Controller-Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Setup using a Real-Time Hybrid Simulator for Testing of Wide-area Damping Controllers

Poorly damped low-frequency inter-area electro-mechanical oscillations are a major concern in large synchronous grids. Embedded power electronic actuators such as HVDC and FACTS devices with wide-area damping controllers (WADCs) can be an effective solution to this problem. A WADC uses the synchrophasor measurements from the phasor measurement units (PMUs) installed across the system. This paper illustrates the controller-hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) simulation setup for testing a WADC using a real-time hybrid simulator (RTHS). The RTHS does real-time co-simulation using a transient stability program (TSAT) and a real-time simulator that simulates electromagnetic transients. A two-area four-machine test system with an embedded HVDC link is used for demonstration.