Search

Dielectric testing techniques, in both time and frequency domains, are currently widely used by power utilities for assessment of the condition of transformer oil-paper insulation systems. However, it has been reported that results of these tests are highly influenced by the operating temperature during measurements. The distribution, migration and equilibrium of moisture between oil and paper in a complicated insulation system is highly temperature dependent. It requires adequate experience and proper understanding to interpret the dielectric response results in the presence of temperature variations and thermal instability. Proper analysis of the dielectric test result is only possible with an understanding of the physical behavior of the insulation system in response to temperature. A circuit model, which describes the dielectric behavior of the transformers main insulation system, has been investigated in this paper. The values of the parameters of the model have been identified from the dielectric tests. A correlation has been observed between the operating temperature and the equivalent model parameters that can be used as additional information for better interpretation of the dielectric test results. This paper thus reports a detailed study on the effects of temperature on dielectric measurements of a transformer under controlled laboratory conditions. Some results of practical on-site testing are also presented to demonstrate the possibility of errors that may be introduced in dielectric test results analysis unless temperature effects are taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern electric grid usages extensive non-linear loads leading to the increased harmonic current injection in the system. This paper proposes a data-driven algorithm based on a sparse decomposition approach with the Overcomplete Hybrid Dictionary (OHD) and provides in-depth mathematical analysis to detect and mitigate harmonics in emerging electric power systems. The sparse decomposition method is widely used in image processing applications with significant advantages to big-data applications. However, its application is not properly addressed in electric grids’ applications despite massive data generation in a smart grid environment. Hence, in this paper, the performance evaluation of a sparse decomposition-based algorithm using a greedy approach is proposed and carried out in a real-time simulation environment for Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) application for the real-time detection, classification, and mitigation of PQ events to show its suitability and effectiveness. Finally, the experimental results on a small-scale laboratory setup are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed sparse-based control algorithm for DSTATCOM in real-time applications. The comparative result shows that the proposed sparse-based method is advantageous for off-line PQ signal processing and capable of real-time detection, classification, and control of the power apparatus for harmonics mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on modifications implemented in the protection and grounding systems of a large paper mill and describes selective ground fault protection for a 13.8-kV system with multiple bus-connected generators, synchronous bus ties, and utility interconnections. The ground fault current in the system is reduced from the existing 3400 A to 500 A, and a hybrid grounding system is implemented for each of the generators. As the ground fault currents are reduced to limit the fault damage, the sensitivity and selectivity of the ground fault protection become important. Directional ground fault relays with coordinating pickup settings are applied to achieve this objective. The new platform for directional elements (numerical relays) drives its performance from sequence impedance measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2013 IEEE Pulsed Power and Plasma Science Conference (PPPS 2013) was held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, CA, USA in June 2013. The PPPS 2013 combined the 19th IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPC) and the 40th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS). This conference marks the third combined IEEE PPPS meeting, following the very successful PPPS 2001 in Las Vegas, NV, USA, and the PPPS 2007 in Albuquerque, NM, USA. The most recent ICOPS was held in 2012 in Edinburg, Scotland, and the most recent PPC was held in 2011 in Chicago, IL, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This is a Special Issue containing selected papers presented at the 5th Euro-Asian Pulsed Power Conference (EAPPC) in Kumamoto, Japan, held on September 8-12, 2014. The present Special Issue continues the tradition of chronicling the latest advances in the domain of pulsed-power science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Synthetic power systems that imitate functional and statistical characteristics of the actual grid have been developed to promote researchers’ access to public system models. Developing time series to represent different operating conditions of these synthetic systems will expand the potential of synthetic power systems applications. This paper proposes a methodology to create synthetic time series of bus-level load using publicly available data. Comprehensive validation metrics are provided to assure that the quality of synthetic time series data is sufficiently realistic. This paper also includes an example application in which the methodology is used to construct load scenarios for a 10,000-bus synthetic case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a systematic framework for analyzing how low frequency forced oscillations propagate in electric power systems. Using this framework, the paper shows how to mathematically justify the so-called Dissipating Energy Flow (DEF) forced oscillation source location technique. The DEF's specific deficiencies are pinpointed, and its underlying energy function is analyzed via incremental passivity theory. This analysis is then used to prove that there exists no passivity transformation (i.e. quadratic energy function) which can simultaneously render all components of a lossy classical power system passive. The paper goes on to develop a simulation-free algorithm for predicting the performance of the DEF method in a generalized power system, and it analyzes the passivity of three non-classical load and generation components. The proposed propagation framework and performance algorithm are both tested and illustrated on the IEEE 39-bus New England system and the WECC 179-bus system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient power battery thermal management strategy under low-temperature conditions can effectively alleviate mileage anxiety associated with electric vehicles and improve environmental adaptability. This paper aims to propose a novel coupled thermal management strategy for range extended electric vehicles (REEVs) power systems containing a range extender and a power battery. First, a novel coupled thermal management structure for REEVs power system is designed. Sequentially, a fuzzy controller is developed based on analysis of control rules for different