System wide MV distribution network technical losses estimation based on reference feeder and energy flow model

This paper presents an integrated analytical approach to estimate technical losses (TL) of medium voltage (MV) distribution network. The concept of energy flow in a radial MV distribution network is modelled using representative feeders (RF) characterized by feeder peak power demand, feeder length, load distribution, and load factor to develop the generic analytical TL equations. The TL estimation approach is applied to typical utility MV distribution network equipped with energy meters at transmission/distribution interface substation (TDIS) which register monthly inflow energy and peak power demand to the distribution networks. Additional input parameters for the TL estimation are from the feeder ammeters of the outgoing primary and secondary MV feeders. The developed models have been demonstrated through case study performed on a utility MV distribution network supplied from grid source through a TDIS with a registered total maximum demand of 44.9 MW, connected to four (4) 33 kV feeders, four (4) 33/11 kV 30 MVA transformers, and twelve (12) 11 kV feeders. The result shows close agreement with TL provided by the local power utility company. With RF, the approach could be extended and applied to estimate TL of any radial MV distribution network of different sizes and demography.     

An online power system static security assessment module using multi-layer perceptron and radial basis function network

Efficient contingency screening and ranking method has gained importance in modern power systems for its secure operation. This paper proposes two artificial neural networks namely multi-layer feed forward neural network (MFNN) and radial basis function network (RBFN) to realize the online power system static security assessment (PSSSA) module. To assess the severity of the system, two indices have been used, namely active power performance index and voltage performance index, which are computed using Newton–Raphson load flow (NRLF) analysis for variable loading conditions under N − 1 line outage contingencies. The proposed MFNN and RBFN models based PSSSA module, are fed with power system operating states, load conditions and N − 1 line outage contingencies as input features to train the neural network models, to predict the performance indices for unseen network conditions and rank them in descending order based on performance indices for security assessment. The proposed approaches are tested on standard IEEE 30-bus test system, where the simulation results prove its performance and robustness for power system static security assessment. The comparison of severity obtained by the neural network models and the NRLF analysis in terms of time and accuracy, signifies that the proposed model is quick, accurate and robust for power system static security evaluation for unseen network conditions. Thus, the proposed PSSSA module implemented using MFNN and RBFN models are found to be feasible for online implementation.     

Multi-objective optimization operation with corrective control actions for meshed AC/DC grids including multi-terminal VSC-HVDC

This paper presents a multi-objective optimal operation of meshed AC/DC power grids including multi-terminal voltage-source-converter-based high-voltage direct current (VSC-MTDC) systems. The proposed approach is modeled as a corrective security-constrained optimal power flow (CSC-OPF) problem, with the minimization of both the operation cost and power loss as the objectives. Moreover, it provides a cost-effective solution to assist in decision-making, and improves the system security during operation. The N − 1 contingency security criterion is enforced for both AC and DC transmission networks, and corrective control is used to eliminate or alleviate post-contingency security violations. The corrective control actions used in this paper include not only secure operation control actions, but also economical post-contingency corrective control of the multi-terminal VSC-HVDC. To increase the computation speed, a contingency screening technique is applied to CSC-OPF by efficiently selecting the most severe case of the N − 1 contingency, as obtained using a voltage security index (VSI). The proposed approach uses the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) to find multi-objective OPF solutions by checking the post-contingency state feasibility while taking into account post-contingency corrective actions. Simulation results confirm the validity and effectiveness of this approach.     

A new technique for optimal allocation and sizing of capacitors and setting of LTC

An iterative based strategy is proposed for finding the optimal rating and location of fixed and switched capacitors in distribution networks. The substation Load Tap Changer tap is also set during this procedure. A Modified Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization is employed in the proposed strategy. The objective function is composed of the distribution line loss cost and the capacitors investment cost. The line loss is calculated using estimation of the load duration curve to multiple levels. The constraints are the bus voltage and the feeder current which should be maintained within their standard range.For validation of the proposed method, two case studies are tested. The first case study is the semi-urban 37-bus distribution system which is connected at bus 2 of the Roy Billinton Test System which is located in the secondary side of a 33/11 kV distribution substation. The second case is a 33 kV distribution network based on the modification of the 18-bus IEEE distribution system. The results are compared with prior publications to illustrate the accuracy of the proposed strategy.     

