Variability of solar power is a key driver in increasing the cost of integrating solar power into the electric grid because additional system resources are required to maintain the grid’s reliability. In this study, we characterize the variability in power output of six photovoltaic plants in the USA and Canada with a total installed capacity of 195MW (AC); it is based on minute-averaged data f...

This paper introduces a fuzzy sensor validation and fusion methodology and applies it to sensor data from a gas turbine power plant. The FUSVAF (Fuzzy Sensor Validation and Fusion) algorithm tackles two problems: (1) It filters out noise from measurements provided as input to a gas turbine controller to maximize power plant performance. (2) It compensates for sensor failure to allow the power p...

During the past decade, the United States electric utility industry has migrated from a regulated to a deregulated business environment. As a result, utilities in the electric power sector face a much more urgent imperative to emphasize cost efficiencies as compared to the days of regulation. One major opportunity for cost savings is through reductions in spare parts inventory. Most utilities a...

The objective of the electric utility is to deliver sinusoidal voltage at fairly constant magnitude throughout their system. This objective is complicated by the fact that there are loads on the system that produce harmonics currents. These currents result in distorted voltages and currents that can adversely impact the system performance in different ways. When harmonic currents flow through t...

Supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) are widely used in industry for supervisory control and data acquisition of industrial processes. The process can be industrial, infrastructure or facility. With the advances of electronic and software technologies, the SCADA systems are widely used in industrial plant automation. It provides an efficient tool to monitor and control equip...

Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices have shown satisfactory performance in alleviating the problems of electrical transmission systems. Optimal FACTS allocation problem, which includes finding optimal type and location of these devices, have been widely studied by researchers for improving variety of power system technical parameters. In this paper, a DIgSILENT-based Discrete Parti...

This paper discusses the environmental effects of incorporating wind energy into the electric power system. We present a detailed emissions analysis based on comprehensive modeling of power system operations with unit commitment and economic dispatch for different wind penetration levels. First, by minimizing cost, the unit commitment model decides which thermal power plants will be utilized ba...

A branched structure is observable in draining and irrigation systems, in electric power supply systems and in natural objects like the blood vessels, the river basins or the trees. Recent approaches of these networks derive their branched structure from an energy functional whose essential feature is to favor wide routes. Given a flow s in a river, a road, a tube or a wire, the transportation ...