national control centre - Eirgrid

Operation of the Transmission SystemThe purpose of the transmission system is to transfer bulkpower from generators to load centres. The transfer is doneat high voltages to minimise transmission losses. Thecontrol engineers’ function is to ensure that voltages andflows on the system are within limits at all times. Systemstability and safety of the public and those working on thesystem are key priorities. Significant changes in demandwill cause the voltage to change and the frequency tochange, so these are monitored constantly.Changes in demand for power nationally, therefore,need to be anticipated and timely action taken. This isprimarily done by continually monitoring and controllinggenerators’ production and managing the topology of thetransmission system.Stormy weather can create problems on the transmissionsystem. High winds and, in particular lightning, can causechallenging conditions. The control engineers must quicklydecipher what has happened and act swiftly. In most cases,this is done without any consumer being affected, butmajor incidents can affect customers and the priority is torestore the network as quickly as possible in a safe manner.A lightning detection system is available to the controlengineers to assist with operating the system during storms,and Met Eireann is contracted to provide special alerts toand forecasts to the NCC in relation to weather events.The engineers must be prepared to deal with allunforeseen events. To assist them in this regard they havepowerful software tools such as Contingency Analysis,Loadflow and State Estimation programmes.