A new optimal unified power flow controller placement and load shedding coordination approach using the Hybrid Imperialist Competitive Algorithm-Pattern Search method for voltage collapse prevention in power system

As power systems become more complex and heavily loaded, voltage collapse has become one of the most destructive events in modern power systems leading to blackouts in electric utilities worldwide. Voltage collapse is mainly caused by operating power systems at lower stability margins due to a surge in electric power demand. This paper presents an optimal unified power flow controller (UPFC) placement and load shedding coordination approach for voltage collapse prevention in N − K (K = 1, 2 and 3) contingency condition using Hybrid Imperialist Competitive Algorithm-Pattern Search (HICA-PS). ICA is the main optimizer of the proposed algorithm while pattern search is applied to further fine tune the results of the ICA. To show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in preventing voltage collapse in complex power systems, we implemented it on the New-England 39 bus power system. Its performance was also compared to that of some classical optimization techniques. Decrease in load shedding amounts, continuity of energy supply and voltage collapse prevention is the main positive features of the proposed approach.     

Transmission congestion management in bilateral markets: An interruptible load auction solution

This paper demonstrates that appropriate invocation of interruptible loads by the independent system operator (ISO) can aid in relieving transmission congestion in power systems. An auction model is proposed, for an ISO operating in a bilateral contract dominated market, for real-time selection of interruptible load offers while satisfying the congestion management objective. The proposed congestion management scheme using interruptible loads can specifically identify load buses where corrective measures are needed for relieving congestion on a particular transmission corridor. The N − 1 contingency criterion has been taken into account to simulate various cases, and hence, examine the effectiveness of the proposed method. It has been shown that the method can assist the ISO to remove the overload from lines in both normal and contingency conditions in an optimal manner.     

一种综合考虑馈线和主变约束的配电网主变N-1校验方法

提出了一种可精确地进行配电网主变N-1校验的方法。全面地考虑配电网馈线和主变容量约束、实际运行约束和负荷转移约束,并建立考虑站内转供的网络转供校验模型。该方法适用于配电网各种接线模式,贴近实际网架情况。同时结合实际规划工作,注重实用性。最后通过算例与现有相关研究进行对比,验证所提校验方法的精确性。     

Voltage distribution constant versus losses in medium-voltage distribution transformer: A polynomial interpolation approach

This paper aims to calculate an estimate of the initial stress voltage distribution in the transformer windings through their losses (that can be reduced by varying the construction parameters such as conductor section and size of the core window) through the numerical interpolation applied in capacitances of distribution transformers 30, 45, 75 and 112.5 kVA, 15 kV class. The calculations of the projects were organized into sets, with simultaneous variation of three construction parameters, totaling analysis of 10,648 projects of each power transformers arranged in three-dimensional arrays. The equation of the constant voltage distribution (α-factor) according to the losses through the quadratic polynomial and cubic splines for the of LV and HV windings is formulated.     

Outage data analysis of utility power transformers based on outage reports during 2002–2009

Statistical analysis of failures and forced outages of power transformers constitute an important basis for asset management of these transformers. Results of the statistical analysis can be used, for example, to enhance utility reliability, influence transformer design and technology, and improve maintenance and condition monitoring practices. In addition, various methods for transformer reliability evaluation require that the expected values of component outage rates, outage durations, and repair durations be known. In this paper, outage data are obtained from the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). This work presents outage data analysis over eight years, from 2002 to 2009, for 1922 (average number) transformers in voltage populations ranging from 33 kV to 500 kV and MVA rating from 5 MVA to 500 MVA. Forced outages due to correct and false action of transformer’s protection systems are carefully considered. Outage data analysis is conducted according to two basic phases. In the first phase, failure and repair analysis of transformers is performed while in the second phase impact of transformer outages on customers is assessed. Percentage average number of failures (%AANF) and annual average repair time (AART) per transformer are used to represent the failure and repair data of power transformers. Two indicators are used to represent the impact of transformer outages on customer interruptions. These indicators are the annual average interrupted MW (AAIMW) and annual average customer-interruption duration (AACID). A summary of the main outcomes of the work presented in this paper is provided in the conclusions’ section; however, it is worthy to be mentioned here that the fire-fighting systems are responsible for the highest number of false trips in all voltage subpopulations except the 220 kV subpopulation where the dominant cause of false trips is the busbar protection. Therefore, it is recommended to improve the maintenance and design of this protection equipment to reduce the failure rate of power transformers.     

