Fault simulation in Phasor Measurement Units: A study on system reaction time in a 5G network environment

In the era of electrical substation digitalization, the reliability of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) is crucial. This paper addresses the impact of fault conditions in PMUs on system reaction time, particularly when PMUs are transmitting data over a 5G network. Two types of faults are considered. Step faults affect PMUs for 100–150 ms. Synchronization loss can take up to 10 minutes to return to normal in the case of GPS. The first one considers the PMU losing its sync, although the communication subsystem remains stable. The second instead considers a fault also on the communication. In both cases, the Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) should be able to detect these anomalies. Nevertheless, the overhead given by 5G latencies should not mask anomalies in the packets sent by healthy and affected PMUs. This study provides valuable insights into improving the robustness and reliability of real-time PMU systems in a 5G network environment.