Wide-area, real-time monitoring and visualization system

Abstract

A real-time performance monitoring system for monitoring an electric power grid. The electric power grid has a plurality of grid portions, each grid portion corresponding to one of a plurality of control areas. The real-time performance monitoring system includes a monitor computer for monitoring at least one of reliability metrics, generation metrics, transmission metrics, suppliers metrics, grid infrastructure security metrics, and markets metrics for the electric power grid. The data for metrics being monitored by the monitor computer are stored in a data base, and a visualization of the metrics is displayed on at least one display computer having a monitor. The at least one display computer in one said control area enables an operator to monitor the grid portion corresponding to a different said control area.

1 . A wide-area real-time performance monitoring computer system for monitoring events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and for analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the computer system comprising:
 one or more monitor computers including an interface for receiving a plurality of data streams, each of the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, the wide area comprising at least two elements from the group consisting of control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;   one or more interfaces to other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising transmission maps, power plant locations, EMS/SCADA systems, and one-line diagrams to map the events to specific locations; and   one or more interfaces to non-grid data sources,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to monitor metrics, the metrics comprising reliability metrics, power grid operations metrics, generation metrics and transmission metrics, over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to detect the events in real-time from the plurality of data streams from the wide area and to enable an analysis of what if scenarios,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to execute event detection logic, the event detection logic being configured to detect an event based on at least one element selected from the group consisting of limits, sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change for one or more measurements from the data streams and a plurality of dynamic stability metrics derived from the phasor measurements from the data streams across the wide area, the derived dynamic stability metrics including at least one element selected from the group consisting of frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to display event analysis results computed from the dynamic stability metrics via a graphical user interface coupled to the one or more monitor computers for concurrently displaying the event analysis results and associated dynamic stability metrics using color codes, tables, charts, plots, or combinations thereof and to alert operators or users when an event is detected through visible alerts, email notifications, or combinations thereof,   wherein the other power system data sources comprise tracking data, historical data, prediction data, and summary data,   wherein the graphical user interface is configured to display visualizations of the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics directed to the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, and to overlay, separately or in combination, at least one measurement and at least one dynamic stability metric on a map showing at least one of transmission, terrain, or other features, and   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to receive and accumulate the data from the data streams, the dynamic stability metrics, grid data, non-grid data, and EMS data in real time as to wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid.   
     
     
         2 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are further configured to analyze the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics and the graphical user interface is configured to display the event analysis results. 
     
     
         3 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to determine whether an event took place by analyzing whether one or more limits, sensitivities, and rates of change of one or more of the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics crosses a threshold or pre-established margin and, when the at least one of the monitored metrics crosses the threshold in a local area portion of the wide area or across the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, to identify at least one of a control area, a transmission company, a utility, a regional reliability coordinator, or a reliability jurisdiction responsible for the local and/or wide portion of the interconnected electric power grid in which the threshold is crossed. 
     
     
         4 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are coupled to a global computer network for receiving the plurality of data streams from the wide area, the data streams further comprising power system data and third party data streams, and
 wherein the performance monitoring computer system is configured to store data associated with the event and to replay the stored data on the graphical user interface for power grid system performance assessment, event diagnostics, root cause analysis of events and situational assessment of dynamic stability of the interconnected electric power grid in real time.   
     
     
         5 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the wide area comprises a geographic area comprising one or more cities, counties, states, or countries. 
     
     
         6 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to enable a user to drill down and to visualize the metrics displayed on the graphical user interface at various geographical resolutions ranging from wide-area to local-area and to map event location by displaying phase measurement units associated with events on a transmission map. 
     
     
         7 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to activate an alarm when an event is detected in at least one metric of the monitored metrics and/or the derived metrics or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The performance monitoring computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to generate a graphical notification when an event is detected. 
     
     
         9 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to display the event analysis results and associated metrics using any of on-screen messages, floating windows, pop-up windows, or dialog boxes. 
     
     
         10 . The computer system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to derive one or more composite indicators of reliability that are indicators of power grid vulnerability or one or more aspects thereof and are derived from a combination of one or more real time measurements or computations of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics covering the wide area and show non-power grid data received from the non-grid data source for operators to assess vulnerability. 
     
     
         11 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface is configured to be displayed in a web browser. 
     
     
         12 . The computer system of  claim 11 , wherein the web browser is configured to run on a monitor computer of the one or more monitor computers. 
     
     
         13 . The computer system of  claim 11 , wherein the web browser is configured to run on a client device connected over a network to the one or more monitor computers in a client-server environment. 
     
