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This paper discusses a recent event in the western American power system when a forced oscillation was observed at a frequency that was close to a well-known 0.38-Hz inter-area electromechanical mode frequency of the western system. The event motivates a systematic investigation in this paper on the possibility of resonant interactions between forced oscillations and electromechanical inter-area oscillatory modes in power systems. When the natural oscillatory mode of a power system is poorly damped, and the forced oscillation occurs at a frequency close to system mode frequency at critical locations for the mode, resonance is observed in simulation test cases of the paper. It is shown that the MW oscillations on tie-lines can be as high as 477 MW from a 10-MW forced oscillation in Kundur test system because of resonance. This paper discusses the underlying system conditions and effects as related to resonance in power systems caused by forced oscillations and discusses ways to detect such scenarios using synchrophasors. Simulated data from Kundur two-area test power system as well as measurement data from western American power system are used to study the effect of forced oscillations in power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission system operators (TSOs) in recent years have faced challenges in order to ensure maximum transmission capacity of the system to satisfy market needs, while maintaining operational safety and permissible impact on the environment. A great help in the decision-making process was introduced with the Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) – an instrument to monitor and predict the maximal allowed ampacity of the power grid based on weather measurements and forecast. However, the introduction of DTR raises a number of questions related to the accuracy and uncertainty of the results of thermal assessment and the level of acceptable risk and its management. In this paper, we present a solution for estimating DTR uncertainty, appropriate for operational use at TSOs. With the help of conductor surface temperature measurements, weather measurements and predicted weather data, we also estimate the error of the weather forecast and the DTR itself. Following the results of the data analyses, we build an operative solution for estimating the ampacity uncertainty based on Monte Carlo random simulations and integrate it into the operational environment of ELES – the operator of the Slovenian electric power transmission network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the problem of determining the maximum distributed energy resource (DER) capacity that can be connected to low-voltage (LV) networks without creating voltage-rise problems. That maximum capacity depends on the network characteristics and on the candidate sites for DER connection. When sites are multiple and LV networks are poorly characterized, such maximum capacity cannot be determined with power-flow or other admittance-matrix-based approaches. This paper proposes an approach to estimate voltage rise caused by DER under reduced network characterization. Such approach is built upon customary voltage and impedance measurements to be made at the sites of DER injection and gives sufficiently accurate results under most practical situations. The paper validates the accuracy of the proposed approach against exact power-flow results for well-characterized networks and load situations and provides guidelines for DER connection based on maximum capacity nodal allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The novel cascade-mitigation scheme developed in Part I of this paper is implemented within a receding-horizon model predictive control (MPC) scheme with a linear controller model. This present paper illustrates the MPC strategy with a case-study that is based on the IEEE RTS-96 network, though with energy storage and renewable generation added. It is shown that the MPC strategy alleviates temperature overloads on transmission lines by rescheduling generation, energy storage, and other network elements, while taking into account ramp-rate limits and network limitations. Resilient performance is achieved despite the use of a simplified linear controller model. The MPC scheme is compared against a base-case that seeks to emulate human operator behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with the optimal power flow (OPF) problem. We have recently shown that a convex relaxation based on semidefinite programming (SDP) is able to find a global solution of OPF for IEEE benchmark systems, and moreover this technique is guaranteed to work over acyclic (distribution) networks. The present work studies the potential of the SDP relaxation for OPF over mesh (transmission) networks. First, we consider a simple class of cyclic systems, namely weakly-cyclic networks with cycles of size 3. We show that the success of the SDP relaxation depends on how the line capacities are modeled mathematically. More precisely, the SDP relaxation is proven to succeed if the capacity of each line is modeled in terms of bus voltage difference, as opposed to line active power, apparent power or angle difference. This result elucidates the role of the problem formulation. Our second contribution is to relate the rank of the minimum-rank solution of the SDP relaxation to the network topology. The goal is to understand how the computational complexity of OPF is related to the underlying topology of the power network. To this end, an upper bound is derived on the rank of the SDP solution, which is expected to be small in practice. A penalization method is then applied to the SDP relaxation to enforce the rank of its solution to become 1, leading to a near-optimal solution for OPF with a guaranteed optimality degree. The remarkable performance of this technique is demonstrated on IEEE systems with more than 7000 different cost functions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Merchant transmission planning is considered as a further step toward the full liberalization of the electricity industry. However, previous modeling approaches do not comprehensively explore its social efficiency as they cannot effectively deal with a large number of merchant companies. This paper addresses this fundamental challenge by adopting a novel non-cooperative game-theoretic approach. Specifically, the number of merchant companies is assumed sufficiently large to be approximated as a continuum. This allows the derivation