Saint Petersburg, one of the liveliest and most cosmopolitan cities in Russia, was the venue of the 2nd International Conference on Monitoring Power System Dynamics Performance.

This beautiful city was founded in the beginning of the XVIII century as the capital of the Russian Empire. It is impressive and famous over the world for its architectural heritage, mixing baroque, neoclassical and Russian influences.

The conference was hosted by the System Operator for UES of Russia, the CIGRE Russian National Committee and the High Voltage Direct Current Power Transmission Research Institute - NIIPT from 28 to 30 April, 2008.

The first edition of this international conference was held in Moscow in 2006 and the conference papers acquainted the participants with the wide area measurement technology application for large power grid operation in different countries. The purpose of the second conference was to analyze and exchange experience on the latest technical solutions in Wide Area Measurement Systems. The conference included a one day workshop on present tools and techniques for synchronized phasors measurements of the power system presented by Prof. Arun Phadke and Kenneth Martin from the USA.

A manufacturer exhibition ran in parallel with the three-day conference and gave the participants a valuable opportunity to get updated with products and technological innovations by the leading manufacturers in the area.

Conference papers present the synchrophasor activities in various countries, including Australia, Croatia, Italy, Bosnia, China, Brazil, Slovenia, US, UK and Russia. Interesting results from dynamic performance of commercial PMU tested by NIIPT were presented and re-enforced the need for interoperability tests to be performed.

The conference gala dinner was animated by a Saint Petersburg singer presentation, followed by dancing and acrobatic performance, giving a sample of the diverse cultural tradition.