ECE61020: Operation of Modern Power Systems

Lecture Hours: 3 

Credits: 3

Area of Specialization: PES

Catalog Description: Introduction to modern power system operations. Economic dispatch of assets as a constrained optimization problem, and solution methods. The unit commitment problem formulation, and solution methods. Power flow solution methods. Security-constrained economic dispatch and unit commitment. The optimal power flow. Automatic generation control. Operation of power markets.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Acquaint students with the principal analytical aspects of power system operations
  2. Stress the interplay between security and economics and the importance of these two functions
  3. Expose students to some of the key software application areas in a modern control center energy management system
  4. Equip students with skills to read the power system operations, control and economics literature
  5. Develop an appreciation of the computational aspects of power system tools
  6. Provide a basic understanding of market forces and their impacts on reshaping the electricity business

Required Text(s):

  • Power Generation, Operation, and Control, by A. J. Wood, B. F. Wollenberg, and G. B. Sheblé, Wiley, third edition, 2014, ISBN: 978-0-471-79055-6. Available in full-text online through the Purdue Libraries.
  • Convex Optimization of Power Systems, by J. A. Taylor, Cambridge, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-107-07687-7

Lecture Outline:

  1. Introduction to modern power systems
  2. Economic dispatch
  3. Unit commitment
  4. Power flow
  5. Security-constrained economic dispatch and unit commitment
  6. Optimal power flow
  7. Automatic generation control

Prerequisites: Basics of power system components (transformers, generators, transmission lines) and power system analysis (3-phase analysis, power flow). ECE 43200 or equivalent.