of mathematical conditions for the existence of a Nash equilibrium solution of the merchant planning game. By analytically and numerically comparing this solution against the one obtained through the traditional centralized planning approach, the paper demonstrates that merchant planning can maximize social welfare only when the following conditions are satisfied: a) fixed investment costs are neglected and b) the network is radial and does not include any loops. Given that these conditions do not generally hold in reality, these findings suggest that even a fully competitive merchant transmission planning framework, involving the participation of a very large number of competing merchant companies, is not generally capable of maximizing social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal power flow (OPF) programs must be able to provide sound operating points for power systems under different conditions while meeting a large number of constraints. These constraints, however, either due to the operating conditions at hand or by construction, can have linearly dependent gradients, thus defining ill-behaved feasible sets. This paper analyzes the use of an alternative set of optimality conditions, derived from the Fritz-John (FJ) conditions, to represent OPF solutions in such critical cases. Results are presented for realistic test systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a new method for studying electromechanical transients in power systems using three phase, combined transmission and distribution models (hybrid models). The methodology models individual phases of an electric network and associated unbalance in load and generation. Therefore, the impacts of load unbalance, single phase distributed generation and line impedance unbalance on electromechanical transients can be studied without using electromagnetic transient simulation (EMTP) programs. The implementation of this methodology in software is called the Three Phase Dynamics Analyzer (TPDA). Case studies included in the paper demonstrate the accuracy of TPDA and its ability to simulate electromechanical transients in hybrid models. TPDA has the potential for providing electric utilities and power system planners with more accurate assessment of system stability than traditional dynamic simulation software that assume balanced network topology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) is a nonlinear data analysis technique that can quantify the number and duration of a dynamical system of being in nearly the same area in phase space trajectory. This paper proposes three applications of RQA to analyse power system dynamics. These are denoising of PMU data, localization of power system events, and transient stability contingency ranking of power system. All three applications have been demonstrated using a multimachine test system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved corrective security constrained optimal power flow (CSCOPF) for a meshed AC/DC power transmission network with voltage source converter based multi-terminal HVDC (VSC-MTDC) grids. The security constrains of N-1 contingencies for both AC and DC networks are fully considered in the CSCOPF problem. The corrective actions employed in this paper include not only the traditional long-term rescheduling control actions of the AC system, but also the short term post-contingency fast corrective control of multi-terminal VSC-HVDC. A hybrid method is developed to solve the improved CSCOPF problem and the effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated and demonstrated in this paper by two example meshed AC/DC power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a risk-based security assessment methodology is presented, which allows the assessment of operational security of a power system's future state under uncertainty deriving from varying topology scenarios (contingencies) and forecast errors (loads and renewable infeeds). The methodology models input uncertainty with a copula function-based Monte–Carlo (MC) framework. Furthermore, it provides the highest level of accuracy on initiating causes of failures through an AC power flow (AC PF) framework. Finally, it achieves speed in solution by the combination of two measures of risk. A fast screening tool, based on severity functions, allows us to quickly screen the system for the most severe states. A detailed analysis tool, based on an AC optimal power flow (AC OPF) framework and the notion of lost load, provides additional valuable information, including remedial actions to steer away from severe system states. This paper presents results from the application of the methodology proving the necessity of such a framework. It is shown that not taking into account stochastic dependence through a proper MC setup seriously underestimates system risk and that an AC framework is needed, as voltage deviations are shown to often be initiators of system collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a method to optimize equipment investments in multizonal transmission systems, considering spatial properties of the areas of focus. Together with a probabilistic technique for assessing nodal injection capability, the method in the paper completes the methodology of a long term transmission system planning tool. Transmission topology, line route and technology are optimized through iterative application of linear integer programming and Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. By optimizing the transmission route, the spatial properties of the area of focus are taken into account, which in turn can significantly influence the installation costs of transmission equipment. The optimization method considers both AC and DC technology and takes the N-1 security criterion into account. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Power systems do not always operate under fully balanced conditions because of unbalanced loads and untransposed transmission lines. Under such conditions, commonly used positive sequence equivalent will no longer be valid. On the other hand, use of full three-phase model will add significant computational burden for the considered application. This paper describes a simple approach to address this issue for the specific application of state estimation. The main idea is to exploit the linearity of the estimation problem when the system is measured solely by phasor measurements. The linear problem lends itself to decoupling via modal transformation unlike the nonlinear formulation with SCADA measurements. A further improvement is introduced via the use of the least absolute value (LAV) estimator, which has the desirable property of automatic bad-data rejection. The paper illustrates how a robust LAV estimator designed for a positive sequence model can be efficiently used for the solution of an unbalanced three-phase state estimation problem. