 Good afternoon, everybody. This is Guillermo Sabatiere, your host for Perspective Energy today on Tatek, Hawaii and welcome to the show Again, I am the director of international services for HSI and once again, I am happy and proud to be your host for today's episode Today we are going to discuss This is the fourth installment on this series of a NERC exam certification prep questions We're doing a few questions and this is the last the fourth and final one for this series, but certainly not the last one for by any means We're going to be discussing emergency operations and emergency response and a few other topics and hopefully the intent of these Exam questions is to give everybody a taste of what to expect on the NERC RC certification exam. Now mind you a lot of these questions come from our NERC test prep Course where we provide you with a at HSI We provide you with an online or NERC test prep program That will get most participants ready to pass the exam But we also offer a three and a half day instructor level course that is live And of course their prerequisites for that usually involve having taken all your online modules And then you take this being an update course right before you're ready to take your exam So without further ado, let's go ahead and show our presentation where we have our test questions I think we have about maybe 10 11 questions and that's about the right amount of time We need to go ahead and present that so the whole point about emergency operations is that we're normally like last week we talked about the the issue with Scenarios being a scenario in the power system with our react and as I was talking last week We were discussing the the challenges right where if you try and take the exam prep Horses and are you're doing is memorizing questions and answers? You are going to experience a lot of problems on the exam as I mentioned in the past This new exam has about a sixty three percent pass rate. It's not great But usually we find that participants that go through these are neuro test prep courses At least ours anyway the data that we have we all have data from our competitors But at least in ours we have like an eighty eighty five percent pass success rate For our for those are report backs. So definitely it's makes a big difference now taking the the online exam and Taking the online test prep course. I'm sorry taking the three-day instructor lab course Definitely improves your odds even sure so something I definitely agree with the fact that our preparation is key when it comes to Getting ready for this large exam a major this exam is not an expensive It's now it's up to seven hundred dollars I believe to take the exam right each time and you're only allowed to take it once every 45 days Problem is that you know you cannot be a system operator to work on the grid The grid control center unless you have this certification. So in either case Usually the other questions we encounter has to do with Problems relating to the system grid in this case I'm saying they want up here and by a time we have it up on the presentation We're hopefully get it ready at that point And one of the things that we always can always concerned with naturally is the fact that you are Encountering problems that of course have to do with the either grid grid disturbances or even reliability So one of the things that we always worry about of course is standards have to do with NERC EOP 0 0 5 which is the Black Star restoration EOP 0 0 8 which is back up control center functionality EOP 0 0 4 which is a disturbance reporting and I believe EOP 0 0 6 which is again all the functions dealing with a Reliability coordinator and now they they coordinate blackout restoration. So let me see if I can get in here work at all guys and So this was called emergency preparedness at a response and in this case We are now Looking at the possibility of See if I can share my screen. I cannot so Anyway, so we have a number of questions, right? And I need to talk about them So one of the questions that we asked right is a question one was for the annual test of an entity's backup functionality operating plan to be valid it must be demonstrate it must demonstrate which of the following So the question has Four possible answers, right? And it's read the question again for the annual test of an entity's backup functionality Operating operating plan to be valid. It must demonstrate which of the following. So on a NERC EOP 0 0 8 they are What that governs is the backup functionality right of Making sure you have a plan making sure the plan fits a certain set of standards a requirements within the standard and and then also there are Requirements regarding the testing the annual testing of that plan. So in this case, for example There is an annual test Required of each backup site and that backup site of course must be done every year. So and believe it or not It's really easy Friday to miss that So one of the things that they do is they usually Go on operation the backup site and The requirement there is for it to operate for to continuous out Now most entities will go there and set up and maybe operate all day Some of them will operate in three hours Appointed as they want to make sure they go through all that trouble if they go through all the trouble They're not gonna miss the whole to our operating Requirement by a few minutes when I used to work at the at the utilities We would basically our our backup sites were were usually far enough away that you know It took some time to get there, but what we would do was we'd have a shift Report at the other site and they would turn control over officially make all social notifications collect all sorts of