Industry best practice in managing oscillatory stability

Following the major power system blackouts of 2003, a global utility survey concluded that security of supply now tops the list of utility concerns. One mechanism of system collapse is uncontrolled oscillatory disturbance, and this risk needs to be managed by utilities. Although traditional methods such as the use of small- and large-signal dynamic models and the design of damping controllers remain valid, changes in utility practices have occurred such that these methods are not sufficient by themselves to ensure system stability. This paper reviews the developments in best practice in managing oscillatory stability in recent years including the use of monitoring techniques. It is shown that dynamics monitoring plays an important role in managing oscillatory stability in modern power systems.