working conditions on the basis of the structure. Furthermore, the stability of the proposed strategy is strictly proven by Lyapunov’s stability theory and phase plane analysis. Finally, a coupled thermal management model is built in AMEsim, and co-simulation between MATLAB/Simulink and AMEsim is developed. The results show that the proposed coupled thermal management strategy efficiently reduces the warm-up time and the steady-state temperature error of the engine and power battery and improves the energy utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multiphase ac power systems, e.g., aircraft electric power systems (EPS), the proximity effect between the feeder cables can be severe and complex due to the tightly wired cable bundles. Simulation software is widely used to analyze such effects in order to guarantee proper system operation, but it is highly time consuming and requires extensive computational resources. Accordingly, this paper proposes an analytical calculation method for estimating the ac resistance of closely bundled power cables, namely multiconductor cables. Simulation and experimental tests are performed to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the method, showing that the algorithm developed in this paper is easy to implement with a minimum accuracy of 92% in all the tests. It allows online estimation of cable resistances, which can be beneficial for advanced system monitoring and management to enhance safety and reduce losses. Aircraft EPS and cables are used as the example in this paper, while the proposed method is also applicable for other applications, such as shipboard EPS, renewable energy parks, or microgrids where multiconductor cables are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy production is constantly growing worldwide, and some countries produce a relevant percentage of their daily electricity consumption through wind energy. Therefore, decision support systems that can make accurate predictions of wind-based power production are of paramount importance for the traders operating in the energy market and for the managers in charge of planning the nonrenewable energy production. In this paper, we present a decision support system that can predict electric power production, estimate a variability index for the prediction, and analyze the wind farm (WF) production characteristics. The main contribution of this paper is a novel system for long-term electric power prediction based solely on the weather forecasts; thus, it is suitable for the WFs that cannot collect or manage the real-time data acquired by the sensors. Our system is based on neural networks and on novel techniques for calibrating and thresholding the weather forecasts based on the distinctive characteristics of the WF orography. We tuned and evaluated the proposed system using the data collected from two WFs over a two-year period and achieved satisfactory results. We studied different feature sets, training strategies, and system configurations before implementing this system for a player in the energy market. This company evaluated the power production prediction performance and the impact of our system at ten different WFs under real-world conditions and achieved a significant improvement with respect to their previous approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel robust controller design for a class of nonlinear systems including hard nonlinearity functions. The proposed approach is based on Takagi–Sugeno (TS) fuzzy modeling, nonquadratic Lyapunov function, and nonparallel distributed compensation scheme. In this paper, a novel TS modeling of the nonlinear dynamics with signum functions is proposed. This model can exactly represent the original nonlinear system with hard nonlinearity while the discontinuous signum functions are not approximated. Based on the bounded-input-bounded-output stability scheme and ${L_{1}}$ performance criterion, new robust controller design conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities are derived. Three practical case studies, electric power steering system, a helicopter model and servo-mechanical system, are presented to demonstrate the importance of such class of nonlinear systems comprising signum function. Furthermore, to show the superiorities of the proposed approach, it is applied to these systems; and, the experimental real-time hardware-in-the-loop results are compared with the published literature with the same topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to reasonably coordinate and control the torque of four wheels to enhance vehicle performance is an important research problem of the four in-wheel-motor independent-drive electric vehicle (4MIDEV). In this paper, a coordinated hierarchical control strategy for the dynamic wheel torque of 4MIDEV steering is proposed, which considers both safety and energy-saving performance. The innovation of this paper lies in two new valuable algorithms in the top and bottom level controller, respectively. Besides the optimal control method on the basis of the 2-degree of freedom (DoF) ideal model in the top level controller, a novel model predictive control method based on the 7-DoF dynamic model is put forward to obtain two virtual generalized forces required during vehicle driving. In the bottom level controller, a novel optimal allocation (OA) algorithm is brought forward to improve the safety and energy-saving performance. The tire stability margin and the electric power of driving system balancing the driving energy consumption and regenerative braking energy recovery are considered in the quadratic objective function of OA algorithm at the same time. Carsim-Simulink joint simulation results under open-loop and closed-loop steering conditions illustrate that, compared with the 2-DoF LQR control method, the 7-DoF MPC method could effectively improve vehicle handling stability and safety. The bottom optimal allocation algorithm can not only improve the vehicle handling stability, but also make the driving system more energy-saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful mission of CubeSat require reliable and fault-tolerant electrical power system (EPS) that powers all the other subsystems and payloads. Several studies have shown that EPS failure has been one of the main contributors for the CubeSat mission failure. The main objective of this paper is to enhance the lifetime of CubeSats EPS by proposing a distributed EPS architecture and power-down mode. The distributed architecture consists of independent converters for maximum power point tracking operation of photovoltaic (PV) panels. This is possible by using gallium nitride field-effect transistors to reduce the converter footprint and placing the converters on the back-side of the PV panels. Also, single-inductor based $N$ -1 redundant converters for generation and load-side are proposed to provide uninterrupted operation during component failures. Thus, the proposed distributed architecture not only improves the reliability but also facilitates placement of redundant converters to achieve the fault-tolerant capability. To further reduce the electrical and thermal stresses on the semiconductor devices and thus, improve the EPS life span, a novel power-down mode is proposed for the power converters. In this mode, semiconductor devices are switched-off whenever the power processed is below the threshold level and/or no-load operation. Reliability block diagrams are illustrated to demonstrate the reliability improvement and calculations shows that the proposed distributed architecture has higher reliability than the conventional EPS architecture. All the proposed concepts are validated using a prototype developed based on the specifications of MYSAT-1, which is an 1U CubeSat launched by Khalifa University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Euro-Asian Pulsed Power Conference (EAPPC) which will be held in Kumamoto, Japan on September 8 to 12, 2014.

