Dynamic Line Ratings Overview

Shaun Murphy, PhD

OC Special Session - Dynamic Line
Ratings (DLR) Education
March 30, 2021

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 Agenda

• Background Information
– What are Dynamic Line Ratings (DLR)
– Incremental Transmission Capacity of a Line with DLR
– History of DLR Projects at PJM
• Impacts of Dynamic Line Ratings on PJM
– Technical Impacts
– Procedural Impacts
• Additional References

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 Background Information

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 What are Dynamic Line Ratings?
Static vs Dynamic Line Ratings Temperature of Overhead Conductors1

STATIC RATINGS
Transmission lines are typically operated using a
Static Rating calculated using near worst-case
values for assumed weather conditions.

DYNAMIC LINE RATINGS (DLR)

The rating can be calculated in real-time if the
variables in the conductor heat balance equation Conductor temperature is determined by:
are known. A. Sunlight warming the conductor surface
Wind Speed Increase Capacity Increase B. Resistive heating (I2R)
3 ft/s, 90° angle + 44% C. Convective cooling by wind
D. Blackbody (radiative) cooling of the conductor
E. Heat capacity of the conductor
Wind cools the conductor allowing
more power to safely be transmitted
on the line 1. IEEE Standard 738-2012

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 Dynamic Line Rating Technologies

Generally speaking, dynamic line rating deployments will involve the

installation of a data collection sensor on or near an existing
transmission line asset to collect real-time conductor temperature
information.
Sensor technologies include:
• Weather Stations
• Electromagnetic Field
• Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR)
• Vibration
• Tension
• Thermal Cameras

DLR project installations should target:

• Congested transmission facilities where:
• The transmission conductor is the most limiting element

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 Incremental Transmission Capacity of a Line with DLR
DYNAMIC LINE RATINGS FOR A 500KV CIRCUIT
DLR measures the actual
atmospheric conditions which
nearly always reveals additional
DLR Higher that Static capacity.
Rating: Improved
Economic Efficiency
Static Ratings are calculated using
very conservative assumptions for
atmospheric conditions.
Additional Capacity from DLR

Static Rating DLR Lower than Static Rating:

Improved System Reliability

Percent of Time (%)

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 History of DLR Projects at PJM

• Early 2000s: EMS enhancements made to receive telemetered ratings for a small group of
transmission lines in PJM. This project lasted ~2 years, and this EMS functionality was last
tested in 2015.
• 2016/ 2017: PJM, AEP, and Genscape (LineVision) conducted a DLR pilot on a 345kV
transmission line AEP. The focus of this pilot was to gain understanding of:
– Design & Installation process
– Passive data collection
– Estimated economic impacts in an RTO
• 2017/2018: PJM, AEP, and Lindsey conducted a DLR pilot on a 138 kV transmission line in
AEP located near a large wind unit with focus on:
– Simultaneous benefit (co-convection) between DLR and wind unit output
• 2020 and beyond: DLR deployments on three 230 kV in the PPL transmission zone.

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 Dynamic Line Rating Pilot Project

AEP, PJM, and LineVision conducted a research project to quantify the potential economic
impacts of DLR
Project Overview:
Engineering & • AEP’s Cook-Olive 345 kV transmission line
Field Support selected
• LineVision sensors installed under three (3) spans
along the circuit
• Line monitoring data was collected between
LineVision DLR November 2016 – August 2017
System & Installation • PJM conducted an economic analysis to
determine the potential improvements in system
and market efficiency by using DLR in operations
Analysis of DLR’s • Project funding was provided by Oak Ridge
Economic Impact National Laboratory

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 PJM DLR Economic Analysis Simulation
To study the economic impact of DLR on
Target 500 kV Line DLR vs. Ambient-Adjusted Rating Distributions
a congested line, PJM performed an 7,000
analysis of a hypothetical DLR project
6,000 Dynamic Normal Rating
using PJM’s 2018 PROMOD Market
Efficiency base case. Ambient-Adjusted Normal Rating
5,000
1. Congested line in PJM selected

Path Rating (MVA)

2. LineVision generated back-casted 4,000
DLRs*
3. PJM ran 2018 PROMOD Market 3,000
Efficiency base case with adjusted
2,000
line ratings from back-cased DLRs
*DLRs were calculated using historical weather data from
1,000
six NOAA meteorological stations surrounding the line
path, the lowest observed wind speed at each hour (with 0
the accompanying direction) was used for the DLR 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
calculation for each section. Percent of Time
DLR was above the Ambient Adjusted Rating approximately 94% of the time.

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 Economic Simulation: Assumptions

• A DLR technology will only bring benefit when the transmission conductor is the most
thermally limited element in the line – assumed acceleration of an equipment rating upgrade
project.
• DLR installations should be prioritized on the most heavily congested areas of a power
system.
• Ambient air temperatures were computed as average of the six stations.
• Wind speed and direction treated more conservatively by adopting the lowest observed wind
speed at each hour (with the accompanying direction).
• Solar irradiance calculated using a conservative approximation - zero cloud coverage and
was calculated for each hour of the day based the sun’s position in the sky above the Target
Line path.

