IncSys and PowerData Build Custom Model for Saudi Arabia
Incremental Systems
In October 2021, staff from IncSys and PowerData were honored to be invited to conduct training in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with engineers from Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). Engineers from all four regions of the Saudi power network joined together in the brand-new National Control Center facility in Riyadh.
The four-week event taught the SEC engineers skills ranging from PowerSimulator® basics to preparing and delivering realistic drills and training.
- Week One: Introduction to PowerSimulator Operations
- Week Two: Developing Restoration Plans
- Week Three: Preparing and Delivering Drills
- Week Four: Emergency Operations Drills and Training
IncSys and PowerData have been working with SEC to develop their Custom PowerSimulator model to include all four major regions with interconnections. The result is a highly-detailed model that behaves realistically and includes all controls to run restoration drills, engineering studies, and emergency operations training.
The SEC model will be used to build and assess the competence of the system operators in several critical areas including:
- Identifying the next most harmful contingency
- Managing large standing phase angles
- Preventing voltage collapse
- Managing over-voltages and Ferranti rise during system restoration
- Synchronizing islands
- Generation re-dispatch to mitigate overloads
- Responding to generator outages and capacity emergencies
Week 1
During the first week, Aida Mosier from PowerData taught the class how to use Data Engineering to further customize their model and techniques to keep the model updated to match the real system. Participants with no prior experience working with PowerSimulator quickly developed the skills to:
- Create new system maps and displays to make the system realistic and usable
- Build one-line substation diagrams that accurately reflect the physical system
- Add and model equipment to accurately match the actual equipment on the system
- Create and set user permissions and maintain user data after simulation training events
- Administration and control of model development, base cases, and real-time event scenarios
Week 2
Working with the more detailed and comprehensive model, the SEC engineers were able to further develop and validate their black start restoration plans.
Dr. Robin Podmore took the class through creation of a blackout and development of Top-Down and Bottom-Up restoration plans based on the four major regions of the network. Students took on the roles of dispatchers from each region and performed a full system restoration from black start.
They used the EPRI System Restoration Navigator (SRN) application within PowerSimulator to quickly build cranking paths from black start units to secondary units to restore critical infrastructure and major load centers like Riyadh.
Weeks 3 and 4
During weeks 3 and 4, SEC engineers learned how to use the custom Simulator to build and deliver operator training.
IncSys demonstrated how to conduct detailed training in System Restoration, Emergency Transmission Operations and Emergency Balancing Operations with the Reliability model. Using tools like the Real-Time Contingency Analysis (RTCA) program within PowerSimulator, the operators learned how to set up base cases and event scenarios to accurately reproduce common contingencies and emergency events on the SEC model.
The operators learned how to apply electric network fundamentals to Emergency Operations topics to help reinforce the mental models a dispatcher should have during contingency events. The class also practiced conducting widespread drills and individualized training for major and minor events both in the class room setting as well as remotely.
Going forward, SEC is plans to create a new certification system for dispatchers and use PowerSimulator to bring operators together from across the entire country for Restoration and Emergency Operations training. Their custom model is continuously being updated as new equipment and interconnections come online around the Gulf region.