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enhanced utilization of the existing transmission network is a cheaper and paramount alternative to building new transmission lines. Flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) devices are advanced technologies that offer transfer capability improvements via power flow control. Although many FACTS devices exist in power systems, their set points are not frequently changed for power flow control purposes, which is mainly due to the computational complexity of incorporating FACTS flexibility within the market problem. This paper proposes a computationally efficient method for adjustment of variable impedance-based FACTS set points, which is also compatible with existing market solvers. Thus, the method can be employed by the existing solvers with minimal modification efforts. This paper models FACTS reactance control as injections to keep the initial shift factors unchanged. Next, the paper formulates a dc optimal power flow that co-optimizes FACTS set points alongside generation dispatch. The resulting problem, which is in a nonlinear program, is then reformulated to a mixed-integer linear program. Finally, an engineering insight is leveraged to further reduce the computational complexity to a linear program. Simulation studies on IEEE 118-bus and Polish 2383-bus test cases show that the method is extremely effective in finding quality solutions and being very fast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To deal with the difficulties caused by uncertainty of renewable energy sources in solving transmission constrained unit commitment (TCUC), robust optimization (RO) and scenario-based stochastic optimization (SO) methods have gained popularity in recent years. However, RO formulations have a multilevel (min-max-min or min-max) structure and the solution methods are usually complicated. On the other hand, when SO-based formulation is adopted, a careful balance is often required between accuracy and scale of the formulation, since they are conflicting with each other when determining the number of scenarios. Moreover, nonanticipative constraints on economic dispatch (ED) decisions are sometimes not considered in two-stage stochastic UC formulation. An example is given in this paper to show that this may have a serious consequence. The motivation of this paper is to establish a TCUC formulation that can address the above concerns. In summary, the proposed formulation has three features including: it is single-level rather than multilevel, it is established based on very limited scenarios while the solution is feasible to all scenarios, and finally, nonanticipativity of both UC and ED decisions is guaranteed by the formulation. Numerical testing is also performed and the results show that the proposed formulation is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power flow analysis is one of the tools that is required in most of the distribution system studies. An important characteristic of distribution systems is the load unbalance in the phases and a three-phase power flow analysis is needed. In this paper, a three-phase linear power flow (3LPF) formulation is derived based on the fact that in a typical distribution system, voltage angles and magnitudes vary within relatively narrow boundaries. The accuracy of the proposed 3LPF is verified using several test cases. Potential applications of the proposed method are in distribution systems state estimation and volt-VAR optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents analytical closed-form expressions that uncover the contributions of nodal active- and reactive-power injections to the active- and reactive-power flows on transmission lines in an AC electrical network. Paying due homage to current- and voltage-divider laws that are similar in spirit, we baptize these as the power divider laws. Derived from a circuit-theoretic examination of AC power-flow expressions, the constitution of the power divider laws reflects the topology and voltage profile of the network. We demonstrate the utility of the power divider laws to the analysis of power networks by highlighting applications to transmission-network allocation, transmission-loss allocation, and identifying feasible injections while respecting line active-power flow set points. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Independent system operators (ISOs) are responsible for the secure and economic operation of the power systems. Accordingly, ISOs should solve an optimal power flow to minimize the operating cost of a system while meeting the system's security constraints. However, transmission congestion could drastically limit more economical generating units from being dispatched in the power system operation. In this paper, a decentralized transmission switching is introduced in the operation of multi-area power systems to manage the congestion both on regional transmission lines and tie lines while considering credible contingencies. Our proposed methodology relies on a decentralized optimization methodology. Thus, regional control centers in areas would be able to locally manage the congestion within their regional networks as well as tie lines connecting them to their neighboring areas. Several testing systems are studied in this paper to test the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an online event location estimating process in a wide-area power system using the phasor measurement unit (PMU). For real-world applications of PMU-based event location estimation (ELE), it is necessary to consider the insufficiency of PMU data caused by a lack of PMUs, communication failure, PMU malfunction, etc., because insufficient PMU data cannot guarantee event observability over the entire network. To ensure possible event locations in a real-world system, an estimation method is developed by combining offline zonal analysis and an online ELE algorithm. The K-mean clustering method is utilized for electrical-bus clustering, which enables us to recognize separate electrical zones (EZs). Then, we propose a two-stage ELE algorithm by estimating the event EZ and localizing the specified event section within the estimated