While the many benefits of wind power are well known, today's reality is that wind farms stress the electric grid due to the unpredictability of power. In order for wind power to become an efficient energy source in the Texas electricity market, its effect on the reliability of the grid must be managed. Discovery Across Texas is looking to mitigate that risk by identifying reliability options through the use of Synchrophasor Technology.

Synchrophasor technology mitigates the risk to the grid by providing real time, wide area situational awareness. Synchrophasor technology measures variations across a transmission grid in absolute real-time. The measurement includes a time stamp that provides an easy method of correlating values from different locations that take different amounts of time to arrive at a common collection point. These grid measurements can be used to monitor and analyze the dynamics of the power system as a whole or to compare different points in real time.

By monitoring the ERCOT grid and its large-scale wind resources with synchrophasor technology, Discovery Across Texas is gathering real time, dynamic information on wind resources and their impact on the transmission grid. With that information, ERCOT will be able to detect and identify undesirable conditions on the grid, thereby enabling ERCOT to expand the level of wind generation from available wind capacity, and operators to make adjustments to maintain grid reliability.

Synchrophasor Goals

• Enhance transmission operations management practices;
• Improve grid reliability and
• Provide lessons learned to other parts of the U.S.

Synchrophasor Technical Team