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 Economic Simulation
• Two PROMOD simulations were performed:
– “Base Case” - base simulation using planning ratings 2800 MVA normal and 3500 MVA
emergency for the 500 kV Target Line.
– “DLR Case” - PROMOD DLR simulation using dynamic hourly ratings.
Total Annual Congestion
Circuit Base Case DLR Case Congestion Savings
Target Line 500 kV $ (11,118,805) $ 11,118,805
Target Line Terminus Substation Transformer 500/230 kV $ (10,011,856) $ (9,780,911) $ 230,945
Downstream Line #1 230 kV $ (20,386,483) $ (22,773,039) $ (2,386,555)
Downstream Line #2 to Downstream Reactor 230 kV $ (13,491,444) $ (16,180,653) $ (2,689,209)
Downstream Reactor - Target Line Terminus 230 kV $ (1,145,829) $ (2,492,945) $ (1,347,115)
Downstream Line #3 - Target Line Origin 230 kV $ (2,867,503) $ (3,336,319) $ (468,816)
Downstream Line #4 230 kV $ (19,570,723) $ (19,824,341) $ (253,619)
$ 4,204,436

• Assuming $500k installation cost: 8.4:1 benefit to cost ratio for one year
• All congestion on Target Line eliminated
• Residual congestion pushed “downstream” – consistent with other transmission upgrade
projects

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 Impacts of Dynamic Line Ratings on PJM

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 Introduction
• In August 2020, the Applied Innovation group began conducting
interviews with various business areas of PJM to identify all:
– Software tools requiring updates to handle Dynamic Line Ratings (DLR)
– Processes affected by DLR
Processes
– Governing documents and manuals requiring language modifications to Software
Tools
support DLR

• This information was gathered and organized into the following slides. Governing
Documents

• Various groups were interviewed, including:

– Transmission Planning – EMS & Telemetry Support
– Market Simulation – eDART Support
– Day-Ahead Markets – Transmission Services
Impact Summary
– Real-Time Markets – Settlements

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 Technical Impacts
Dynamic Line Ratings are an existing feature of PJM’s EMS SCADA
system. Upper
Threshold #1
• DLR SCADA points[1] transmitted to PJM via ICCP.
• Points mapped to a particular transmission equipment end in EMS.
Upper
• Data points are validated against pre-configured quality thresholds. Threshold #2

• Two modes of operation:

Normal
– Manual: Compare with Threshold 1. Await operator approval if successful.
– Automatic: Compare with Threshold 1 & Threshold 2. Auto-approve if both Lower
comparisons are successful. Await operator approval if Threshold 2 comparison Threshold #2

fails.
• Threshold comparisons based on default line ratings (Ambient Adjusted Ratings). Lower
Threshold #1

[1] – Normal, Short-term and Long-term Emergency and Load Dump ratings, consistent with PJM Manual 03

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 Technical Impacts

• eDART upgrades are needed to facilitate:

– Auto ticketing & integration with workflow of EMS DLR functionality
– Maintain an accurate rating historian
– Maintain transparent rating postings
– Receive and post next-day forecasted ratings

• eDART and EMS together handle the rating change and approval process.
Real-time Operations and Markets applications are downstream consumers
of this information.

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 Procedural Impacts

• Market Efficiency modeling:

– Model a DLR proposal using provided weather data
– Isolate impact of convective cooling from dynamic ratings
• Utilizing next-day DLR forecasts in Day-Ahead market
– Forecasted ratings collected from eDART
– Manually input into Day-Ahead. Automation work to follow initial implementation
• Utilizing DLR in Real-time markets
• Operator approval and manual override process
• Operator training

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 Impacted Governing Documents

PJM has identified that the following manuals may require guidance language
on Dynamic Line Ratings:
• Manual 03, Section 2: Thermal Operating Guidelines
• Manual 03A, Appendix A: TERM Equipment Ratings Update Process

Additionally, PJM will develop a Dynamic Line Ratings desk reference guide to
be used by control room staff.

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 Additional References

CIGRE Publications:
• A Non-Contact Sensing Approach for the Measurement of Overhead Conductor Parameters and Dynamic Line
Ratings (2017)1
• Simulating the Economic Impact of a Dynamic Line Rating Project in a Regional Transmission Operator (RTO)
Environment (2018)2
PJM Stakeholder Presentations:
• Emerging Technologies Forum (ETF)
– DLR Primer (8/27/2020)3
– Review of PJM’s DLR impacts (11/13/2020)4
– Modeling DLR in Market Efficiency (1/11/2021)5
• Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee (TEAC)
– Modeling DLR in Market Efficiency (12/23/2020)6

1) https://watttransmission.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/genscape-cigre-gotf-whitepaper-2017.pdf
2) https://www.linevisioninc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CIGRE-GOTF-2018-NGN-PJM-AEP-LineVision-Final.pdf
3) https://pjm.com/-/media/committees-groups/forums/emerging-tech/2020/20200827/20200827-item-05-dynamic-line-ratings.ashx
4) https://pjm.com/-/media/committees-groups/forums/emerging-tech/2020/20201113/20201113-item-03c-dlr-impacts.ashx
5) https://pjm.com/-/media/committees-groups/forums/emerging-tech/2021/20210111/20210111-item-03-dlr-market-efficiency.ashx
6) https://pjm.com/-/media/committees-groups/committees/teac/2020/20201223-special/20201223-item-04-emergent-technologies-modeling-overview.ashx

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 Contact

Presenter:
Shaun Murphy
Sr. Engineer, Applied Innovation
Dynamic Line Ratings Member Hotline
DynamicLineRatingsTm@pjm.com (610) 666 – 8980
(866) 400 – 8980
custsvc@pjm.com

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