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Grid-forming inverters (GFMIs) have been identified as critical assets in ensuring modern power system reliability. Their ability to synthesize an internal voltage reference while emulating synthetic inertia has sparked extensive research. These characteristics have recently piqued interest in their capacity to provide blackstart ancillary services. The blackstart of a bulk power system poses significant challenges, namely the large transients from the energization of unloaded transformers, rotational motor loads, and long transmission cables, which have been effectively studied using conventional synchronous generators (SGs). The concept of an inverter-based resource (IBR)-based blackstart continues to be an open research area necessitating further investigations due to the known limitations of IBRs such as low short-circuit current capabilities. This paper presents a blackstart case study of a bulk power system investigating the performances of a conventional SG to a GFMI when utilizing hard switching methods. The paper qualitatively investigates the transient inrush currents from the transformer and rotational load energization sequences. Additional examinations into the significance of the GFMI’s current-limiting schemes and voltage control loop compensator gains are presented. Furthermore, the harmonic distortions from the transformer energization sequence are also evaluated. Finally, a full network energization case is presented to demonstrate how both sources can provide blackstart provisioning services. The models are developed in EMTDC/PSCAD using real-world transmission planning data. 

This paper presents a simulation and respective analysis of traveling waves from a 5-bus distribution system connected to a grid-forming inverter (GFMI). The goal is to analyze the numerical differences in traveling waves if a GFMI is used in place of a traditional generator. The paper introduces the topic of traveling waves and their use in distribution systems for fault clearing. Then it introduces a Simulink design of said 5-bus system around which this paper is centered. The system is subject to various simulation tests of which the results and design are explained further in the paper to discuss if and how exactly inverters affect traveling waves and how different design choices for the system can impact these waves. Finally, a consideration is made for what these traveling waves represent in a practical environment and how to properly address them using the information derived in this study. 

Electrical power systems are sophisticated networked grids, which need to function with high reliability to provide electricity to customers. With high number of interconnected busses and devices in both transmission and distribution networks, electrical power systems need powerful programs to perform high speed calculations. This paper describes the Electromagnetic Transient Program - Alternative Transient Program (EMTP-ATP) and its usage in modeling of faults behavior in complex electric power systems. The results from EMTP-ATP modeling were compared to models in PSCAD to validate developed models. EMTP-ATP is further used in this paper to show steps in designing a system with a Single-Line-Ground fault (SLG) to analyze high frequency composition of SLG faults. 

This paper presents a cyber physical system implementation of an improved distributed secondary control (IDSC) scheme of islanded dc microgrid (DCMG). The IDSC scheme mitigates the hidden issues of primary control with included droop technique for the distributed generation unit (DGU) in a DCMG by providing the adjustable voltage compensation, improves voltage regulation and enhances the current sharing of all DGUs. The voltage compensation of IDSC is the resultant of two voltage components, i.e., average distributed integral voltage controller and average current controller. The dynamic consensus algorithm is used to obtain the global average values in the for distributed secondary controlusing relatively low bandwidth communication. The impact of communication time delay on the stability in IDSC based DCMG with two DGUs is presented. The performance of IDSC scheme is validated on a microgrid scenario, which includes parallel connection of four DGUs and common load. The real-time cyber physical system of DCMG is implemented on OP AL-RT test platform that combines the device layer on FPGA, control and cyber layers on CPU of OP5700 by using eFPGASim and RT-LAB. 

In power systems comprised of a small number of generators and lines, additional investment significantly affects reliability, debt burden, and operating costs. Wise selection of candidate investments balancing multiple objectives is crucial, especially in developing countries where load shedding may already be in effect. In this work, a static transmission expansion methodology is presented using a multi-objective optimization framework, where investment cost, operating cost, and load shedding cost are combined. Pareto fronts are computed and examined to demonstrate trade-offs and sensitivities evident in the 6-bus Garver model, showing the applicability of the proposed approach.