Study on zoning procedures for Secondary Voltage Regulation

Currently, the electric power generation and transmission systems are undergoing major changes, due to the increase in distributed power generation and the related decrease in conventional power plants. Moreover, to reduce the electric power system pollutants emissions, in Italy the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants is ongoing. As a result, the number of power plants capable of ensuring the secondary voltage control is dwindling, substituted by generators with less voltage regulation capabilities. To cope with such an issue, one of the possible solutions is the introduction of a new voltage regulation architecture. However, it is necessary to analyze the present secondary voltage regulation system, in order to evaluate how much of its control architecture can be kept, and where to intervene to improve it. To this aim, in this paper the assessment of the parameters affecting the behavior of the Italian secondary voltage regulation system is made, in terms of areas and pilot nodes determination. This is done by means of two different procedures, implemented with a software approach that allows for a partial automation of the process.