SPARSE - A Prolog Based Application for the Portuguese Transmission Network: Verification and Validation

The activity of electrical network Control Centres is supported by a large number of computer applications. However, Control Centre operators usually have to face critical situations without the support of efficient decision support tools. During the last years, electrical utilities began to install intelligent applications in their Control Centres. These applications are mainly intended to provide operators with assistance especially during incident situations. The successful use of such applications is very dependent from the ability to guarantee that its performance is correct and efficient, even under incident conditions. This only can be guarantied after a Verification and Validation phase. This paper addresses the Verification and Validation of Knowledge-Based Systems. The paper deals with the Verification and Validation of SPARSE, a Knowledge-Based System to assist operators of Portuguese Transmission Control Centres in incident analysis and power restoration.