EZ. Proposed ELE algorithm is applied to a real-world PMU data collected from southwestern part of the United States. Finally, successful results from a real-world PMU data application are presented at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthetic network modeling methodology has been developed to generate completely fictitious power system models with capability to represent characteristic features of actual power grids. Without revealing any confidential information, synthetic network models can be shared freely for teaching, training, and research purposes. Additional complexities can be added into synthetic models to widen their applications. Thus, this paper aims to extend synthetic network base cases for transient stability studies. An automated algorithm is proposed to assign appropriate models and parameters to each synthetic generator, according to fuel type, generation capacity, and statistics summarized from actual system cases. A two-stage model tuning procedure is also proposed to improve synthetic dynamic models. Several transient stability metrics are developed to validate the created synthetic network dynamic cases. The construction and validation of dynamics for a 2000-bus synthetic test case is provided as an example. Simulation results are presented to verify that the created test case is able to satisfy the transient stability metrics and produce dynamic responses similar to those of actual system cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the robust stability of a mixed source microgrid comprised of a synchronous generator-based distributed energy resource (DER) and an inverter-based DER. Few studies conducted recently indicated that power system stabilizers (PSSs) are advantageous for damping local oscillations of synchronous generator-based DERs. However, stability issues may arise due to interaction of the parameters of PSS and system. This paper proposes a method to determine the stability region for the system when any two parameters are considered uncertain based on robust control theory. A sufficient condition for robust stability is presented using bialternate sum matrix of the system with uncertain parameters. The bialternate sum matrix approach is compared with a branch and bound approach presented in earlier studies. These two methods are shown to yield identical results for a single machine infinite bus system. However, the proposed bialternate sum matrix approach requires far less computational effort. Therefore, it is applied to determine the stability region for the operation of mixed source microgrid in both grid-connected and islanded modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the dynamic coherency determination (DCD) method by including Type-3 wind power plants (WPPs) models in the coherency evaluation process and quantifies impacts of the high depth of wind power penetration on the coherency phenomena of interconnected power systems. The method is based on frequency-deviation signals, measured at nongenerator buses and terminal buses of WPPs and synchronous generators. Salient features of the presented method are its ability to account for the hybrid nature of enhanced generic models of Type-3 WPPs and expanding notion of the power system coherency beyond the classical definition by including models of Type-3 WPPs. This paper also investigates impacts of the high depth of wind power penetration; i.e., up to 30%, on the coherency structure of the 16-machine/68-bus NPCC equivalent system. The studies are based on time-domain simulations in PSS/E software. The investigations reveal that Type-3 WPPs can introduce new coherent areas, significantly change areas’ boundaries and number of areas, and alter frequencies/dampings of interarea modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency deviations of power systems caused by grid-connected wind power fluctuations is one of the key factors which restrains the increase of wind penetration level. This paper examines a combined wind and hybrid energy storage system (HESS, supercapacitor, and battery) to smooth wind power fluctuations. A fuzzy-based wind-HESS system (FWHS) controller is proposed to suppress the wind power fluctuations. The proposed controller takes full advantage of the complimentary characteristics of the supercapacitor and battery with the supercapacitor and battery in charge of high and middle frequency components of wind fluctuations, respectively. A differential evolution (DE)-based optimal sizing method for HESS systems is introduced to evaluate the minimum capacity of HESS as being limited by grid frequency deviation. The efficiency of the proposed scheme in the paper for wind-HESS system is evaluated by a real Chinese power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, new formulations of the power flow and continuation power flow that allow for electro-thermal coupling in transmission lines have been proposed. The new formulations capture the overhead lines' electro-thermal coupling effects by treating their series resistances as temperature dependent variables. They generate results that can differ from the results of conventional formulations markedly, particularly for problems centring on line impedances. The paper demonstrates this by applying the new formulations to the power transfer limit calculation. Generally, power transfer limits are defined either by encountering a line's thermal limit or detecting the onset of voltage collapse in the system. Studies based on 2-bus and 14-bus test systems are used to demonstrate the efficacy of the new formulations for both situations. For these studies, specific point-to-point power transfer limits are calculated with and without the lines' electro-thermal coupling effects and the results are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes an evolutionary fuzzy lead-lag control approach for coordinated control of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices in a multi-machine power system. The FACTS devices used are a thyristor-controlled series capacitor (TCSC) and a static var compensator (SVC), both of which are equipped with a fuzzy lead-lag controller to improve power system dynamic stability. The fuzzy lead-lag controller uses a fuzzy controller (FC) to adaptively determine the parameters of two lead-lag controllers at each control step according to the deviations of generator rotor speeds. This paper proposes an Advanced Continuous Ant Colony Optimization (ACACO) algorithm to optimize all of the free parameters in the FC, which avoids the time-consuming task of parameter selection by human experts. