Interconnected Electric System Protection Requirements
Key Dates and Materials
April 30, 2024 | Roundtable Technical Discussion 1
April 23, 2024 | Roundtable Technical Discussion Presentation and Agenda posted
April 9, 2024 | Roundtable Technical Discussion 1 Invitation posted
April 4, 2024 | Initial Issues List Written Consultation Stakeholder Comments posted
Purpose
The AESO is initiating a new business engagement to review Section 503.15 of the ISO rules, Interconnected Electric System Protection Requirements (“Interconnected Electric System Protection Requirements”). Desired outcomes of this engagement include:
- Identifying cost-reduction opportunities associated with design and application of interconnected electric system protection and control, and maintaining reliability and system resiliency in transmission facilities.
- Identifying protection and control requirements on new power system elements and topology such as IBRs and T-tap to ensure the efficiency, reliability and performance of the transmission system.
- Discussing with stakeholders the existing interconnected electric system protection technical requirements, with a goal of reducing waiver and variance requests in the future; and
- Exploring and discussing recent changes in technology and standards relating to protection and control philosophy and scheme.
The AESO has developed the Initial Issues List for stakeholders’ consideration and a series of Stakeholder Feedback Survey questions that will inform the AESO’s determination of the scope of the engagement. The AESO intends to host roundtable technical discussions throughout 2024 and invites interested stakeholders to participate. Given the subject matter of the engagement, the AESO envisions active participation from the following parties operating in Alberta:
- Transmission facility owners;
- Generating facility owners;
- Owners of all types of industrial systems (i.e., not limited to industrial systems designated by the Alberta Utilities Commission) with transmission facilities; and
- Other parties who, in the AESO's view, can provide valuable input during the roundtable discussions.
To promote process efficiency, participation in the roundtable technical discussions will allow for one primary representative and one delegate. If both the primary and delegate representatives are available, both representatives may attend.
If, as a result of this engagement, the AESO determines that changes to AESO authoritative documents are required, these will be addressed through the applicable processes for developing ISO rules and Alberta Reliability Standards.
Background
Further to the approval in Alberta Utilities Commission Decision 28176-D01-2023 on June 13, 2023, previous effective Section 502.3 of the ISO rules, Interconnected Electric System Protection Requirements (“Section 502.3”) was transitioned into and succeeded by Section 503.15, Interconnected Electric System Protection, effective April 1, 2024.
To ensure a consistent approach to protection systems design and to facilitate a fair, cost effective, and reliable transmission system within Alberta, Section 503.15 addresses the minimum technical requirements of protection philosophy, schemes, and applications for each system element in the Alberta Bulk Electrical System.
Section 502.3 was drafted in 2012, and the technical requirements have not changed substantively since then. In 2019, the AESO collaborated with facility owners to review completed projects and future development plans regarding digital substation technologies in Alberta. The participants' experiences and plans helped the AESO assess potential barriers in Section 502.3. In 2021, the AESO conducted another informal survey associated with Section 502.3 to help identify cost reduction opportunities.
Given the evolvement in technology and system generations being observed, the AESO believes a fresh engagement on interconnected electric system protection is needed at this time. Therefore, the AESO is initiating this new engagement in Spring 2024.