The spread of harmonics in electric power systems causes deviations in voltage and current waveforms from the ideal sinusoidal form and, consequently, the traditional power calculation is unsuitable. One of the power theories defined for non-sinusoidal conditions is the IEEE Standard 1459-2010, based on Fourier Transform (FT). However, when applied to non-stationary signals, the FT leads to miscalculation due to spectral leakage, being unsuitable for non-stationary waveforms. In this paper, a new approach for the IEEE Standard 1459-2010 definitions is proposed using Stockwell Transform (ST). The ST provides a time-frequency resolution which retains magnitude and phase information of signals over time. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated in three scenarios including stationary waveforms, a non-linear circuit, and real measured data. The results were compared to the IEEE Standard 1459-2010 using the FT and the Stationary Discrete Wavelet Packet Transform (SDWPT) approaches. In the three scenarios studied, the proposed method presented a good estimation for each quantity defined in IEEE Standard 1459-2010 and provided more accurate results than FT-based and SDWPT-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renewable energy-based hydrogen production can lead to the integrated electric power and hydrogen system (IPHS) and offer a pathway to a sustainable energy utilization. Hydrogen is mainly transported via hydrogen tube trailers (HTs), making the hydrogen energy system (HES) operation quite different from those of other energy technologies. This paper proposes an optimal IPHS operation strategy which utilizes HT for transportation. The proposed strategy coordinates hydrogen generation, transportation, and storage stages considering constrained operations of electric power system (EPS), transportation system, and variable renewable energy. The proposed solution method is based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) in which HES and EPS constraints are managed individually and the respective solutions are coordinated accordingly. The case studies using the modified IEEE-RTS79 have verified the validity of the proposed IPHS model and its solution method and confirmed the necessity of considering HES in enhancing the EPS operation. The synergies between EPS and HES are studied via numerical examples and the impact of the flexibilities in hydrogen generation, transportation and demand are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a methodology to solve the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) in electric power systems (EPS), considering discrete controllers, is proposed. Discrete controllers, such as the tap position of on-load tap changing (OLTC) transformers and switchable reactive shunt compensation, are optimized by the proposed method. A semidefinite relaxation (SDR) of the ORPD problem and a branch-and-bound (B&B) algorithm have been fully deployed. A new formulation is presented for the OLTC transformers to obtain a connected structure of the semidefinite programming (SDP) matrices. The customized B&B algorithm deals with the discrete nature of the binary control variables. Moreover, in order to enhance the convexification, valid inequalities called lifted nonlinear cuts (NLC) are implemented in the SDR. Additionally, a chordal decomposition technique is used to improve the computational performance. Finally, the B&B algorithm is used to solve the mixed-integer semidefinite programming problem. Several benchmarks have been used to show the accuracy and scalability of the proposed method, and convergence analysis shows that near-global optimal solutions are generated with small relaxation gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residual magnetic flux can cause significant problems in electric power system operation if not taken into consideration. The laboratory setup and experimental procedure for determining the residual magnetic flux value of a single-phase transformer using a minor hysteresis loop are presented in this paper. Using the proposed method, residual magnetic flux could be determined without prior knowledge about the last de-energization of the transformer. Only voltage and current measurements are needed, and any physical intervention in the core or in some other parts of the transformer is unnecessary. Also, a significantly lower voltage than the transformer's nominal is used to determine the residual magnetic flux value in the proposed method. The pros and cons of the proposed method, as well as plans for future research are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to address the dynamic repair scheduling of electric power transmission systems based on look-ahead strategy approximation. The objective is to minimize system functionality loss during the restoration stage after disruptive events. A series of decisions regarding which damaged component to be repaired has to be made successively considering currently available information of repair time and its uncertainty in the future. To achieve this goal, the dynamic repair scheduling problem is represented as a stochastic Markovian decision process (MDP). To overcome the computational complexity of MDP derived from exponentially growing state space, the cost-to-go function is approximated by a look-ahead strategy based on repair importance ordering. Stage-dependent coefficients are used to balance the approximated functionality loss at different decision stages. The tradeoff between the efficiency and optimality can be achieved by adjusting the look-ahead depth and the updating policy of look-ahead strategy. The IEEE-14 and 118-bus systems were used for performance evaluation of the proposed method and comparison with various approaches. The results show that it can produce decisions close to the best-known solutions within small amount of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system stability is widely assessed based on tools that rely on the representation of voltages and currents through quasi-static phasor calculus, implying that the network itself and the synchronous machine stators are modeled by algebraic equations. Accordingly, the associated fast transients are neglected, assuming those decay rapidly. However, with the increasing penetration of converter interfaced generation in power systems, the reliance on quasi-static phasor calculus is to be questioned. In this paper, the validity of quasi-static phasor calculus models is verified, and dynamic phasor calculus