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed evolutionary fuzzy lead-lag controller for oscillation damping control is verified through control of a multi-machine power system and comparisons with other lead-lag controllers and various population-based optimization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops a long term transmission expansion optimization methodology taking the probabilistic nature of generation and demand, spatial aspects of transmission investments and different technologies into account. The developed methodology delivers a stepwise investment plan to achieve the optimal grid expansion for additional transmission capacity between different zones. In this paper, the optimization methodology is applied to the Spanish and French transmission systems for long term optimization of investments in interconnection capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper introduces a screening method to determine the potential risk of interactions between a dynamic device and a generator with torsional oscillations. The proposed method introduces a factor called the radiality factor (RF) which is an indicator of the radialness of the network between the device and the generator. TheRF is calculated in the sub-synchronous frequency range and plotted against the frequency (RF curves). The RF curves can then be used for screening of torsional interactions between the generator and other dynamic devices. The critical value for the RF is determined through a large number of sensitivity studies on a test system. This method surpasses the available screening method: unit interaction factor (UIF) calculations which is only applicable for inductive networks without series compensated lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a framework for the selection of optimal configuration of line compensation devices, thyristor controlled series capacitors (TCSC) and conventional fixed series capacitors, for reducing the risk of subsynchronous resonance (SSR) in the network while maintaining required power transfer. The methodology developed in the paper is based on the robust risk evaluation of SSR that takes into consideration the severity of subsynchronous resonance and probability of its occurrence. The subsynchronous resonance risk index developed previously is used to assess the severity of subsynchronous resonance. The line outage model is employed to determine the probability of contingencies potentially leading to subsynchronous resonance. It is demonstrated that with relatively small participation of TCSC, even with the most basic control, in series compensation of lines, the risk of SSR can be successfully managed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent years have witnessed significant interest in convex relaxations of the power flows, with several papers showing that the second-order cone relaxation is tight for tree networks under various conditions on loads or voltages. This paper shows that ac-feasibility, i.e., to find whether some generator dispatch can satisfy a given demand, is NP-hard for tree networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an efficient solution approach based on Benders’ decomposition to solve a network-constrained ac unit commitment problem under uncertainty. The wind power production is the only source of uncertainty considered in this paper, which is modeled through a suitable set of scenarios. The proposed model is formulated as a two-stage stochastic programming problem, whose first-stage refers to the day-ahead market, and whose second-stage represents real-time operation. The proposed Benders’ approach allows decomposing the original problem, which is mixed-integer nonlinear and generally intractable, into a mixed-integer linear master problem and a set of nonlinear, but continuous subproblems, one per scenario. In addition, to temporally decompose the proposed ac unit commitment problem, a heuristic technique is used to relax the inter-temporal ramping constraints of the generating units. Numerical results from a case study based on the IEEE one-area reliability test system (RTS) demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging smart-grid-enabling technologies will allow an unprecedented degree of observability and control at all levels in a power system. Combined with flexible demand and storage, they could allow procuring energy at minimum cost and environmental impact. That however presupposes real-time coordination of demand of individual households and industries down at the distribution level, with generation at the transmission level. This is closely related with the balancing market economic dispatch (ED) problem, which currently does not take into account distribution network constraints and flexible demand characteristics. Still, assuming a suitably modified form of that problem was available, due to both computational and communications requirements, its centralized solution in its full detail would not be tractable. While there is currently a wealth of literature dealing with distributed optimization applications in power systems, it typically focuses on smaller parts of the overall energy management problem (e.g., transmission area synchronization or electric vehicles management) often without considering its full scale or establishing any association with energy market mechanisms. The target of this paper is twofold: 1) identify a flexible demand and distribution network inclusive formulation for ED and 2) propose a solution method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method that in real-time determines remedial actions, which restore stable operation with respect to aperiodic small signal rotor angle stability (ASSRAS) when insecure or unstable operation has been detected. An ASSRAS assessment method is used to monitor the stability boundary for each generator in real-time. The ASSRAS boundary represents the condition when a generator reaches the maximum steady state active power injection. The proposed control method exploits analytically derived expressions for the ASSRAS boundary and other characteristic curves in the injection impedance plane to determine an active power redispatch among selected generators to restore stable and secure operation. Since the method is purely based on analytically derived expression, the computation of the remedial actions is fast and well suited for real-time operation. The method was tested on the IEEE 14-bus and the