  Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS) utilizing synchrophasor measurements is
considered one of the essential parts in smart grids that enable system
operators to monitor, operate, and control power systems in wide geographical
area. On the other hand, high-speed, reliable and scalable data communication
infrastructure is crucial in both construction and operation of WAMS. Universal
mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), the 3G standard for mobile
communication networks, was developed to provide high speed data transmission
with reliable service performance for mobile users. Therefore, UMTS is
considered a promising solution for providing a communication infrastructure
for WAMS. 3G based EWAMS (Egyptian wide area Monitoring System) is designed and
implemented in Egypt through deployment a number of frequency disturbance
recorders (FDRs) devices on a live 220kV/500kV Egyptian grid in cooperation
with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). The developed EWAMS
can gather information from 11 FDRs devices which are geographically dispersed
throughout the boundary of the Egyptian power grid and to a remote data
management center located at Helwan University. The communication performance
for the developed EWAMS in terms of communication time delay, throughput, and
percentage of wasted bandwidth are studied in this paper. The results showed
that the system can achieve successfully the communication requirements needed
by various wide area monitoring applications.