evidence and then operate for about two hours and 30 minutes just to make sure we captured everything right and when they say function Back up for reality. It means not just you're there in your life then it means you have taken over control of your We control system EMS you take control of your Communications you sent out notifications, which is really important for evidence You are also You have also established a site that you know you you are now made log entries and you officially taken over So the other thing that's interesting That we have to remember is so here they have four possible answers Of course the first answer you're back up for charlottes maintains for at least two continuous hours. That's the answer The other questions here the other answers to this question are detractors and it says our chef personnel are comfortable to back up site You know, it's not that's not a criteria. So it's not an answer See transition times one hour or less that is a detractor and it's also a wrong answer because You have to remember that they have a two-hour transition time also part of the requirements So and we'll get to that a little later and then of course the last possible answer is backup site is secure So one of the things to remember here is that now usually is a two-hour thing is pretty consistent in this EOP Zero zero eight standard. So what they're asking us here to do is They make sure you're operating for two hours at the backup site and the other thing too is that they eat that that Another question they may ask, you know, how long how long do you have to get to to transfer the transition from the primary to the backup control center? And to fully transition that's the important thing. So it's two hours To fully transition, but that means that it's two hours to get to leave a control center I'll go to the backup site physically get in login Get everything set up and be fully translated meaning that you are yeah but able to actually go there and and and transfer control over right that means all your vital vital functions communications EMS control and all the systems you need to actually operate the system. That's what they mean by Fully transition to ours It doesn't mean you have two hours to drive there because it's gonna take you some more time to get in there and get set up and start Right, so that is one of the questions. Let's do the next one over The next one is question two is a balancing authority a BA is experiencing low voltage in the northeast region a 50 mba generator that area is learned at 50 minutes, right? So the question goes on what action should or could I system up for your take to increase the voltage in that area? So one of the things to do that therefore possible answers are what is increased generation to overload capacity? That's not what you're doing, right? The next one is decrease reactive power up to a voltage increases. Okay, that could be that could be a solution But that's not really how that works The next one is decrease real power and increase reactive power That might that's a good one and then D. Do not think the AVR would take care. All right. So so remember so you have a balancing authority It has a generator that's rated at 50 mba and It's loaded at 50 megawatts. That means that the generator has basically used up all of its capability in putting out only real power It no longer has any ability to put out any kind of reactive power Meaning it can't do any kind of ours at this point. So 50 mba 50 megawatts There's no room at all for for bars at all. I remember that's that power that our triangle We have real reactive power and then the apparent power So increase in generational overload capacity is not a good that that's not a good solution, right? Be decreased reactive power was increases. That's the worst thing you could do right because then you're gonna make the voltage probably even worse So people would be do nothing AVR will take care of it Well, the AVR would work if you had room to maneuver. So the answer here really is C, right? Decrease Real real power and increase reactive power So most generators have what they call a capability curve We they call it the D curve D isn't Delta and this because it looks like a T so this capability curve really is once you're at the highest real power output You don't have any more room to actually be able to like either absorb or Unrod wars. So if you decrease for example a real power just by three four or five percent You're giving yourself a really significant 10 50% ability to then use that use that to be able to send Reactive resources out into the system So here you sacrifice male watts a little bit because you may not have for example a male watt deficiency You have a voltage deficiency. So reducing male. What is there isn't even a problem in this case Or it isn't explained to be a problem. So here you can afford to back down a male watts and then instead put out male bars Just by backing down on the real power and then replacing that with reactive power So that's why you're see is the answer decrease real power and increase react the last question we have on here is interconnection frequency is at 59.85 Hertz So it's a great frequency is at 59 planet favorites. The system operator has not experienced any disturbances What does this indicate? Well, if you don't have a problem in your system and your system is showing a low frequency There's a good chance. There's something happening outside your system. Have a lost generators You don't have a voltage collapse. You don't have your a system fine, right? You're reading are your load but that means something has happened outside your system So let's look at the answers a is interconnection