Introduction to electric power and energy systems

Duration

28h Th, 12h Pr, 1d FW

Number of credits

Lecturer

Thierry Van Cutsem

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

As the title indicates, this course is an introduction to electric power system engineering.
It describes the main principles of operation, including regulation. After an overall description of the main components, the main emphasis is on their modelling and their operation in steady state.
The covered material includes :

• recalls : powers in sinusoidal steady state, balanced three-phase systems
• per unit system
• properties of electric power transmission
• main components : purpose, operating constraints, modelling : loads, transmission line, power transformer, synchronous machine (simplified theory), loads
• frequency and voltage control
• balanced faults.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired an understanding of the principles underlying the operation of alternating current electric power systems, as well as the constraints imposed. Those principles will enable him/her to tackle more specific or more complex problems likely to appear in his/her professional life.
The student will also have acquired a perception of the electric power network as a "system", i.e. a set of interconnected and interacting components.
From a practical viewpoint, at the end of the course, the student will be able to analyse small systems in three-phase balanced operating conditions. He will be able, for instance, to compute voltages at various locations of the network, powers produced by the energy sources, compensation devices to install, currents in components, losses, etc.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The student must have learned Electrical Circuits theory and be familiar with their analysis methods. The first two chapters offer short recalls of notions related to powers and three-phase systems.
The student must be very comfortable with phasor and complex number computations.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The theory is taught and exercises are solved without devoting separate time slots to these two activities. On the contrary, exercises are inserted in the theoretical course in order to illustrate or extend the latter. When solving the exercises, interaction with the students is solicited.
A full-day visit will take place at the training center and the national dispatching of ELIA, the Belgian transmission system operator, giving the student an opportunity to see the practical aspects of the course material.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

face-to-face

Recommended or required readings

Detailed lecture notes are available in French and can be downloaded from the Web page of the lecturer (see below). The student who does not understand French should contact the lecturer as soon as possible; he/she will be recommended specific chapters in a few textbooks in English.
The slides used during the lectures, in English, contain additional information, which is part of the material to learn. They are posted on the same Web page shortly before the corresponding lecture.
For the exercises, the students take note of the derivations made on the blackboard. 

Assessment methods and criteria

One written exam :
- first half on theory. Weight : 1/2 of final grade.
- second half of exercises. Weight : 1/2 of final grade.
The student may bring and use during the examination a double-face page of hand-written notes prepared by him/herself, including formulae or any other material that he/she considers useful.

Work placement(s)

one-day visit to ELIA: see above

Organizational remarks

The course is taught during the first quadrimester, one half-day per week.
2018 schedule : every Wednesday from 2:00 to 5:30 PM.

Contacts

Dr Thierry VAN CUTSEM 
Research Director, FNRS
Adjunct Professor, ULg
Dept. of Electrical Engineering & Comput. Science
Montefiore Institute Sart Tilman B37 B-4000 Liege Belgium
phone: +32 4 3662689 (office) +32 494 063373 (cellular)
fax: +32 4 3664582
t.vancutsem@ulg.ac.be
www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~vct

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