3rd talk of the “TCE Lecture Series on Power Systems”

Speaker: Prof Ramakrishna Gokaraju of University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Abstract: Keeping the lights “on”, an axiom in power systems engineering has taken on a new level of complexity with increasing pressure on the existing

network to deliver more power over existing infrastructure. The first part of the presentation will discuss High-Speed Digital Relaying Scheme for EHV/UHV transmission systems (345 kV and above) with half-cycle operating times. The second part of the presentation will discuss a scheme

for real-time transient stability prediction in larger grids, and a Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) scheme applying intentional islanding to prevent large-scale blackouts. The proposed controlled islanding consists of two parts as “when” and “where” to island. The proposed methodology simplifies the communication between central “when” unit and each generator protection relay by using status flags communicated with IEC 61850 RGOOSE protocol. The proposed “when” methodology is combined with the “where” method based on graph theory to test the overall controlled islanding scheme.

Bio: Ramakrishna Gokaraju received his Bachelor of Engineering degree (with Distinction) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India in April 1992. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, in 1996 and 2000, respectively. From 1992-‘94 he worked with the Larsen & Toubro, Chennai, India as a graduate engineer and then later with the IIT, Kanpur & NIT, Rourkela  as a Project Associate/Research Engineer.  From 1999-2002, he was a Research Scientist with the Alberta Research Council and a Staff Software Engineer with IBM Toronto Lab. He joined the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in 2003 and is currently a professor in the department. His current research works are in high speed digital relaying, controlled/active islanding in electric grids, wild fire mitigation due to electrical faults, and computer modelling of the new emerging nuclear-based Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for electricity and other energy applications.