Synchrophasor Applications Using MATLAB

Synchronized phasors, or synchrophasors, utilize highly precise timestamping to represent power signals in terms of magnitude and phase angle components. By installing phasor measurement units (PMUs) across the power system, as well as centralized phasor data concentrators (PDCs), system operators and engineers obtain real-time visibility into the grid at unprecedented data rates. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has been a leader in installing PMUs and PDCs, while developing applications that harness the value of synchrophasor data. With the transition of synchrophasors from the R&D domain into an operational domain, applications have required more intensive processing and more sophisticated algorithms, while handling increasingly large data sets. Using MATLAB^® developmental tools, including GUIDE and MATLAB Compiler™, BPA has created applications for synchrophasor processing, visualization, alarming, and data mining. This presentation provides an overall description of the BPA synchrophasor system and examples of some of the MATLAB based applications using synchrophasor data.