Janusz Bialek

Senior Lecturer

University of Durham

School of Engineering

Science Site, South Road

Durham,

UK

DH1 2PE

Telephone: +44191 3743931

Fax: +44191 3743838

 

Email address: Janusz.Bialek@durham.ac.uk

Web:  http://www.dur.ac.uk/Engineering/StaffInfo/janusz_bialek.html


Key words:

Deregulation, Power system dynamics, Control systems, Stability, Power pricing and marketing

Research description:

The rush towards privatization and deregulation has created many problems which, if unresolved, may hinder the security of supply and result in blackouts and increased price of electricity.

In my research I tackle a range of problems related to the energy pricing, congestion pricing, and use-of-system pricing. The almost universally accepted model for the energy pricing is based on the uniform-price auction, under which all the bidding generators receive the same system clearing price equal to the accepted bid of the last, most expensive generator. However, experience in the UK, California and other countries suggests that this pricing model may result in prices exceeding the true system marginal price. In my research, I have analyzed the reasons for this behavior, developed a range of indices measuring the incentives to "game" the system and suggested some remedies.

The other important problem is the congestion management, i.e. what to do when the transmission capacity is not enough to support planned trades. The traditional, marginal-pricing based approach may result in excessive cost to the customers and may worsen the local market power problems. In my research I have proposed some solutions to this problem.

Finally, I have developed a transmission pricing methodology based on the concept of tracing, i.e. ability to trace how electrical power flows from individual sources to individual sinks. The methodology is simple, practical and transparent and it can be used for the allocation of transmission losses and use-of-system charges. One of the most potentially promising applications of the methodology is for transmission pricing of cross-border trades in interconnected networks such as USA or Europe.

Large interconnected power systems often suffer weakly damped local and inter-area oscillations between synchronous generators. Damping of these oscillations can be enhanced by a Power System Stabilizer (PSS), which controls generator excitation, or by means of FACTS devices (FACTS is a generic name given to the new generation of high-power electronic devices which enable fast and efficient control of active and reactive power flows in transmission networks). I am a co-author of a novel approach to the design of stabilizers which is based on the non-linear stability theory. First we have applied this methodology to the design of FACTS-based stabilizers and recently we have extended this approach to the design of PSS. We have used a non-linear system model and applied Lyapunov direct method in order to develop decentralized stabilizers which possess the following features: (i) they are robust, i.e. they are not sensitive to the changes in system topology/parameters or changed pattern of power flows in the network; (ii) their damping is effective over a wide range of swing frequencies; and (iii) their settings need not be coordinated. These features of our stabilizers make them especially attractive in the new market structures.

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