is considered as the alternative. A methodology to systematically compare quasi-static and dynamic phasor calculus is developed. It includes frequency response, modal, and sensitivity analyses. The methodology is applied to an IEEE test network considering penetrations of converter interfaced generation of up to 100%. The models are implemented in MATLAB. The H-infinity norm is proposed as an indicator to identify differences in the applicability of the models. The results show that the quasi-static phasor calculus is suitable for stability analysis only if low bandwidths of converter controls are given. Dynamic phasor calculus instead is suitable and applicable to generic stability studies of integrated power electric and electronic systems with high penetration of renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the technical activities of the Task Force on Power System Dynamic State and Parameter Estimation. This Task Force was established by the IEEE Working Group on State Estimation Algorithms to investigate the added benefits of dynamic state and parameter estimation for the enhancement of the reliability, security, and resilience of electric power systems. The motivations and engineering values of dynamic state estimation (DSE) are discussed in detail. Then, a set of potential applications that will rely on DSE is presented and discussed. Furthermore, a unified framework is proposed to clarify the important concepts related to DSE, forecasting-aided state estimation, tracking state estimation, and static state estimation. An overview of the current progress in DSE and dynamic parameter estimation is provided. The paper also provides future research needs and directions for the power engineering community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the innovative “variable-voltage” bus concept for future more-electric aircraft platforms. Using new functionalities and opportunities offered by innovative sources actively controlled by power electronics, there is an opportunity for a significant increase of their output power (within powertrain capabilities, machine thermal limits, and power converter maximum current) to supply increased load demands under certain conditions. This paper investigates applications of this concept to satisfy power demands for the wing ice-protection system for business jet. The study includes a detailed study into the control challenges of the proposed approach and suggests corresponding theoretical solutions. Furthermore, the controller design aspects are explored with considerations to achieve stable operation. The concept is tested in simulation environment and validated through experimental studies. This paper might be of interest for the researchers and engineers focused on innovative solutions for future aircraft platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the concept of design, implementation, and system integration of energy efficient power management solution for a fault-tolerant more electric engine/aircraft (MEE/MEA). The power management solution consists of three components, i.e., the power management system (PMS), the stability analysis module, and the condition-based control (CBC) module. The PMS is to optimize the electrical power system (EPS) level efficiency based on constraints with consideration of power limits of the dc system in the MEE/MEA architecture, which are calculated by the stability analysis module, and system reconfiguration, which is provided by the CBC module. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of PMS algorithm for EPS of a fault-tolerant MEE/MEA architecture. A PMS solution to optimize EPS level efficiency optimization is proposed, which is based on multiple objective optimization problem (MOOP). The proposed MOOP is solved with a modified nondominated genetic algorithm with local search mechanisms. The proposed power management solution are implemented in the MEE/MEA simulation model as well as hardware-in-loop virtual testbed and results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the dc microgrid system on-board has promoted the development of the dc circuit breaker, but short circuit fault may cause serious damage to the system. Many problems exist in the traditional dc circuit breaker such as long periods of fault interruption, complex circuit structure, existing arc, low reliability, and low anti-interference. Aiming to solve these problems, a novel solid-state dc circuit breaker is proposed in this paper. First, this paper analyzes the working principle and process of the circuit in detail according to the results of the simulation based on Saber. Second, this paper gives the criteria on how to choose the parameters of the components correctly in the circuit. The concept of the maximum fault resistance according to the minimum fault current is also introduced. Moreover, this paper analyzes the influence of the minimum fault ramp rate on the circuit performance. Finally, experimental results verify that the performance of this novel solid-state circuit breaker agree with the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a dynamic phasor model of a half-bridge modular multilevel converter based on variables in the stationary ABC frame. The application of the dynamic phasor theory makes it possible to use converter eigenvalues to study the effect of steady-state harmonics present in the modular multilevel converter (MMC) on its small-signal stability, since the model is inherently time invariant. Relying on a linear transformation, this paper uses a new set of variables with a modified frequency content, which results in lower order dynamic phasor models. A nonlinear dynamic phasor model is developed and linearized. The linear model is compared with a nonlinear averaged MMC model in time domain. Stability analysis by means of eigenvalues and participation factors is carried out for dynamic phasor models that include different frequency content, and the effect of the circulating current suppression controller is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network parameters error may seriously affect the accuracy of fault location results, even making them unacceptable in extreme cases. This paper proposes a new method that incorporates these errors in wide area fault location problem using phasor measurement units to estimate inaccurate network parameters employing robust state estimation. Our proposed method is composed of two stages. The first stage or the primary stage provides an initial point for the second stage, which is the main contribution of this paper. Additionally, the set of measurements contaminated with bad data could be obtained from the first stage, and its intersection with leverage measurements are then eliminated from the measurement set before feeding it into the second stage. Finally, fault point and faulted line parameters are estimated by the main (second) stage of the method. The proposed method has been applied to two test systems, namely Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 14-bus and IEEE 57-bus systems, to evaluate its accuracy. Simulation results indicate high accuracy and consistency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a multifunctional control system for