A flexible platform for synchronized measurements, data aggregation and information retrieval

Synchronized measurements enable a number of applications, which shape most of the features of the smart grid paradigm. Phasor measurements units (PMUs) have an increasing role in power system state estimation, detection of inter-area and other low frequency oscillations, parameter identification, power system control and protection. Although standardization is in place for both information retrieval and data communication, there is a need to further optimize the way measurements obtained from sources with different reporting rates are exploited, by designing a platform flexible enough to simultaneously run in real time most of these PMU-based applications. In this paper such a platform is presented. It encompasses multiple PMUs from different vendors, manages detailed information about the measurement chain and its associated uncertainties and exploits a unique communication infrastructure with OpenPDC as the underlying layer for data fusion. It is based on a powerful Java EE7 application that extends OpenPDC and represents the environment for extracting, managing and processing the information. The Java EE7 application has been developed aiming for security, scalability, portability, concurrent access and big data processing. Such goals could have not been achieved without making some of the latest enterprise technologies work together. The end result can be exploited as a highly capable and interactive processing node within the grid and it also hints at important features that can be included in the upcoming IEEE C37.247 Standard for Phasor Data Concentrators for Power Systems.