     
         14 . A wide-area real-time performance monitoring computer system for collecting, storing and analyzing event data associated with a plurality of events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the system comprising:
 one or more monitor computers comprising an interface for receiving a plurality of data streams, each of data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, the wide area comprising at least two elements selected from the group consisting of control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;   one or more interfaces to other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising at least one of transmission maps, power plant locations, or EMS/SCADA systems;   one or more interfaces to non-grid data sources;   a database configured to store the phasor measurements, event data, and a plurality of derived metrics; and   a display coupled to the one or more monitor computers and the database for visualizing information relating to the plurality of the phasor measurements and the derived metrics related to the real-time dynamic stability of wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to monitor the derived metrics, the derived metrics comprising reliability metrics, power grid operations metrics, generation metrics and transmission metrics over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to detect the events in real-time from the plurality of data streams,   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to execute event detection logic, the event detection logic being configured to detect an event based on at least one element selected from the group consisting of limits, sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change for one or more measurements from the data streams and a plurality of dynamic stability metrics derived from the phasor measurements from the data streams across the wide area, the derived dynamic stability metrics including frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes,   wherein the metrics associated with the detected event comprise include time of event, location of event, type of event, magnitude of event, root cause of event and one or more key event related metrics, the key event related metrics comprising frequency, delta frequency, voltage drop, reactive reserve margin, power transfer angle, voltage/volt-ampere reactive (VAR), frequency response, sensitivities and/or combinations thereof.   
     
     
         15 . The wide-area real-time performance monitoring computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the database is further configured to store the dynamic stability metrics associated with the detected event and to allow a user to query the database for event data by type, location, time, and history of metrics. 
     
     
         16 . The wide-area real-time performance monitoring computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the database is further configured to store the phasor measurements, a plurality of detected events, and the plurality of derived metrics in real time. 
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 14 , wherein the display comprises a web browser. 
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the web browser is configured to run on a monitor computer of the one or more monitor computers. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the web browser is configured to run on a client connected over a network to the one or more monitor computers in a client-server environment. 
     
     
         20 . A method of detecting events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and automatically analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of data streams, each of the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each data stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, the wide area comprising at least two elements selected from the group consisting of control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;   receiving data from other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising at least one of transmission maps, power plant locations, or EMS/SCADA systems;   receiving data from one or more non-grid data sources;   detecting and analyzing events in real-time from the plurality of data streams from the wide area based on at least one element selected from the group consisting of limits, sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change for one or more measurements from the data streams and dynamic stability metrics derived from analyzing the measurements from the data streams, the measurements comprising frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes, the measurements being derived from the phasor measurements and the other power system data sources in which the dynamic stability metrics are indicative of events, grid stress, or grid instability, over the wide area;   displaying the event analysis results and associated ones of the metrics from different categories of data and the derived metrics in tables, charts, or combinations thereof, the data comprising at least one of monitoring data, tracking data, historical data, prediction data, or summary data; and   displaying the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics directed to the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid; and   accumulating the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics, grid data, non-grid data, and EMS data in real time as to wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 analyzing the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics; and   displaying the results of analyzing the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining whether an event took place by analyzing whether one or more limits, sensitivities, and rates of change of one or more of the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics crosses a threshold; and   when the at least one of the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics crosses the threshold in a local area portion of the wide area or across the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid, identifying at least one of a control area, a transmission company, a utility, a regional reliability coordinator, or a reliability jurisdiction responsible for the local and/or wide portion of the interconnected electric power grid in which the threshold is crossed.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 receiving data from the wide area over a global computer network and   storing and replaying event data for power grid system performance assessment, event diagnostics, root cause analysis of events and situational assessment of dynamic stability of the interconnected electric power grid in real time.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the wide area comprises a geographic area comprising one or more cities, counties, states, or countries. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising enabling a user to drill down and visualize the metrics displayed on a graphical user interface at various geographical resolutions ranging from wide-area to local-area. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising activating an alarm when an event is detected in at least one metric of the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics or combinations thereof utilizing a composite event logic technique. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising generating a graphical notification when an event is detected. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising storing phasor measurements and a plurality of derived metrics in a database. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising storing in the database the dynamic stability metrics associated with a detected event and allowing a user to query the database for event data by type, location, and history of metrics. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising storing in the database the phasor measurements, a plurality of detected events, and the plurality of derived metrics in real time. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising deriving a composite indicator of reliability that is an indicator of at least one aspect of power grid vulnerability and is derived from a combination of one or more real time measurements or computations of measurements from the data streams, the dynamic stability metrics covering the wide area, and non-power grid data received from the non-grid data source. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the displaying the event analysis results and associated ones of the metrics from different categories of data and the derived metrics in tables, charts, or combinations thereof comprises displaying the tables, charts, or combinations thereof in a web browser. 
     