voltage and low arm up balanced Now it's it's Voltage is probably being supplied fine and then be the load out there may not may not be balanced in generation But I want to say it's in battles with bull. So that's not a good answer B inter connection system loads are higher than on my generation. That's that's not one of the correct answer see a collective system generation is higher than system load that is Exact opposite to what's happening here If that would be the case you'd have higher frequency that 60 Hertz So in this case the C is not the answer and then D a loss of load again Not the answer either because if you lost load You'd have one generation of load and you've had you would have higher frequencies in this case Bravo inter connection system loads are higher than on light generation is the correct answer So of course that means that you don't have enough generation to supply the load Numbers with the next question here is you receive an alarm that indicates low gas pressure. I mean SF6 which is so far except fluoride transmission break Indication show the pressure is continuing to drop. What actually would you take now before we go any further? Let me explain why it's important. So so far except fluoride has the ability to break the arc whenever a Breaker either opens up and that's used to extinguish the fart the fault I mean, you're sorry extinguishing arc across the the contacts So if you lose pressure and you lose gas, then it induces the ability to not only Clear an arc, but then also clear of falls, which is even more severe, right? So as usually there's compressors that keep the pressure high and there's a reservoir tank that keeps up All that will supply so be able to pressure in that in that particular breaker. You're gonna you're gonna have a dish So a response one what actually would you take so a isolate the breaker in dispatch made this personnel to inspect? Okay Be operate the breaker to see if you allow her clear. Okay. No see reduce the powerful to the breaker If you ever fall that still won't function as needed. I mean a function at all There's some of these breakers use compressed air of SF6 gas to actually operate So that's another concern also and the last one could be wait to see the breaker trips I know so we're responsible solution So a is I say the breaker and dispatch made this person out of the space on this case the student You do you take it out of service and isolated the better if you are because the longer you will wait the less capable that breaker is Functioning reliably and safely. Okay All right, it's a little bit of a question here Which of the following is used to help balance a system after it separates from the interconnection during it is students. Okay, so Which of the following is used to help balance the system after it separates from the interconnection during it is students So they have different options where you got automatic under frequency load shot uf of s You got be automatic under voltage load shot, right? You are the abc generation of the frequency trips General and then the automatic generation controls a gc So what do we want to accomplish here with this particular problem, right? So you want to balance a system after it separates from the interconnection, right? So usually what's going to happen when you separate you are possibly losing Some of the power is being imported right into your system. There are a lot of cases, right? You are probably buying power from some from outside your system, which means you are likely You're not supplying all that load with your own generation. You're importing power from the outside The reason B is not exactly a correct answer is now might you that may take into effect But under voltage load shedding usually happens in certain pockets, right? Certain areas in your system not white spread Under frequency load shed happens at almost every single distribution station that you're having your system So that's why automatic on the reason load shedding is likely the answer here, which is a let's talk about why C is not correct either generation under frequency trips That might happen eventually if But mind you if you lose generators, you're going to lose your frequency would drop even further So usually what happens when you separate You have you have a deficiency in generation versus load Your system will will see a decline in frequency, you know open up 59.98 hertz It'll keep dropping and that these other frequency load shed schemes will Shed load at different stages and different steps and usually about About 10 percent of your load up to 10 percent of your load or even more than that And the way that works is ideally is that it sheds enough load and then and then it continues to to Measure a real type what your frequency is So ultimately what your frequency bounces out if you've done enough automatic load shedding through the other frequency load shed scheme At some point you're going to approach 60 hertz or better And then then you will stop shedding load at that point, right? Uh, it will not re spur those those uh, those breakers that you want that your system open, right? It'll just stay Stable at that point giving you a chance to recover and a chance to reconnect by to the interconnection If you happen to fail and you don't shed enough load and you have lost so much generation Where you lost you have to do disturbance where frequency declines a lot far more beyond that your UFL s can actually help you you will be in a c generator only for the c trips but That is Not used to help balance the system. That's another thing why this answer c is not correct Answer a is not correct answer because automatic u f l s automatic under frequency