Summary form only given. This paper presents a Simulink-based educational tool developed for the purpose of illustrating power system control and stability notions as well as introducing students to realistic, though tractable in size, design problems. The tool is also used for research purposes. Relevant courses are taught to last-year undergraduate as well as graduate students at the University of Liege, Belgium and the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. After a brief description of the corresponding curricula, the paper describes the simulation tool and gives examples of problems and assignments given to the students.

This paper reports on the development of a training simulator focusing on voltage control and stability. It has been derived from a quasisteady-state simulation software already used and validated in planning and operational planning studies. The computational engine has been provided with a user interface built on the client-server architecture, allowing the simulator to run on a network of PCs in a very flexible way. New displays can be set up easily and quickly. This tool is presently used by Hydro-Quebec to improve the operator's ability to control transmission voltages. Other features, uses and benefits are reported.

This paper proposes a methodology for the design of automatic load shedding against voltage instability. In a first step, the authors describe a method allowing to find the minimal shedding required in a given unstable scenario. In a second step, they describe the structure of various controllers and identify the parameters to be optimized. Next, they present an optimization approach to find the controller parameters which optimize an overall performance objective. Results are presented on the Hydro-Quebec system, in which load shedding is presently planned.

This paper discusses and compares three types of undervoltage load shedding closed-loop controllers in terms of performances and design computational effort. The authors first describe the various controllers and identify the parameters to be optimized. Next, they present an optimization methodology applicable to all three types of controllers. This approach allows to find the controller parameters which optimize an overall performance objective. Results are presented on the Hydro-Quebec system, in which load shedding is presently planned

This paper proposes a methodology for the design of automatic load shedding against long-term voltage instability. In a first step, a set of training scenarios is set up, corresponding to various operating conditions and disturbances. Each scenario is analyzed to determine the minimal load shedding which stabilizes the system, with due consideration for the shedding location and delay. In a second step, the parameters of a closed-loop undervoltage load shedding scheme are determined so as to: (i) approach as closely as possible the optimal sheddings computed in the first step, over the whole set of scenarios; (ii) stabilize the system in all the unstable scenarios; and (iii) shed no load in the stable ones. The corresponding optimization problem is solved using a (micro-)genetic algorithm. A detailed example is given on the Hydro-Quebec system in which load shedding is presently planned.