Nordic32 test systems where results show that the method can efficiently determine the required active power redispatch to avoid an imminent instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing penetration of renewable power sources (RESs) is bringing more uncertainties to power systems. Real-time economic dispatch should be able to handle the fluctuations caused by the load as well as RESs, and obtain new optimal operating points after deviating from original generation schedules. This paper proposes a generation adjustment algorithm based on the base point and participation factor method. The objective of the method is to obtain fast adjustments to generators’ real power outputs in real-time economic dispatch. The proposed method achieves significant and consistent improvements comparing to the original participation factor method by using a more precise model of transmission losses in the optimization process. The computational burden and execution time of the proposed method is much less than OPF and heuristic economic dispatch methods. The proposed method and its effectiveness are tested using IEEE 30-bus system, IEEE 118-bus system, and GuangDong 1018-bus system. Simulation results are demonstrated with comparisons and discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a method to optimally set the tap position of voltage regulation transformers in distribution systems. We cast the problem as a rank-constrained semidefinite program (SDP), in which the transformer tap ratios are captured by 1) introducing a secondary-side “virtual” bus per transformer, and 2) constraining the values that these virtual bus voltages can take according to the limits on the tap positions. Then, by relaxing the non-convex rank-1 constraint in the rank-constrained SDP formulation, one obtains a convex SDP problem. The tap positions are determined as the ratio between the primary-side bus voltage and the secondary-side virtual bus voltage that result from the optimal solution of the relaxed SDP, and then rounded to the nearest discrete tap values. To efficiently solve the relaxed SDP, we propose a distributed algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). We present several case studies with single- and three-phase distribution systems to demonstrate the effectiveness of the distributed ADMM-based algorithm, and compare its results with centralized solution methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we address some shortcomings in existing nonlinear dynamic models of power system experiencing symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults in their transmission/distribution networks. The shortcomings relate to: 1) approximations relating to stator dynamics, internal voltage of the positive sequence network and the dynamics of the negative and zero sequence networks, and 2) existing models are time -variant, which may not be suitable for system studies such as stability and fault detection studies that require time invariant model. The approximations outlined in 1) adversely affect the modeling accuracy, especially that of the system response during the period immediately after the occurrence of faults. We present in this paper a full fault-dependent time-invariant dynamical model of power systems experiencing symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults in their transmission/distribution networks and verify it through simulation studies mimicking real life scenarios. IEEE 30 bus power system is considered as the study case. The simulation results are compared to Matlab's “SimPower” and PSCAD/EMTDC software packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of a multiyear security constrained hybrid generation-transmission expansion planning. It is assumed that the overall generation requirements of a network are known along the planning horizon, but their allocations are unknown. Moreover the fuel cost throughout the net- work is not uniform. By allocating the overall generation capacity among the grid nodes, and determining the new transmission element additions along the planning horizon, the overall cost of the system is minimized. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, which for a large-scale system is very difficult to solve. In this paper a new constructive heuristic approach is proposed, so that the problem can be readily solved. To assess the capabilities of the proposed approach, two networks are studied: the Garver test grid as a small grid and the Iranian power grid as a large-scale grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a mathematical model for transmission investment game where there are several transmission planners (TPs). The model is developed assuming a simultaneous-move game between TPs. Each TP maximizes the total surplus (producers’, consumers’, and transmission surplus) minus the investment cost of its region given the investment decisions of rival TPs. The transmission investment risk is also considered using the probability-of-shortfall measure. We assume one market operator who dispatches the generators in all TP's regions. The risk-constrained Nash equilibria model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP). To solve the proposed MILP, a solution algorithm is proposed that combines the standard branch-and-bound algorithm (BB) with a proposed modified benders decomposition algorithm (MBD). The proposed BB-MBD algorithm is also parallelized to improve the computation performance. To improve the coordination between TPs, a supporting budget mechanism is also mathematically modeled in the MILP. The numerical results are carried out using the 9-bus 3-area and the IEEE Three Area RTS-96 networks. The computational performance of proposed BB-MBD is compared with standard BB algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Following the vision of future Supergrids, the existing power systems are expected to evolve into AC/DC systems containing voltage source converters with multiterminal configurations. This paper presents a new sequential power flow algorithm for such power systems. The algorithm can be applied to systems with multiple AC and DC grids of any grid topology. Because of its pure AC/DC network decomposition, the simplification of elements within the converter stations is not required, as is the case with other proposals in the literature. The paper also addresses the convergence properties of the proposed algorithm. A convergence factor has been designed that allows controlling the exit criterion within each inner loop of the sequential AC/DC load flow problem. It is shown that by modulating the convergence factor, the number of inner loop iterations needed to achieve a solution can be diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission outage scheduling from a transmission facility owner's (TFO's) perspective in a deregulated electricity market has been one of the lesser explored topics in academia. This paper presents a security-constrained one-step optimal transmission outage scheduling model that can be used by any TFO. The proposed mixed-integer linear programming model incorporates a new load shedding methodology that allows transmission branches to radially connected and in-and-out connected buses to be taken out-of-service under outage and contingency conditions, which further improves its versatility. The proposed model is tested on two networks, a simple four-bus system and the 62-bus AltaLink 500 kV/240 kV backbone system in Alberta. