Method and apparatus for monitoring electric power transmission, disturbances and forecasts

1. A method for determining a change in power grid parameters of an electric power transmission network, the electric power transmission network comprising a plurality of electric power transmission lines, the method comprising:

monitoring a magnetic field about at least one of the electric power transmission lines using a first magnetic field sensor located at a first distance from the at least one of the electric power transmission lines;

transmitting data from said magnetic field sensor to a processor;

determining with said processor from said data transmitted to said processor from said magnetic field sensor a first change over time in a value of the magnetic field at the first magnetic field sensor;

comparing with said processor the first change over time in the value of the magnetic field with a first magnetic field reference value, and thereby determining a presence of the change in power grid parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic field reference value is an updateable value.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic field reference value is an expected waveform.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the magnetic field comprises sampling digitally the magnetic field to produce a series of digital values representative of the value of the magnetic field at known ones of the times.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining of a change in the value of the magnetic field comprises comparing members of the series of digital values against the known times.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a second change over time in a value of the magnetic field at a second magnetic field sensor;

comparing the first change with the second change to determine the presence of the change in power grid parameters.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining location of the change in power grid parameters using the times of the first change and the second change and by means of a grid transfer function.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a wake-up signal to one or more of the first magnetic field sensors on determination of the change in the power grid parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forecasting with said processor from a determined presence of a change in power grid parameters at least one of demand, commodity costs or power plant fuel value.

10. A method for determining a change in power grid parameters of an electric power transmission network, the electric power transmission network comprising a plurality of electric power transmission lines, the method comprising:

monitoring a voltage about at least one of the electric power transmission lines using by a first voltage sensor located at a first distance from the at least one of the electric power transmission lines;

transmitting data from said voltage sensor to a processor;

storing data transmitted from said voltage sensor in a database;

determining with said processor from said data transmitted to said processor from said voltage sensor a first change over time in a value of the voltage at the first voltage sensor;

comparing with said processor the first change in the value of the voltage with a first voltage reference value, and thereby determining the change in power grid parameters.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first voltage reference value is an updateable value.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first voltage reference value is an expected waveform.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the monitoring of the voltage comprises sampling digitally values of the voltage to produce a series of digital values representative of the value of the voltage at known ones of the times.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the determining of a change in the value of the voltage comprises comparing members of the series of digital values against the known ones of the times.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the voltage sensor is at a low-voltage part of the electric power transmission network.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

determining a second change in a value of a second voltage measured at a second voltage sensor;

comparing the first change with the second change to determine the presence of the change in power grid parameters.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining location of the change in power grid parameters using the times of the first change and the second change and by means of a grid transfer function.

18. The method of claim 10 , further comprising sending a wake-up signal to one or more of the first voltage sensors on determination of the change in power grid parameters.

19. The method of claim 10 , further comprising forecasting with said processor at least one of demand, commodity cost and power plant fuel value based on a determined presence of a change in power grid parameters.

20. An apparatus for determining a change in power grid parameters of an electric power transmission network, the electric power transmission network comprising a plurality of electric power transmission lines, the apparatus comprising:

at least one of a voltage sensor or a magnetic field sensor located at a first location at a first distance from at least one of the plurality of electric power transmission lines for sensing a magnetic field or a voltage associated with said power transmission lines;

one or more data lines for transferring data from the at least one of a voltage sensor or a magnetic field sensor, wherein said data comprises substantially real-time field data measured by said at least one of a voltage sensor or a magnetic field sensor, said field data comprising at least one of a magnetic field or a voltage associated with said power transmission lines; and

a processor, said processor receiving data transferred by said one or more data lines, analysing the received data and determining changes in a value of said field data against time, and thereby determining the change in power grid parameters on the power grid by comparison to a reference value.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the reference value is an updateable value.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the reference value is an expected waveform.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the data lines are radio channels.

24. The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising a plurality of magnetic field sensors located proximate to at least one of the one or more data lines.

25. The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising a field description database for storing of states representative of a configuration and operation of the electric power transmission network.

26. The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising a statistic and probability database for determining a probability of a state of the configuration of the electric power transmission network.

27. The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising a wake-up signal generator for causing at least one sensor to provide additional data to the processor.

28. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the processor is adapted to determine at least two changes in a value and compare a first one of the at least two changes with a second one of the at least two changes to determine the location of the change in power grid parameters.

29. The apparatus of claim 20 , further comprising:

a field description database comprising power network data received from said voltage sensor and said processor;

a statistic and probability database, wherein said statistic and probability database uses the data in the field description database and historical data to describe a condition of electric power generation and the electric power transmission systems; and

an estimator module, wherein said estimator module receives a current state of electric power transmission system from said field description database and receives statistics and probabilities from said statistics and probability database and constructs new possible power grid states with estimated probabilities.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the estimator is adapted to forecast at least one of demand, power plant fuel value or commodity cost.