load shedding Is the tool to help you balance your system after a separate age you see of course um It won't be sufficient. It'll help you with your race, but in reality, right? You you're highly limited With with what it can do. It sounds like a good answer. It could really help with minor changes But it's it's very slow u f l s works in a matter of cycles very quickly, right? Cycles or seconds or mother seconds So they function repeatedly where whereas agc takes minutes and not many men especially take action and You haven't seen any results All right next question So question the next question is in the initial stages of a restoration condition High transmission voltage problems are more likely than low transmission voltage problems Okay, why? Let's talk about what happens in a in a blackout restoration system So in a blackout you have basically The audio generation and shut down you are likely Have been separated from the interconnection. You're on your own and you are now Audio system is connected through closed breakers, but you are de-energized And you may find some open breakers that on the other side of that you may see an energized system Which is outside your area or maybe in your area where you you have partial blackout But so in order to restore your system You want to start with some basic generation black star units small generators Or maybe you're going to energize from outside your system And start working your way down your transmission system So transmission circuits whenever they are lightly noted or have no load at all Act as giant capacitors And what happens is once you're energized and you put voltage on them Those lines being the generate bars, which will again raise your voltage And in some cases raise it way beyond that positive 10 percent, which is a problem Because you may find yourself with our Insulator flash holes So one of the things that happens here the answer here is of course D, right? Because of the excessive megawatt supply from the integration of this mission link, right? That's so that that's the answer. So here they have possible answers a Because the excessive megawatt supply from too many online generators That won't be the case because all your generators are offline You have very little generators on if any What I like that you're restoring from a black star resource or from the interconnection Uh, that's wrong. So B because of the efficiency of megawatt from too much customer load order and energization. That's not correct either C because of the efficiency of megawatts from too much customer loader. That's also not correct, right? So the correct answer here is because the excessive megawatt supply from the energization of transmission lines And that is because those transmission lines are lightly loaded or not loaded at all Okay So a system operator has exhausted all available resources And we dispatch options system voltage confusion decline What should the system operator do next? So, okay, so we have different options here, right? So system operator is also all available resources and we dispatch conditions system voltage confusion decline That means you've got every generator running. That means you are You're you're still got load that you're supplying You have no more of every the ability of buying power Problem is even buying power from neighbors may actually impact you in a problem, right? So So what are your options a consign through reliability coordinator? You probably already did that B shed load in the low voltage area Okay, that's an option Mind you system voltage continues to decline and remember voltage voltage declines happen in certain pockets Not throughout your system. If it is happen throughout your system, you've got some serious problems and you're just moments away from the blackout See start a bar in per schedule. That's not an answer bars. Do not travel very well And then de check under the check the Check on the undervoltage settings. Now. That's not what you do writers too late for that So the correct answer here really is shedding load in the low voltage area So when what you what you do that that load in that area being shed will improve the voltage profile on that area that That's deficient and and of course showing that decline in voltage So that does really the best answer in the correct answer in this case Now, of course, there's other options there as well We said we'll show you right if you had capacitor banks that are out there. I would the capacitor banks I would change taps on transformers. I would try try and Bring on additional generation in this case, right? Well, I will make sure that I have taken all the other reactive devices out of service Those usually are are there to bring down voltage. Now that's happened before I seen some of them be a reactor If I can service during a peak of the day Uh, a few other days can be done They can probably do a voltage reduction of the distribution side and that raises transmission voltage Well, that causes it. I mean that can cause other problems, but you're allowed to do up to 3% most utilities do two to two and a half percent Um, yeah That what that does is that to me that shifts the problem a little bit of distribution, but it helps transmission So there's a number of options out there. Um, but the here The ultimate option here is shedding load on the voltage area That'll be the most immediate impact and you're doing it in a certain control pocket Or that voltage is softening All right so, uh Question about the next question in the early stages of a power system restoration 500 megawatts of generation is synchronized with 300 megawatts of available spinning reserve That means that you've already picked