Oil & Gas plants located in the Arctic region face severe ambient conditions, especially extremely low temperatures. To maintain high power system reliability and availability, special attention has been devoted to equipment design and selection such as generator capability verification, transformer and switchgear sizing utilizing ETAP Software.

This presentation covers the design and analysis of electrical power supply systems of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) with VVER 1200 design in Europe using ETAP Software and in compliance with the requirements of international standards, as well as authority and owner demands. Main challenges faced during the implementation phase are discussed, as well as areas of applicability, covering the specifics of NPPs design principles and operation experiences. Experience and lessons learned on ETAP Software applications for specific projects will be shared. Expansion plans for the implementation of ETAP for electrical power supply system analysis are presented.

In addition to verifying equipment sizing, ETAP allows for verification of the system model by comparing calculated results to measured quantities, identification of constraining configurations, and validation of non-critical operating modes. The presentation discusses how ETAP Software is used to perform root cause analyses and validate prospective solutions.

Electrical safety initiatives for employees have been increased within the last decade. Compliance to IEEE 1584 has been mandatory for US-based companies and they require the same conformity to safety standards for all their other sites around the world. In Germany e.g. the safety procedures were mostly unknown and such compliance in daily operations became necessary.

The adoption of IEEE 1584 and NFPA 70E methodologies for arc flash analysis have been well supported by ETAP Software to allow for investigations of complex power systems. In parallel, another calculation method was developed in Germany with identical objectives but a different approach and calculation algorithms. In fact, ETAP has implemented calculations according to DGUV Information 203-077.

This presentation focuses on the experiences while realizing Arc Flash Hazard assessments using ETAP, based on the updated version of the IEEE 1584 standard. Comparisons will be drawn for the 2002 and 2018 standard editions; examples shown, and explained with user experience described.

Earthing transformers are typically used in medium voltage distribution networks, especially for industrial plants, each time there is the necessity to recreate the neutral earthing point in the system since the supply HV/MV transformer has a secondary delta winding on the medium voltage side. A new sizing procedure is developed, based on the concept of transformer let-through energy in case of phase-to-earth faults. In this way, oversizing of earthing transformers is avoided as it would be the case using the formulas available in technical literature.

Renewable power plants (RPPs) are increasing their contribution to the energy supply portfolio. Integrating a large amount of renewable generation presents several challenges, particularly in weak systems. To facilitate renewable power generation integration, it is important that RPPs contribute to the system regulation and stability, especially during system disturbances. The authorities in charge of system integrity and network operation specify the Grid Codes that RPPs must meet to ensure safe and secure operation of the system. These requirements must be verified at the design stage through Grid Code Compliance analysis. The compliance analysis includes various studies such as reactive power capabilities, harmonic distortion verification and dynamic behavior assessment under fault or frequency disturbances.

This presentation will show a study case of reactive power capability (P/Q & U/Q) and provide an overview of ETAP capabilities for harmonic and dynamic simulations.

To implement seamless integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), grid owners and operators have designed and imposed various grid codes and standards to make DERs grid friendly. As part of any new integration of DERs, grid code study must be performed to comply with operational limitations and interconnection standards. In this presentation, new set of ETAP features will be introduced that allows users effectively and automatically evaluate different grid code requirements such as voltage ride through (VRT), frequency ride through (FRT), PQ capability, and Q-U capability.

With the growing levels of grid connected loads, FACTS and generation plants using electronic interfaces, harmonic distortion levels are increasing across utility networks.

This presentation addresses the study requirements and challenges for new connection applicants in meeting the harmonic limits allocated under IEC 61000-3-6, where the headroom available within these limits is decreasing.

An example of ETAP application for harmonic analysis in a transmission grid, including frequency scan is presented. It is demonstrated that driving-point impedance frequency response estimation is the primary objective for transmission grids, with a considerable share of large non-linear loads producing steady harmonic current injections. Discussed is the impact of grid topology changes, composition of operating generation units, switching state of var compensators and load demand level.

The presentation will demonstrate how ETAP is capable of representing grid areas as frequency-dependent equivalents, providing transmission grid model reduction.