.4
7 Stage 2 47.2 250 24.4
The ILS versus PLC-based load shedding.

Power Plant–Diesel Generator Power Plant–Turbine Generator Power Plant–Diesel Generator

40SG301 40SG302
Port Site Port Site

No

Load Substations

8
50
Simplified one-line diagram for PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara.
capacity of the boiler is reduced with a Radio communication and other meth-
reduction in power-generating capacity. ods were evaluated but discarded, since
The generating capacity will not imme- THE ILS SYSTEM running 15 km of fiber was feasible. At
diately fall to zero if both pulverizers are the substation level, PLC and micro-
lost because of the residual capacity of
PROVIDES AN processor relays were utilized as the
the boiler. The remaining generating UNLIMITED ILS controller.
capacity of each boiler during upset Ethernet-equipped smart meters or
conditions must be known so that ap- NUMBER OF intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) were
propriate settings of the load-shedding used for data acquisition. Online system
system can be made. LOAD SCHEDULES data combined with circuit breaker
status and other pertinent information
Data Communication Architecture FOR THE are passed to an ILS server for process-
As previously explained, speed of opera- ing and to calculate the following:
tion, prediction of events, and continu- OPERATORS TO n total generation
ous update to load-shedding tables SELECT FROM. n total load to shed for each trig-
based on system changes are among the gering event
capabilities that set the ILS system apart n generation capacity
from other types of contingency-based n total spin reserve
load-shedding systems (Figure 9). The electric demand for n minimum load to be shed for each triggering event
this mining operation is fairly constant, except for the n optimal combination of circuit breakers.
small motor load that can quickly fluctuate between 3 and Using the aforementioned information, the ILS per-
25 MW. For the ILS to work correctly, this load swing forms all of the calculations necessary to determine the
must be included in a continual load tabulation, so a optimum load-shedding table. These tables are then
data-collection server was located in the substation that downloaded to the local PLCs every few milliseconds
supplied these loads. This allowed the ILS to continu- (<100 ms). The load-shedding trigger is hardwired
ally monitor these loads. directly to the PLCs. This configuration produces a
The ILS server is installed in the power plant control total response time of less than 20 ms, which is a signifi-
room. To bring the data from the data collection server cant improvement over the original system response
(located at the load substations), fiber optic cable was time of 250 ms. In addition to an improved response time,
chosen to be the most effective way to accomplish this task. the optimal load is now shed.

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Generator Breakers Diesel Plants Metering SteamPlants Metering Control Room Monitoring/
Control Station

Hardwired Connection
Trigger
Collection PLC Ethernet Modbus+ Ethernet Modbus+
600-m
Fiber Optic Cable
Master PLC
600-m
and Data
Fiber Optic Cable
Collection
Fiber Optic Cable
Dh+

15-km

Management/Engineering
Power Plants Real-Time
Monitoring Station
Load Breakers ILS Server
Secondary
PLC 5-km
Fiber Optic Cable

Hardwired Connection
Process Monitoring
Ethernet Modbus+ Ethernet Modbus+

Substation Load Breakers

Sub 1 Metering Sub 2 Metering

9
The ILS communication system architecture for PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara.
51
 triggers (isolated case disturbance) were
Fault detected, the response time was
Detection measured to be less than 20 ms. To dis-
Trigger tinguish between isolated case disturb-
Signal to CB CB Trip
ance and subsequent contingencies, an
Fault
Clearing 0.5 5.5
Time (Cycles) intentional delay of 50 ms was intro-
duced prior to sending the trip sig-
0.5 2 nals to the load breakers. This is
Local ILS Time (Cycles) illustrated in Figure 10.
Trigger ILS Load CB
Received Output Trip Optimal Load Shedding
Remote by ILS Triggers
5.5 7 12
The sheddable loads are two 13-MW
Time (Cycles) motors and four 7.5-MW motors. The
ILS
Trigger ILS Load CB first stage of the existing frequency-
Received Output Trip based load-shedding system would
by ILS Triggers have shed one 13-MW motor and two
10 7.5-MW motors when the system fre-
The ILS response time with intentional time delay.
quency fell to 47.2 Hz. If the under-
frequency condition persisted below
48 Hz for an additional 750 ms, the
System Improvements Achieved with an ILS remaining 13-MW motor and two 7.5-MW motors would
be shed. This means a total response time of about 1,000
Reduced Response Time ms after the main breaker tripped. This scheme ensured
The ILS will significantly reduce the system load-shedding that a sufficient load would be shed to maintain system
time with its master/local PLC configuration. The local stability. Less critical loads, such as mine loads, are not con-
PLC is able to detect the operation of an STG breaker sidered as sheddable loads, since their loading can vary
almost instantly because the trip signal is hardwired to the between 3 and 25 MW during normal mining operation.
PLC. The local PLC then distributes this signal to all of the The original frequency-relay scheme for a specific dis-
secondary/remote PLCs. For this system where independent turbance is achieved by dropping Loads 1–4, as shown in
Table 3. For the same disturbance, the ILS monitors predis-
turbance generation level of about 25 MW and a spinning
TABLE 3. LOAD-SHED TABLE FOR FREQUENCY-
reserve of about 19 MW. Based on these inputs and addi-
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RELAY SCHEME.
tional system data, the ILS calculates the required load to
be shed equal to 7.0 MW, thereby selecting Load 2 as the
Group Operating optimal load to be dropped.
Load ID Priority Quantity MW A comparison between the ILS and frequency-relay
Load 1 1 1 13 scheme for one-generating unit trip is shown in Table 4.
The ILS will shed an optimal (minimum) load of 7.5 MW
Load 2 1 2 7.5 in 75 ms versus 24.4 MW in 250 ms when using the
Load 3 2 1 13 original frequency-relay load-shedding scheme for one-
Load 4 2 2 7.5
generator unit tripping. The comparisons show a signif-
icant improvement in both load-shedding response time
and reduction in the amount of load shedding when uti-
lizing the ILS technology even with the introduction of
intentional delay.
TABLE 4. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ILS AND In the case of two generating units tripping at the same
FREQUENCY-RELAY SCHEMES (ONE-UNIT TRIP). time, the ILS monitors the predisturbance generation level
MW Shed Time (ms)
at 50 MW and a spinning reserve at 16 MW. Based on
these inputs and additional system data, the ILS calculates
ILS 7.5 75 the required load to be shed equal to 34 MW. A compari-
Frequency relay 24.4 250 son between the ILS and the frequency-relay scheme for
two-generating unit tripping is shown in Table 5.