up 200 megawatts of load What is the largest load block that can be restored while still maintaining acceptable frequency control? Usually the rule of thumb is five percent of the uh of the synchronized generation, right? And so five percent of of 50 Is 25 and that's that's really what you're usually the answer here is either a 15 b 10 c 25 or d 50 So here the answer will be 25 It is very tempting for people to actually say well, let's do let's do five percent of 300 Which is what's about reality that that's not how that works usually it's the The governor is the one that takes action in this case and helps you pick up that load Now remember the other reason too is that that five percent of the uh synchronized on my generation Has to do with cold load pickup and if you pick up for example 25 megawatts it may feel It's instantaneous there 200 megawatts because it can be almost 10 times as much Then eventually it uh after a few and that's because of all of the out of the uh water and rush current follows a c synchronous motors Takes a little water pickup speed And then eventually once they pick up speed or a matter of a few seconds Then that that begins to taper off again And it comes back down to what they call steady state that'll feel right 20 megawatts at that Okay, we got four minutes left here. We're gonna go ahead and Do a little so the next one is balancing authority A has implemented rotating blackouts They're native load customers due to a generation efficiency So they're already in in in trouble. They were and they're doing energy emergency alerts at this point, right? So the question is what level energy emergency alert and ea Will the rc declare for this b a so here the answer will be uh Ea level three, right? So they got ea level zero one two and three for ab at c right Level zero means you're you're done with the event that you're totally backing out and the event is over. So that's last zero Ea level one means you have committed every single resource And yet you are still able to withstand losing your most severe Single contingency meaning you can lose your biggest generator and still be able to supply your load, right? And which means you're able to actually survive one one contingency Ea level two means you are not able to survive That contingency means that if you lost that generator, for example, it's the biggest right in your system You will have to go ahead and shut load which means that'll put you at a level three In this case you are now you haven't lost a generator yet But but the the day just kept on grinding on that the load kept on climbing and you couldn't find any more resources We couldn't buy more power You could not Import you you cannot put any more generation on so at this point you're now about to get ready To start shedding load to be able to be able to survive. So that will be an ea level three of this I mean your shedding term Okay Are you we go again during the initial stages of the system restoration process load pickups should be limited to what percentage of a total synchronized generation we cut we covered that earlier right that five percent rule of thumb so five percent of the Total synchronized generations, right? So and that's really the answer is pretty simple okay And the next question here is in the early stages of system restoration the frequency is 59 hertz How much lower should the system operator shed to restore frequency? So usually another rule of thumb here is usually six to ten percent of the connected load That is what will get you Will raise your your your system frequency by one hertz. So if you shed, you know, we have a you have like A hundred megawatts already connected and your and your your slower frequency You want to bring that up one hertz where you shed, you know a good like six to ten megawatts So it'll be like, uh, it'll be like six to ten She's ten percent of your load in that case and you should be able to recover at that point All right, and I think we are now officially at the end of our session here One last question I can cover here real quick There is system restoration which of the following transmission lines would be the best choice to energize the facility, right? So, uh, here we have different choices, right? Remember what I said earlier that a um, a transmission line that's lightly loaded acts as a giant capacitor so If you have shorter overhead lines are usually better than Underground or cables a cable the capacitor effect is even worse And the longer it is that's exacerbated even further. So a 10 mile overhead transmission line is the best It's less capacitive, right a 10 mile underground transmission line is worse 25 mile overhead transmission line is also pretty bad when it comes to generating bars and raising your voltage And then be the worst photo of all is a 25 mile underground transmission line So that'll be the worst of all of these to when it comes to um, to our Already affecting and raising your voltage generation in the week All right, so I think we have reached the end of the show today. I'll cover a number of questions Sorry, couldn't cover any more. I will go ahead and uh, that um That the engineer take over at this point and I will sign off but by all means please go ahead and um If you have any questions by the way, or I'm sure post production They were also post the slide doc that goes to this presentation. So I apologize But uh, luckily these questions were uh verbal but they were I mean were all taxed There weren't any diagrams or scenarios or any calculations much. So hopefully this could uh Be simple. Um, and I'm sure we can cover some more in another session against All right. Thank you again and hope you all have a wonderful day