interlinking converters interfacing microgrids and ac mains. Applicable standards pose power quality and grid-support function requirements for converters that interface energy resources of dc nature with an ac utility grid. At the same time, the forthcoming smart grid scenario calls for additional functionalities, enabling the effective integration of hybrid (i.e., dc or ac) microgrids, that are applicable to both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. This requires novel interlinking converter controllers with extended flexibility. The control system described in this paper fulfills both connected and islanded operation needs and provides seamless transitions between the two modes. Such valuable functionalities are attained owing to an underlying, large-bandwidth, triple-loop control organization. The target converter is meant to be connected to a local dc subgrid at the dc side and to a local ac subgrid at the ac side. The controller manages the connection of the ac-side subgrid with the utility grid, ensuring a fast response control of the ac grid current. Therefore, it allows interfacing of renewable sources and loads, aggregated in dc and ac nanogrids or microgrids, with smart power systems, providing enhanced power quality, stability, and flexibility of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper clearly demonstrates the structure of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) power supply system and analyzes principles of the finite-state machine (FSM) elaborately. Depending on the characteristics of EAST power supply system and the requirements of it, this paper chooses the real-time Linux as system platform and experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) as development tool to design a control system of the EAST poloidal field power system supply. This paper utilizes a temporal logic control based on the FSM in order to regulate the operation process of real-time sequence logic control of 12 sets of power controllers. This design is evaluated and tested, and it completely meets the real-time requirement of the poloidal field power supply (PFPS) control system. Several experiments have proved that this design definitely meets the real-time sequence logic control requirement of the PFPS control system in the complex situations under magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency dependence as well as the current dependence of grounding resistance affects lightning overvoltages in electric power system. This paper proposes an equivalent circuit to simulate the frequency dependence of soil resistivity and permittivity. Constants of the equivalent circuit are determined based on empirical formulas for the frequency dependence of the soil parameters proposed by Alipio and Visacro. The equivalent circuit is represented in time domain. Therefore, the equivalent circuit is applicable to the calculation of the current dependence of the grounding resistance. An influence of the frequency dependence of the soil resistivity and permittivity on the current dependence of the grounding resistance is discussed by the use of the equivalent circuit. This paper proposes a modified CIGRE model to calculate the current dependence of the grounding resistance. The equivalent circuit is very convenient and useful for engineers to carry out lightning surge analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite power system reliability evaluation is computationally time-consuming because the optimal power flow (OPF) with the least load curtailment is calculated for a large number of samples. Most current studies of probabilistic simulation methods focus on sampling techniques to improve the sampling efficiency and decrease the calculations of the OPF. This paper proposes a fast reliability evaluation method that accelerates the calculation of the OPF using multi-parametric linear programming (MPLP). In this paper, the sampled transmission line statuses are considered by the transmission line status dictionary (TLSD). We match the line status of each sample with the scenarios in the TLSD. For matching samples, the generation status and the sampled load are treated as MPLP parameters of the DC-OPF evaluation model. A dynamic learning algorithm is applied to solve the MPLP problem. Case studies are conducted on both IEEE Reliability Test Systems and a provincial power system in China. The results show that the proposed method improves the evaluation efficiency by 23–30 times compared with the normal DC-OPF-based model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromechanical modes are inherent to any interconnected power systems which provide a measure of the small-signal stability margin of the system. A number of algorithms have been developed for the estimation of these modes using synchrophasor measurements. However, most of these algorithms are not designed to operate in the presence of forced oscillations (FO). These FOs are results of periodic rogue input driving the system. When FOs are present, estimates of system modes can be biased depending on the frequency and the amplitude of the FOs. To tackle this problem, a new algorithm is proposed in this paper to estimate system modes in the presence of FOs. In the proposed method, the over-determined modified Yule–Walker method which is used to estimate autoregressive coefficients of an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) signal model is extended to an ARMA with exogenous input (ARMAX) model that incorporates the presence of FOs. Two versions of the proposed method are included in this paper based on the requirement of the information of the duration of FOs in the signal. Results obtained by implementing the proposed algorithm on simulated data and real-world data validate the effectiveness of both versions of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new approach for reliability evaluation of composite power systems by combining Monte Carlo simulation and multi label k-nearest neighbor (MLKNN) algorithm. MLKNN is a classification technique in which target vector of each instance is assigned into multiple classes. In this paper, MLKNN is used to classify states (failure or success at system or bus level) of a complete power system without requiring optimal power flow (OPF) analysis, except in the training phase. As a result, the computational burden to perform OPF is reduced dramatically. For illustration, the proposed method is applied to the IEEE 30 BUS Test System and IEEE Reliability Test System. The obtained results from various case studies demonstrate that MLKNN based reliability evaluation provides promising results in both classification accuracy and computation time in evaluating the composite power system reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of phasor measurement units (PMU) has enabled monitoring the power system dynamics online. There are many PMUs installed, which will give a comprehensive view in real or near real time of the entire system. In general, there are many operating conditions of power systems, which requires different tools to analyze the synchrophasor data provided by PMUs. Changes in power system monitoring must be detected as quickly as possible, so that the system operators can