     
         33 . A computer system configured to monitor and analyze events on an interconnected electric power grid in real-time over a wide area, the computer system comprising:
 one or more monitor computers comprising an interface for receiving a plurality of data streams, the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped, synchronized phasor measurements, the phasor measurements being collected in real-time at geographically distinct locations over the wide area of the electric power grid, the geographically distinct locations comprising at least two elements from the group consisting of control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;   one or more interfaces to other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising transmission maps, power plant locations, EMS/SCADA systems, and one-line diagrams; and   one or more interfaces to non-grid data sources;   wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to execute event detection logic, the event detection logic being configured to:
 derive a plurality of dynamic stability metrics from the phasor measurements and the other power system data sources, the dynamic stability metrics comprising at least one element from the group consisting of frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes; and 
 detect an event by computing an element selected from the group consisting of sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change of a dynamic stability metric of the dynamic stability metrics and comparing the computed element against a corresponding threshold value. 
   
     
     
         34 . The computer system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are configured to display the detected event via a graphical user interface coupled to the one or more monitor computers using color codes. 
     
     
         35 . The computer system of  claim 34 , wherein the one or more computer systems are configured to store the phasor measurements associated with the detected event and to replay the stored phasor measurements on the graphical user interface. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are further configured to enable a user to drill down and to visualize the metrics on the graphical user interface at a plurality of geographical resolutions, the geographical resolutions comprising wide area and local area resolutions. 
     
     
         37 . The computer system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more other power system data sources further comprise tracking data, historical data, prediction data, and summary data. 
     
     
         38 . The computer system of  claim 33 , wherein the event detection logic is further configured to detect the event by determining when the element selected from the group consisting sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change crosses the corresponding threshold value and to identify at least one of a control area, a transmission company, a utility, a regional reliability coordinator, or a reliability jurisdiction responsible for a portion of the interconnected electric power grid in which the corresponding threshold is crossed,
 wherein the portion of the interconnected electric power grid is a local area portion of the interconnected electric power grid or the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the wide area comprises a geographical area comprising one or more cities, counties, states, or countries. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are further configured to display a location of the detected event and a phase measurement associated with the detected event on a transmission map. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the one or more monitor computers are further configured to derive one or more composite indicators of reliability from one or more of the phasor measurements and the dynamic stability metrics. 
     
     
         42 . A method of detecting and analyzing events on an interconnected electric power grid in real-time over a wide area, the method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of data streams, the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped, synchronous phasor measurements, the phasor measurements being collected in real-time at geographically distinct locations over the wide area of the electric power grid, the geographically distinct locations comprising at least two elements from the group consisting of control areas, transmission companies, utilities, regional reliability coordinators, and reliability jurisdictions;   receiving data from one or more other power system data sources, the other power system data sources comprising transmission maps, power plant locations, EMS/SCADA systems, and one-line diagrams;   receiving data from one or more non-grid data sources;   deriving a plurality of dynamic stability metrics from the phasor measurements and the other power system data sources, the dynamic stability metrics comprising at least one element from the group consisting of frequency instability, voltages, power flows, phase angles, damping, and oscillation modes; and   detecting an event by comparing a dynamic stability metric of the dynamic stability metrics against an element selected from the group consisting of limits, sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising displaying the detected event via a graphical user interface using color codes. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising storing the phasor measurements associated with the detected event and to replay the stored phasor measurements on the graphical user interface. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising displaying the data on the graphical user interface at a plurality of geographical resolutions, the geographical resolutions comprising wide area and local area resolutions. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the one or more other power system data sources comprise tracking data, historical data, prediction data, and summary data. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising detecting the event by determining when the element selected from the group comprising sensitivities, margins, deviations, aggregations, and rates of change crosses the corresponding threshold value and to identify at least one of a control area, a transmission company, a utility, a regional reliability coordinator, or a reliability jurisdiction responsible for a portion of the interconnected electric power grid in which the corresponding threshold is crossed,
 wherein the portion of the interconnected power grid is a local area portion of the interconnected power grid or the wide area of the interconnected power grid.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein the wide area comprises a geographical area comprising one or more cities, counties, states, or countries. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48 , further comprising displaying a location of the detected event and a phase measurement associated with the detected event on a transmission map. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising deriving one or more composite indicators of reliability from one or more of the phasor measurements and the dynamic stability metrics.