Search

To deal with the deregulated challenges in future power system operations, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has taken a strategic approach to implement an extensive Distribution Automation (DA) project including feeder automation (FA), trouble call management, load management, and remote metering functions in its Tai-Chung District. The project was completed in December 2002. For future extension purposes, Taipower tries to develop a comprehensive generalized step-by-step methodology for the economic evaluation of the DA project. This paper presents the methodology and results for the economic evaluation of the Tai-Chung DA project. The potential benefits of the implemented DA functions are quantified using standard mathematic formulas. An economic evaluation method using value-based analysis and present-worth analysis is performed to identify the most beneficial functions in the Taipower's implemented DA functions. Those DA functions that have great benefits should have high priority to be implemented in other distribution districts. Moreover, to find the candidate feeders for further FA extension, the sensitivity analysis of the benefit/cost ratio with respect to different customer types, feeder loads, feeder lengths, numbers of switch, and failure rates is also conducted. Accordingly, the optimum number of switch can be determined under the expected service reliability. The results and formulas obtained in this paper can also be used for return-of-investment or possible performance measure of the DA systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to market information, available energy and capacity to participate in the market are also essential to be an effective market participant. This paper discusses the development of an online dynamic cable rating system (DCRS) that can help a system engineer maximize asset utilization without jeopardizing system facilities or compromising the reliability of the cables. Based on real-time cable loading, cable surface temperature, ambient temperature, and forecasting temperature, the DCRS can estimate both steady-state and dynamic cable rating. To confirm with the actual operation condition, both real-time cable temperature and forecasting ambient temperature are taken into consideration to perform short-term cable ampacity estimation to prevent overestimation and/or underestimation. Based on the information provided by the DCRS, the system engineer can establish or adjust the bidding strategy in time to effectively participate in the restructured electric markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of performance requirements is a major challenge for information systems as well as other software systems. This is because performance requirements (e.g., "a student records system should have good response time for registering students") can have a global impact on the target system. In addition, there are interactions and trade-offs among performance requirements, other nonfunctional requirements (NFRs, or software quality attributes, e.g., accuracy), and the numerous alternatives for the target system. To provide a systematic approach to managing performance requirements, this paper presents a "Performance Requirements Framework" (PeRF) It integrates and catalogues a variety of kinds of knowledge of information systems and performance These include performance concepts, Software Performance Engineering (SPE) principles for "building performance into" systems, and information systems development knowledge (including requirements, design, implementation, and performance). In addition, layered structures organize performance knowledge and the development process. All this knowledge is represented using an existing goal-oriented approach, the "NFR Framework," which offers a developer-directed graphical treatment for stating NFRs, analyzing and interrelating them, and determining the impact of decisions upon NFRs. This approach allows customized solutions to be built, taking into account the characteristics of the particular domain. The use of PeRF in managing performance requirements is illustrated in a study of performance requirements and other NFRs for a university's student records system. This paper concludes with a summary of other studies of information systems, tool support, and directions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach to software performance testing is discussed. A case study describing the experience of using this approach for testing the performance of a system used as a gateway in a large industrial client/server transaction processing application is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]