Unlimited Load Schedules and Load Shed Monitoring

The ILS system provides an unlimited number of load
TABLE 5. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ILS AND schedules for the operators to select from. This flexibility
FREQUENCY-RELAY SCHEMES (TWO-UNIT TRIP). of emergency load reduction produces the ultimate in
MW Shed Time (ms) system flexibility during upset or emergency conditions.
Each load schedule can be defined with different load
ILS 34 75 priority tables, load groups, options, and calculation meth-
Frequency relay 56 1,000 ods. This is necessary for different operating cycles of
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the system where load priority may not be the same.
 11 12
The ILS results on graphical one line. The ILS trigger monitor and optimal load-shedding results.

With the ILS, the operator can switch load schedules

with minimum effort.
The ILS trigger monitor together with the graphical
results on intelligent one-line diagram (Figure 11) displays
the optimal load-shedding results for each system trigger
in order for the operator to proactively identify loads selected
to be shed in the event of a trigger. The ILS trigger monitor
also informs the operator whether a system disturbance
occurred in the system and the load-shedding action taken
by the system (Figure 12).

System Disturbance/Trigger Definitions 13

The ILS system was designed with a graphical user inter- The ILS system trigger editor.
face to apply the system to any facility in need for load

IEEE INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS MAGAZINE  MAR j APR 2011  WWW.IEEE.ORG/IAS

curtailment or fast load shedding with minimal integra-
tion effort. The ILS trigger editor was used to define Acknowledgments
various disturbances mentioned earlier and provide an The authors greatly appreciate and acknowledge Ilyas
option to the system integrator to add other triggers as Yamin, the engineering staff, and management of PT
needed (Figure 13). Newmont Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, for their contribu-
tion and support in installation and testing of the ILS
Conclusions system at Batu Hijau mine.
Load shedding in industrial power systems serves as the
ultimate guard that protects the system from an overload- References
induced collapse. This critical load preservation is normally [1] E. Kimbark, Power System Stability. New York, Wiley-IEEE, Feb. 1, 1995.
[2] W. C. New, Load Shedding, Load Restoration and Generator Protection using
done with the use of circuit breaker interlocks, underfre- Solid State and Electromechanical Underfrequency Relays. Philadelphia, PA:
quency relaying, and PLC-based and contingency-based General Electric.
schemes. Common drawbacks of these schemes include [3] T. Wilson, PLC Based Substation Automation and SCADA Systems; Select-
lack of detailed pre- and postdisturbance data, real-time ing a Control System Integrator. Western Electric Power Inst., Las Vegas,
system configuration, type and duration of the disturban- NV, Mar. 1999.
[4] K. Warwick, A. O. Ekwue, and R. Aggarwal, Artificial Intelligence Tech-
ces, as well as other important information. This article has niques in Power Systems. London, U.K.: IEE, 1997.
introduced an intelligent optimal and fast load-shedding
technology referred to as the ILS. The ILS combines sys-
tem online data, equipment ratings, user-defined control Farrokh Shokooh, J.J. Dai, Shervin Shokooh, Hugo Castro,
parameters, knowledge base obtained from offline system Tanuj Khandelwal, and Gary Donner are with Operation
simulations, system dependencies, predictive analysis, Technology, Inc. in Irvine, California. Jacques Tastet is with
PFM, and continually updated dynamic load-shed tables. Technip in Paris, France. F. Shokooh and Donner are Fellows
This system can perform load shedding in less than 20 ms of the IEEE. Dai, S. Shokooh, Castro, Khandelwal, and Tastet
from the initial occurrence of a disturbance. The ILS are Members of the IEEE. This article first appeared as “A Fast
technology has been successfully installed and is opera- Intelligent Load-Shedding (ILS) System Application in a Large
tional at industrial facilities. Industrial Facility” at the 2006 IEEE IAS Annual Meeting.

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