choose a different tool for data analysis. Therefore, in this paper, changes in the working conditions of the power system are detected using a subspace state-space based change-point detection method. The detection algorithm proposed in this paper is sequential detection, which aims at both detection accuracy and detection speed. We have tested our proposed algorithm to detect many various kinds of changes in power system operations and verified that the algorithm is able to detect changes successfully, including very small ones in the system such as the low-amplitude forced oscillations buried in the system's ambient conditions in a real-time manner. The algorithm is tested in a set of real-world data to show its practical usage in large systems with imperfect data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the deregulated environment, electric utility companies have been encouraged to ensure maximum system reliability through the employment of cost-effective long-term asset management strategies. Previously, the age based Weibull distribution has been used vastly for modeling and forecasting aging failures. However, this model is only based on asset age and does not consider additional information such as asset infant mortality period and equipment energization delay. Some works on modifying Weibull distribution functions to model bathtub-shaped failure rate function can be practically difficult due to model complexity and inexplicit parameters. To improve the existing methods, this paper proposes four modified Weibull distribution models with straightforward physical meanings specific to power system applications. Furthermore, this paper proposes a novel method to effectively evaluate different Weibull distribution models and select the suitable model(s). More importantly, if more than one suitable model exists, these models can be mathematically combined as a joint forecast model, which could provide better accuracy to forecast future asset reliability. Finally, the proposed approach was applied to a Canadian utility company for the reliability forecast of electromechanical relays and distribution poles to demonstrate its practicality and usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to the description of a new approach for large-scale electric power systems (EPS) simulation, so-called hybrid simulation approach. The design and research of EPS require solving a large number of non-trivial tasks. Due to the well-known EPS specificity, mathematical modeling is the only way to proceed. According to the hybrid approach, several simulation techniques (analogue, digital, and physical) are used to achieve the best results. An analogue part provides the elimination of methodological integration error, which appears in a case of numerical methods usage. A digital part allows the realization of control and parameter changing algorithms on software level. In a physical part, the connection and switching of modeled elements are provided in a way as in real EPS. In addition, the paper presents hardware features of the simulator—hybrid real-time power system simulator (HRTSim), which is an alternative to the digital simulators currently used. The important part of this paper is the result of comparative analysis of transient processes oscillograms obtained by HRTSim and real disturbance recorders in Tomsk region power system, as well as HRTSim and real-time digital simulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co-optimization of security-constrained unit commitment and dispatchable transmission network is a large-scale and computationally complex optimization problem that brings big challenges for the traditional centralized and/or master–slave based decomposition approaches. This paper proposes a fully parallel approach to achieve an efficient and fast solution while considering post-contingency corrective actions. In this paper, the original co-optimization problem is decomposed into six major solution modules for unit commitment, optimal power flow, and transmission switching in base case and contingencies, respectively. Moreover, each major solution module is further decomposed by unit, period, dispatchable line, and/or contingency to make the proposed approach favorable in a fully parallel computing environment. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed fully parallel approach are justified using numerical cases on a high-performance computing (HPC) platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous Online Monitoring System (OMS) for power system stability based on Phasor Measurements (PMU measurements) at all the generator buses is proposed in this paper. Unlike the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed OMS does not require information about fault clearance. This paper proposes a convolutional neural network, whose input is the heatmap representation of the measurements, for instability prediction. Through extensive simulations on standard IEEE 118-bus and IEEE 145-bus systems, the effectiveness of the proposed OMS is demonstrated under varying loading conditions, fault scenarios, topology changes, and generator parameter variations. Two different methods are also proposed to identify the set of critical generators that are most impacted in the unstable cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load characteristics have substantial influence on the voltage stability of power systems. The self-restorative characteristic and stalling of induction motor loads can deteriorate the voltage stability, so it is necessary to develop accurate and efficient dynamic analysis methods for voltage stability analysis of systems with induction motor loads. In this paper, a set of methods based on holomorphic embedding is proposed, which is able to solve steady states and dynamics of a power system with induction motors. The paper is the first work that applies holomorphic embedding to dynamic problems of power systems. The test cases on the IEEE 14-bus system, the NPCC 140-bus system, and the Polish 2383-bus system verify both accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the impact of linear approximations for the unknown nonconvex confidence region of chance-constrained ac optimal power flow problems. Such approximations are required for the formulation of tractable chance constraints. In this context, we introduce the first formulation of a chance-constrained second-order cone (SOC) OPF. The proposed formulation provides convergence guarantees due to its convexity, while it demonstrates high computational efficiency. Combined with an ac feasibility recovery, it is able to identify better solutions than chance-constrained nonconvex ac-OPF formulations. