ERCOT Control Center Situation Awareness

Transcription

1 ERCOT Control Center Situation Awareness Michael E. Legatt, Ph.D. Principal Human Factors Engineer Monday, September 23, 2013

2 Copyright / Trademark The materials included within the presentation are the intellectual property of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. All content contained herein, literary, pictorial, graphic or otherwise are copyright protected 2013, ERCOT, Inc., Michael E. Legatt, Ph.D. Macomber Map is a registered trademark of ERCOT, Inc. All rights reserved. September 23,

3 September 23, X

4 X September 23,

5 Situation Awareness the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future. Endsley, 1988 ERCOT level: 23 million customers, 73% competitive choice (6.7 million meters, 15-minute data) 40,530 miles of high-voltage transmission Over 74 GW capacity, including over 10GW renewables Data ranging from 300 times per second to once every 4 seconds Many systems to handle network model, reliability, market, outages, etc. Control room operators need to see the big picture /decision support September 23,

6 History Need for situation awareness and user experience enhancements in control rooms Blackout of 2003 and other low-sa root causes Main issues: Need for wide-area and high-level views Alarm storm Dust storm Locations of equipment Navigation between one-lines Naming conventions for equipment Data integration across multiple systems Increased cognitive load as operators increasingly managing more tasks with more complex systems. This trend is only continuing (e.g., advanced metering) September 23,

7 Needs communications Fatigue / diet / exercise / tobacco / caffeine Reliability coordinators are not power systems engineers Power systems engineers are not reliability coordinators Collaborative process Shared stress Holistic analyses needed Agile software development Engagement of all players, leveraging different expertise Prototyping September 23,

8 Integrating technologies in ERCOT operations NMMS Post-Processor Substation One-Line Validation process Previously manual process Every substation one-line validated for topology and layout (~4.5k) One-lines that couldn t pass full validation are assigned to a network model coordinators Contingency process Breaker-to-breaker tracing One-lines are automatically generated (~ 11.5k) Single circuit contingencies auto-generated Special flags for transient (mid-model change) state, and for contingencyable/normal operation state Extracts include contingency deltas Double-circuit contingencies, tracing around seed elements Macomber Map topological model & one-lines Inclusion of OE Future models bulk changes covered in advance September 23,

9 Control Room Complexity September 23,

10 Black Start Simulations 10

11 ERCOT Black Start Preparedness Training ERCOT brings more than 700 TOs, QSEs and ERCOT operators together for annual simulations QSEs use simplified generation control systems to simulate unit restorations September 23,

12 ERCOT Black Start Preparedness Training TOs and ERCOT operators use Macomber Map to see wide area views and control only their equipment Participants each perform their roles against ERCOT s EMS training simulator Simulation of severe weather event, many transmission lines unavailable September 23,

13 Macomber Map Enhancements for Preparedness Training User Interface Enhancements to support: One-Line view/navigation (substation & breaker-tobreaker) Element control panel and switching capabilities for transmission operators Improved regional/island views Navigational support for reactive devices, next start units Generator status, synchroscope locations User action logging/auditing Integration of black start plan information September 23,

14 Human components of black start Fatigue Political pressure / media pressure Sustained vigilance Separation from loved ones Unknown event duration Cognizance of life-or-death nature, individual and societal Poor diet (e.g., high carbohydrate, sugar, caffeine) Nicotine withdrawal September 23,

15 Human components of black start Communications issues Three-way communications Positive communications Shared telephone conference / need for net control Humor to diffuse stress Hurry up and wait Different areas of responsibility mean many people waiting with little to do while others working September 23,

16 Overall Progress Of over 120,000 switching actions, operators made 4 errors. 1 st 39 hours (shortly after shift turnover) 2 nd 40 hours 3 rd 41 hours 4 th 48 hours 203 total simulation hours (starting at hour 35) Intentional load shedding in preparation for island pickup September 23,

17 Interesting facts TO behavior patterns different between 2012 and In 2012, with just one-line displays, operators moved more quickly and had more island collapses In 2013, using Macomber Map, operators moved more methodically, making significantly fewer switching errors. However, existing human errors still occurred likely due to fatigue/circadian rhythm. September 23,

18 Interesting facts Positive communications improved ERCOT/TO communications and efficiency, reduced self-reported stress September 23,

19 Interesting facts 2012 Simulation 27 GW restoration 17 simulator days for restoration 2013 Simulation 40 GW restoration 8.5 simulator days (203 hours) for restoration More than 120,000 switching actions, 4 errors September 23,

20 Into the future September 23,

21 Future of Macomber Map Current, Macomber Map is supported by a team of SMEs across ERCOT Ongoing enhancements and leveraging for various groups within ERCOT September 23,

22 Open Sourcing Macomber Map Open source initiative this year First, client code with data interfaces Early next year, addition of server-side code Groups that have expressed interest in Macomber Map: ISO/RTOs TDSPs & QSEs Academic Researchers Vendors September 23,