Calibrated Phasor Measurement Unit as a Reliable Metrological Tool for National Power Grid Operation in India

At the national power grid in India, stability is one of the most important factors due to disturbances caused by distributed load and time-variant sources. Presently, for monitoring the transmission efficiency and performance of power grids, phasor measurement units (PMUs) are being installed at various locations in the country. Time synchronization, using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), makes PMU an important and reliable data acquisition equipment across the grids. To ensure reliability and accuracy of the acquired data, PMUs must be calibrated. However, recent development of automated PMU calibrator system by NIST and M/s Fluke, USA has revolutionized the calibration process by enhancing the accuracy and consistency of PMU measurements. The CSIR-NPL PMU system is fully operational to calibrate PMUs according to the IEEE synchrophasor standards. The time consumed to perform the PMU calibration is comparatively much less than the conventional method. A traceable PMU calibrator system has great potential in calibrating PMUs used to monitor, control and protect the power grid.