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to perform a rigorous analysis of the ac feasibility recovery procedures for robust SOC-OPF problems. We identify the issues that arise from the linear approximations, and by using a reformulation of the quadratic chance constraints, we introduce new parameters able to reshape the approximation of the confidence region. We demonstrate our method on the IEEE 118-bus system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High intermittency in today's renewable-rich distribution systems, and the prohibitive cost of upgrading the system infrastructure, has rendered voltage instability a real concern for heavily loaded systems. The voltage instability of distribution systems can spread to the corresponding transmission grid, as proven by real-life incidents. Recent advances in energy storage systems (ESSs), however, have offered a viable means of enhancing the reliability and robustness of power systems. In this paper, the optimal placement, sizing, and operation of ESS devices in wind-intensive distribution power systems are studied. The objectives of this paper are to minimize the ESS size (power and energy), required to ensure a desired voltage stability margin (VSM), and to minimize the reactive power loss and reactive power import from the upstream network. Wind uncertainty has been accounted for through a risk-based stochastic optimization framework. Besides, active network management (ANM) tools, such as the tap position of on-load tap changers, modelled by using a new method, and reactive power capabilities of both ESS devices and wind farms, are used as additional means to reduce the required ESS size. The results show that the required ESS significantly increases with increase in the desired VSM. Nevertheless, the increase can be considerably curtailed by using risk-based VS constraints and ANM tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new systematic method is proposed to analyze the system frequency in power systems under uncertain variability (UV). UV gradually increases in power systems, which originates from the renewable energy generation, random loads, frequency measurement, and communication channels, exerting noteworthy impacts on dynamic system frequency. The UV is modeled as a stochastic process in this paper. Then, the stochastic differential equations are used to describe the dynamic system frequency response (SFR) of a power system under UV, which is based on the SFR model. To assess system frequency dynamics under UV, an index of intra-range probability is put forward. Based on stochastic analysis theory, an analytic method is proposed to analyze the system frequency under UV, by which the intra-range probability can be analytically solved. Compared with Monte Carlo simulation in a typical SFR case and the Iceland electricity transmission network, the proposed method shows almost the same results using much less computation resource. Finally, insights for improving the SFR under UV are provided. The proposed method can be used to quickly verify whether the system frequency could withstand the UV and stay in the security range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-domain simulation is the basis of dynamic security assessment for power systems. Traditionally, numerical integration methods are adopted by simulation software to solve nonlinear power system dynamics for any given contingency under a specific operating condition. An alternative simulation approach promising for online applications is to offline derive a semi-analytical solution (SAS) for power system differential equations and then online evaluate the SAS over consecutive time windows regarding the operating condition and contingency until the simulation result over a desired period is obtained. This paper proposes a general semi-analytical approach that derives and evaluates an SAS in the form of a power series in time to approximate the true solution. This paper provides an error-rate upper bound of the SAS for reliable use of adaptive time windows in evaluation of the SAS. To extend the semi-analytical approach for solving general power system differential-algebraic equations, this paper also proposes a dynamic bus method to efficiently link the SAS for dynamic components with the numerical solution of the network algebraic equations. Case studies on the New England 39-bus system and the Polish 2383-bus system test the performance of the proposed approach, compare it with other methods, and show the potentials of the proposed semi-analytical approach for online simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a comprehensive dynamic-phasor-based small-signal model for the modular multilevel converter (MMC) system under unbalanced grid conditions, which takes into consideration the dynamics of the MMC system under a balanced grid condition as well as the other emerging internal harmonics produced by the unbalanced grid components and more complex controllers. The small-signal model is validated by comparing the time-domain responses from a detailed electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation in PSCAD/EMTDC. Based on the eigen-analysis and PSCAD-based time-domain simulation studies, this paper reveals the poorly damped modes that cause unstable oscillations in MMC system under the unbalanced grid conditions. From the results, more poorly damped modes involved in the internal harmonics are emerging under unbalanced grid conditions compared with the modes under the balanced grid conditions, and can highly impact the system dynamic behaviors by the selection of the control parameters. It is also shown that, under the unbalanced grid conditions, the feasible region of the control parameters of the vector current control gets narrowed indicating the reduction of the stability margin, smaller (larger) value of proportional (integral) gain of the circulating current suppressing controller can enhance the system stability, and larger values of the proportional and integral gains of the negative-sequence current suppressing control can result in the harmonic instability of the MMC system. Besides, the parameters of multiple complex-coefficient filters for positive- and negative-sequence components extraction also have a big impact on the small-signal stability of the MMC system and are required to be properly selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an averaging control strategy of the phase-unit losses of modular multilevel converters (MMCs). The quantitative analysis of the MMC phase-unit loss distribution under unbalanced ac conditions is carried out by investigating the individual component of the MMC arm currents. It shows that the unbalanced arm currents will result in unbalanced phase-unit losses. To address this issue, this paper proposes a predictive closed-loop-control-based zero-sequence voltage injection method that results in much averaged loss distribution under unbalanced ac conditions. The essence of the new method is that it adjusts the three-phase sinusoidal references so that the unbalanced arm currents are fully utilized to average phase-unit losses. This paper shows the effectiveness of the new approach by electromagnetic transient simulations on PSCAD/EMTDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic distortions at a point of common coupling (PCC) are caused by the harmonic sources in both supply system and customer facilities. In order to verify compliance with harmonic limits for an operating facility, it is essential to determine the contribution of a facility to the harmonic distortions measured at the PCC. Over the past many years, a significant amount of research work has been conducted in developing different harmonic analysis methods and especially harmonic