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Linearized power flow models are of great interest in power system studies such as contingency analyses and reliability assessments, especially for large-scale systems. One of the most popular models—the classical DC power flow model—is widely used and praised for its state independence, robustness, and computational efficiency. Despite its advantages, however, the DC power flow model fails to consider reactive power or bus voltage magnitude. This paper closes this gap by proposing a decoupled linearized power flow (DLPF) model with respect to voltage magnitude and phase angle. The model is state independent but is distinguished by its high accuracy in voltage magnitude. Moreover, this paper presents an in-depth analysis of the DLPF model with the purpose of accelerating its computation speed, leading to the fast DLPF (FDLPF) model. The approximation that is applied to obtain the FDLPF model from the DLPF model is justified by a theoretical derivation and numerical tests. The proposed methods are provably accurate and robust for several cases, including radial distribution systems, meshed large-scale transmission systems and ill-conditioned systems. Finally, expressions for sensitivity with regard to MW flow and bus voltage are provided as a potential application. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to improve the computational time needed to solve transmission switching problems. Transmission switching provides an effective way to reduce operating costs in power system operations by altering the topology of the transmission network. However, determining the optimal set of lines to switch creates an enormous computational burden. Transmission switching formulations add binary decision variables for many transmission lines in the system to indicate if they are switched. This creates a very weak formulation that is difficult to solve. Altering the transmission topology by switching lines can affect the reliability of the network, for instance, by creating islands. Additional reliability constraints need to be added to the problem formulation. These constraints can potentially make an already difficult problem even harder. This paper takes a different approach to the transmission switching problem. Rather than preventing islanding by using constraints in the problem formulation, we look at how they can be used to improve the solution process. Specifically, we develop a cutting plane algorithm to generate valid inequalities and fix variables based on the fact that optimal solutions to the transmission switching problem that do not contain islands exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that a combination of: 1) the computation time-saving transfer function and eigenfunction analysis (TFEA) method, 2) eigenvalue sensitivity concept, and 3) optimization techniques makes a powerful tool in coordinated tuning of power system stabilizers (PSS). The combination allows different PSS tuning strategies to be evaluated as objective functions of optimization under constraints. Feasibility of the method is demonstrated by numerical results from a 69-generator system. Two objective functions are used as illustrative examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines flow control algorithms for loop flow cancellation based on the allocation and tracing of bilateral transactions and loop flows. In Part I of this paper, we have shown that the main difference between transportation and electrical networks is caused by the existence of loop flows. We have introduced a distributed framework for the modeling and tracing of bilateral transactions and the corresponding loop flows. Its zooming-out capability provides a valuable mechanism for representing external (inter-area) loop flows based on simplified topologies of individual areas. The tracing information accurately allocates bilateral transactions with associated contract paths to line flows and loop flows. Furthermore, this information can be used for determining the set points of control equipment so that loop flows are minimized. In this framework, phase angle regulators (PARs), commonly used for line flow control, are represented through their effects on loop flows. We define sufficient conditions for achieving complete loop flow cancellation. A new distributed algorithm for determining PAR set points in a coordinated way without revealing operating conditions of individual areas is introduced in this part. Finally, complete loop flow cancellation and the distributed algorithm for finding PAR set points are demonstrated in the Reliability Test System (RTS) 96-bus system with wheeling loop flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the transmission planning problem in a transmission network with multiple transmission planners. Each transmission planner is responsible for a region of the transmission network and maximizes its own region social welfare taking into account the transmission planning decisions of other transmission planners. The mathematical formulation of non-cooperative transmission planning problem is proposed. This problem is modeled using the multiple-leaders single-follower game in applied mathematics. The solution concept of the worst-Nash equilibrium is introduced to solve the set-up game. Different mathematical techniques are employed to formulate the worst-Nash equilibrium solution as a mixed-integer linear programming problem. A discussion on two possible applications of the derived mathematical structure is provided. The computational complexity is also discussed. The