Improving the Control System for Pumped Storage Hydro Plant

The operational flexibility of pump storage hydro-stations means that they are often used on a power system (grid) as a means of controlling system frequency and for load management. When used in this role, the response of the generator is determined by the behaviour of its control system (governor). The basic function of a governor is to control frequency variation of the grid where its droop characteristics ensure equitable load sharing between generating units in order to ensure satisfactory and stable operation. The governor setting and in particular the loop gains, are therefore critical to achieving optimum levels of performance. In this paper, a step-by-step procedure taken to construct the new governor is presented. The most relevant results on the evaluation of the governor are shown and its performance advantages compared to the current governor are highlighted.