Case Study High Availability Secure Microgrid Monitoring System for UCSD
This paper describes a cybersecure synchrophasor platform (CSSP) that uses standard rack mounted hardware and software in a single bay rack. It is installed at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) The CSSP consists of redundant phasor measurement units (PMUs) with dual substation hardened computers in the UCSD microgrid system. The purpose of the CSSP is to provide an advanced warning of stress developing in the area power system, allowing UCSD operators to prepare for a potential island maneuver. The CSSP includes archives of PMU synchrophasor data and real time computations of Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) and damping coefficients. Moving window FFTs are computed at a rate of 30 Hz, and the damping coefficients at each mode are displayed and archived. The angle separations and FFTs of the data are used to identify a potential island maneuver that might be executed. The data from the CSSP are used for both real time display and the main campus data archiving system. Data are collected directly from the wall outlet, and voltage, frequency, and phase angles are displayed in real time. With dual substation hardened computers, the CSSP has redundant failover capabilities, yielding high availability. This configuration allows the system to be patched per the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) standards while still continuing to collect data, thereby satisfying NERC CIP requirements. The principal results of this paper include data demonstrating the value of high speed synchronized data collection systems in microgrids.