Three-Region IEEE-RTS96 example system is employed and modified to suit the purpose of analysis. The cooperative solution where the transmission planners merge into one single transmission planner is assumed as the benchmark in this study. The cooperative transmission planning is formulated in Appendix A of the paper. The results demonstrate the utility of the proposed solution in multi-regional transmission planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a probabilistic framework for making decisions about the replacement of ageing power equipment. The framework involves three steps: first, to identify the most important and critical components of the system for overall system reliability; secondly, to perform Pareto analysis to relate the replacement of the components to the effect on system reliability indices; finally, to determine the optimum scenario for replacement based on a comparison between the cost of unreliability due to deferring the replacement and the saving on reinvestment cost. The proposed approach is illustrated on a meshed test system modeled using U.K. transmission system parameters, a representative transformer age profile and regulatory energy not supplied values. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the framework for application in the area of power system reliability, and show its feasibility for informing replacement decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Power systems are mostly run under stressed operating conditions due to rapidly increasing demand but inadequate expansion in generation and transmission capacity. Thus voltage stability has become a major concern in present day power system operation which depends on the availability and distribution of reactive power. It becomes very important to ensure the presence of sufficient amount of reactive power source in the network for secure and reliable operation of electrical power system. This paper mainly deals with short-term reactive power procurement (RPP) problem assuming an already established real power market. Contributions of this paper are three fold. First, this paper presents three new RPP methods which are formulated as optimum power flow (OPF) problems. OPFs are solved using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm as population based stochastic solution methods are more suitable for solving reactive power optimization problem. Second, a detailed analysis of voltage stability for proposed RPP problems are performed for both normal and contingency condition to find out how these new formulations affect voltage stability. Third, proposed methods are compared with the classical RPP formulations, e.g., Minimization of L-index and loss Minimization. Finally results are reported for both test system and a large practical system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The MW-Mile method is an embedded cost pricing method, which is widely used to determine transmission pricing. The method is formulated based on the distance and active power flow in each line of the transmission network. This method may be considered as the first pricing strategy proposed for recovering the fixed transmission cost, based on the actual use of the transmission network. However, this method suffers from the provision of unfair charges to the users, since it ignores the quality of the load in allocating the transmission cost. This paper proposes an improved MW-Mile method by considering not only the changes in MW flows but also the quality of the load, i.e., the power factor. In this study, the IEEE 14-bus system was used to illustrate the contribution of the proposed method in allocating transmission cost to the user in a fair manner. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the relatively unexplored subject of creating limit-preserving equivalents (LPEs). There is a push to develop LPEs for power system interconnections to be used in markets and reliability studies. The equivalents that exist for these interconnections do not capture thermal limits of equivalent lines, which results in their transmission limits being significantly different from the original interconnection limits. Assigning noninfinite and nonzero limits to equivalent lines is the niche of this paper. This is done by considering an unloaded network, which is operating point independent. A solution method is developed and discussed, which is capable of assigning lower, best, and upper estimates for equivalent line limits and is proposed for use towards developing LPEs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a new probabilistic model for generation and transmission expansion planning (G&TEP) problem considering reliability criteria. Probabilistic reliability criteria accounts for random generator or line outages with known historical forced outage rates (FOR). The resultant model considers the installation and operation costs as well as the cost of expected energy not supplied (EENS) to optimally determine the number and location of new generating units and circuits in the network, power generation capacity for those units and the voltage phase angle at each node. Also, efficient linear formulations are introduced in this paper to deal with the nonlinear nature of the problem including objective functions and constraints. Modified 6-bus test system, IEEE 24-bus RTS and IEEE 118-bus test system are utilized to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a computer-assisted method to teach and understand transmission pricing techniques. The education method is facilitated by specially designed user-friendly transmission pricing software (TPS). The proposed approach helps students fully understand transmission pricing through the fulfillment of the following educational objectives: 1) use of TPS to solve the transmission pricing problem of a small power system as well as a real-world power system; 2) complete understanding of the mathematics involved and development of software code to reproduce part of the results of TPS; 3) analysis of the results, identification and justification of the differences among three transmission tracing techniques and eight transmission cost allocation methods; and 4) extension of TPS methodologies. These methods have been proven effective in the education of students studying power system economics at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. A full-fledged, robust, comprehensive study of the educational improvements achieved through the use of TPS is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]