contribution assessment methods. A common need of this line of research is consistent test systems that can be used to verify/validate a proposed method or to compare different approaches. To address this gap, a benchmark test system representing a typical medium-voltage/low-voltage network supplying industrial loads is proposed in this paper. This paper also includes examples on how to use the system to assess the performance of harmonic contribution determination methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the optimal transmission switching (OTS) problem for power systems, where certain lines are fixed (uncontrollable) and the remaining ones are controllable via on/off switches. The goal is to identify a topology of the power grid that minimizes the cost of the system operation while satisfying the physical and operational constraints. Most of the existing methods for the problem are based on first converting the OTS into a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) or mixed-integer quadratic program (MIQP), and then iteratively solving a series of its convex relaxations. The performance of these methods depends heavily on the strength of the MILP or MIQP formulations. In this paper, it is shown that finding the strongest variable upper and lower bounds to be used in an MILP or MIQP formulation of the OTS based on the big- $M$ or McCormick inequalities is NP-hard. Furthermore, it is proven that unless $P=NP$ , there is no constant-factor approximation algorithm for constructing these variable bounds. Despite the inherent difficulty of obtaining the strongest bounds in general, a simple bound strengthening method is presented to strengthen the convex relaxation of the problem when there exists a connected spanning subnetwork of the system with fixed lines. With the proposed bound strengthening method, remarkable improvements in the runtime of the mixed-integer solvers and the optimality gaps of the solutions are achieved for medium- and large-scale real-world systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation, i.e., wind power and solar photovoltaic, brings significant uncertainty for the power system operation. Different with VRE techniques, concentrating solar power (CSP) is an appealing renewable generation technology due to its dispatch ability through the use of thermal energy storage and is thus expected to play a significant role in high renewable energy penetrated power systems. In this paper, we propose a look-ahead stochastic unit commitment model to operate power systems with CSP under high renewable energy penetration. It has a three-stage structure. The first stage optimizes the operational decisions in a day-ahead framework based on forecasts; the second stage minimizes the expected generation cost for possible realizations in the real time; and the third stage accounts for look-ahead operation in future operating days. This paper has a dual purpose: first, exploring how CSP plants operate in high renewable penetrated power systems; and second, analyzing the benefits of CSP in accommodating VRE generation. A case study on a modified IEEE RTS-79 system with actual solar and wind power data is provided to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most techniques for power system analysis model the grid by exact electrical circuits. For instance, in power flow study, state estimation, and voltage stability assessment, the use of admittance parameters (i.e., the nodal admittance matrix) and hybrid parameters is common. Moreover, network reduction techniques (e.g., Kron reduction) are often applied to decrease the size of large grid models (i.e., with hundreds or thousands of state variables), thereby alleviating the computational burden. However, researchers normally disregard the fact that the applicability of these methods is not generally guaranteed. In reality, the nodal admittance must satisfy certain properties in order for hybrid parameters to exist and Kron reduction to be feasible. Recently, this problem was solved for particular cases of monophase and balanced triphase grids. This paper investigates the general case of unbalanced polyphase grids. First, conditions determining the rank of the so-called compound nodal admittance matrix and its diagonal subblocks are deduced from the characteristics of the electrical components and the network graph. Second, the implications of these findings concerning the feasibility of Kron reduction and the existence of hybrid parameters are discussed. In this regard, this paper provides a rigorous theoretical foundation for various applications in power system analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the level of uncertain renewable capacity increases on power systems worldwide, industrial and academic researchers alike are seeking a scalable, transparent, and effective approach to unit commitment under uncertainty. This paper presents a statistical ranking methodology that allows adaptive robust stochastic unit commitment using a modular structure, with much-needed flexibility. Specifically, this paper describes a bus ranking methodology that identifies the most critical buses based on a worst-case metric. An important innovation is the ability to identify alternative metrics on which to rank the uncertainty set—for example, to minimize economic dispatch cost or ramping needs, to provide a customized robust unit commitment solution. Compared to traditional robust unit commitment models, the proposed model combines statistical tools with analytical framework of power system networks. The resulting formulation is easily implementable and customizable to the needs of the system operator. The method and its applications are validated against other established approaches, showing equivalent solution to the state-of-the-art approach. Case studies were conducted on the IEEE-30, IEEE-118, and the pegase-1354 networks. In addition, the flexibility of bus ranking formulation is illustrated through implementation of alternative definitions of worst-case metrics. Results show that the bus ranking method performs as well as the best of these methods, with the provision of additional flexibility and potential for parallelization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery energy storage system (BESS) services will be of great help when operating power systems at high renewable energy penetrations. This paper demonstrates the requirements for effective frequency and inertia services. Some system operators currently apply scalars to financially reward improved performance. This paper demonstrates a method of validating and improving these scalars by considering the delay time and ramp time of the BESS. The importance of the method used to measure the rate of change of frequency is discussed in the paper. While the rate of change of frequency services improves with reduced delivery times, limits are identified where further reductions produce a negligible impact. This demonstrates the tangible benefits of a rapid response, and that current technology could meet the criteria. A variety of BESS capacities are trialed, which demonstrate consistency in performance and the occurrence of diminishing returns [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]