Power system control or market control of a power system?
System stability is often quoted as being raised as an issue for the power system now that renewable energy is increasing.
Is this the case or is there a fundamental loss of power system control?
Kate Summers is Manager, Electrical Engineering at Pacific Hydro Australia. Kate holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering (Hons) major in Power and Control Engineering from Swinburne University (Melbourne) and a Graduate Diploma Management. After ten years working in transmission planning (dynamic modeling, power system control) and system operations with the SECV, then Victorian Power Exchange and later the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO), she commenced work with the renewable energy company, Pacific Hydro in 2004. In conjunction she has served four years as the technical director for the Australian Wind Energy Association and a further five years as the the Chair of the Grid Directorate for the Clean Energy Council. Her work at Pacific Hydro covers a broad range from connection works for new projects, performance and compliance of operating assets including control and protection upgrades for the East Kimberley Power System which Pacific Hydro own and operate. Throughout the last thirteen years she has contributed significantly to the national debate on the technical standards and integration of renewable energy both into the market and physically into the NEM grid. Recently she led the development of detailed technical submissions to government inquiries, preparing Pacific Hydro’s submission to the Finkel Review about frequency control issues in the NEM. She combines this with a broad practical knowledge of the power system, with both synchronous and asynchronous generation, wind and solar power plants.