ANALYSIS OF RWANDA’S GRID POINT OF STABILITY LOSS

Abstract

E Electricity stability is the key component in ensuring reliable power supply which is a major hurdle in most developing countries. Power angle being part of grid stability pillars, this work sought to theoretically and numerically investigate the maximum power angle variation that the power system in Rwanda could experience while maintaining transient stability at an acceptable range beyond which generators lose synchronism affecting overall system stability. A steady state and dynamic stability assessment of the lightly loaded Rwandan grid is conducted using PSS/E while MATLAB is used to obtain input values for calculating the system stability power angle. This involved collecting actual network parameters, creating an accurate model of the entire Rwandan grid and validating the model simulation results using regularly metered values at various critical busbars of the network. Results from the study show that a sudden drop in load of 11 MW and 6 MVAr leads to a variation of power angle of the largest power plant by 23o triggering transient stability problems leading to loss of synchronism. Both calculated and simulation results show that, a sudden power angle variation of between 23o to 23.5o at the swing bus power plant, causes the monitored generating units to trip triggering a long-term instability. This was done while also interrogating possible mitigation measures based on the developed and validated model. Based on the system status, the study revealed that the grid point of stability can be determined through simulation using software and to further obtain optimum stability, installation of active devices such as shunt reactors helps the grid to counter sudden variation of power angle due to line and load tripping. B