De Jager's Boy Bores On Grid Reliability

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Do not prepare to be dazzled:

URL http://www.year2000.com/y2kcurrent2.html

Hotlink de Jagrid stay up?

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 26, 1999

Answers

Hey!. . . Wait a minute, this excerpt is not extremely boring:

"Data communications are critical in providing generating units and control centers with the information required every few seconds to balance electrical generation to demand. However, according to NERC a "significant portion" of voice and data communications used by electric utilities is provided by telecommunications companies, many of which lack the resources to conduct extensive tests of their equipment and services before 2000. These include local and long distance carriers, Internet service providers, paging and cellular systems, and satellite broadcasters. The result is that utilities have little control of the Y2K readiness of their data communication systems, putting in question the ability of electric utilities to manage the real-time functions of the power grid without interruption."

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 26, 1999.


Let us not forget the upcoming Senate Hearing on utilities:

August 3 (WEDNESDAY) -- Utilities' Y2K Preparedness 9:30 AM, Room 192 Dirksen

Details at www.senate.gov/~y2k

(Just when I was about to head off to sleep comes word of another hearing. 'Guess I'll have to start another thread.) Ack.

:)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), July 26, 1999.


You can call it a hearing, but do they listen?

-- congressonlyhearsone (thing@Caching.com), July 27, 1999.

This is plain wrong:

"Data communications are critical in providing generating units and control centers with the information required every few seconds to balance electrical generation to demand. "

The way it actually works is that as load increases, the voltage and more sensitively the frequency of the entire interconnected grid drop. Regulation equipment in individual power stations senses this, and in the first instance increases the supply of steam to the turbines, in order to restore the standard voltage and frequency (in other words, match output to demand). If the increased load persists, steam pressure in the boilers will drop and the second-line of regulation will increase the fuel feed so as to maintain boiler pressure. The mechanisms are conceptually similar to (first-line) the feedback from engine vacuum to carburettor that tries to maintain a car's velocity independant of gradient, and (second-line) a cruise- control system. If all available plant is working flat-out, the last resort is load-shedding (blackouts for some customers so supply is maintained to others).

This was done with no electronics whatsoever before the war. Today, there may well be embedded systems, datacomms etc. involved internal to a power station plant. However, the only long-distance communication involved in this is the flow of electricity along the wires of the grid, which is dictated by the laws of physics.

In short, this person is ill-informed and should visit Dick Mills' or Rick Cowles' sites.

Long-distance datacomms is used for remote switching operations, which allow a central control room to connect and disconnect remote circuits. If that fails, it won't be so easy to control any overload situation that develops. In its absence, load would be shed as the result of circuit-breakers tripping, and reconnection of supplies would require electricity workers to actually visit substations. This is a realistic worry: multi-day uncontrolled blackouts rather than precisely controlled scheduled 2- or 4-hour ones, should sufficient generating plant fail that load- shedding becomes necessary.

But to repeat, the idea that wide-area networking is needed to match electricity supply to demand is quite utterly bogus.

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), July 27, 1999.


Good info. Nigel. At our neighborhood y2k meeting in February a Carolina Power & Light employee (who was an audience member, not a speaker) said that CP&L does plan on putting an employee at every substation during rollover. I quess your explanation shows at least one reason for this action.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 27, 1999.


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