A PSO based approach for multi-stage transmission expansion planning in electricity markets

This paper presents a particle swarm optimization (PSO) based approach to solve the multi-stage transmission expansion planning problem in a competitive pool-based electricity market. It is a large-scale non-linear combinatorial problem. We have considered some aspects in our modeling including a multi-year time horizon, a number of scenarios based on the future demands of system, investment and operating costs, the N − 1 reliability criterion, and the continuous non-linear functions of market-driven generator offers and demand bids. Also the optimal expansion plan to maximize the cumulative social welfare among the multi-year horizon is searched. Our proposed PSO based approach, namely modified PSO (MPSO), uses a diversity controlled PSO to overcome the problem of premature convergence in basic PSO (BPSO) plus an initial high diversity swarm to cover the search space efficiently. The MPSO model is applied to the Garver six-bus system and to the IEEE 24-bus test system and compared to the BPSO model and a genetic algorithm based model.     

Security-constrained transmission expansion planning: A stochastic multi-objective approach

This article presents a stochastic multi-objective optimization framework for transmission expansion planning (TEP) with steady state voltage security management, using AC optimal power flow (AC-OPF). The objectives are to minimize the sum of transmission investment costs (ICs), minimize the Expected Operation Cost (EOC), minimize the Expected Load Shedding Cost (ELSC) and maximize the Expected Loading Factor (ELF). The system load uncertainty has been considered and the corresponding scenarios are generated employing the Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. A scenario reduction technique is applied to reduce the number of scenarios. A multi-objective mathematical programming (MMP) is formulated and the ε-constraint method is used to solve the formulated problem. The N − 1 contingency analysis is also considered for the proposed TEP problem.The proposed TEP model has been applied to the well-known IEEE 24-bus Reliability Test System. The detailed results of the case study are presented and thoroughly analyzed. The obtained TEP results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.     

Effect of varying concentration and temperature on steady and dynamic parameters of low concentration photovoltaic energy system

Low-concentration photovoltaic (LCPV) system has huge potential for further cost reduction of solar photovoltaic (PV) power as compared to flat panel PV. The dependence of steady state and dynamic parameters on concentration and temperature is crucial to extract maximum power from solar photovoltaic system. This article aims to present the effect of varying concentration and temperature on steady state and dynamic parameters of LCPV system under actual test conditions (ATC). The rate of change in I_SC with solar irradiation i.e., dI_SC/dG is found as 0.25 A/W assuming ≈±1 °C change in module temperature. The effect of temperature on inherent material properties responsible for photo-conversion efficiency is studied using impedance spectroscopy technique. A linear response of series resistance of LCPV module is observed with respect to change in module temperature, i.e. dR_S/dT from 297 to 333 K is in the range of 1.15–1.20 Ω with a rate of 1 mΩ/K. From real-time analysis of LCPV system open-circuit voltage found decreasing from 21 to 20.6 V with temperature coefficient of voltage ≈−0.061 V/K. The dynamic resistance has a positive coefficient of module temperature i.e., dr_d/dT given by 0.49 Ω/K.     

Electromagnetic force investigation on distribution transformer under unbalanced faults based on time stepping finite element methods

The occurrence of short circuit faults is a major cause behind the windings deformation in the transformers. Mechanical force is proportional to the square of the current. Hence under short circuit condition, it will be very high. These stresses radially or axially affect the transformer windings. Therefore, in the transformer designing, evaluating the effects of short-circuit current and inrush current is very important. In this paper, 2-D and 3-D time stepping finite element methods (TSFEM) that improved in Ansoft-Maxwell, are utilized as Instruments to investigate the leakage flux and electromagnetic forces due to short circuit and inrush current on the windings of 1000 kV A, 10/0.4 kV three-phase, three leg, distribution transformer. Electromagnetic forces in the transformer windings are produced as a result of combination between the current density and the leakage flux density in the winding regions. The study demonstrates that, especially, under single phase-to-ground short circuit fault, leakage flux density on the windings of transformer remarkably increase. The interaction between this high leakage flux with current density, causes the significant increase in the electromagnetic forces in transformer windings.     

Experimental analysis of a solar PV/diesel hybrid system without storage: Focus on its dynamic behavior

Integration of solar photovoltaic systems with diesel generators for the electrification of remote and rural areas would assist in expanding the electricity access in the sub-Saharan Africa region. In fact, countries of this region are well endowed in solar resource: their mean daily solar radiation exceeds 5.5 kWh/m²/day. They are, therefore, good locations for PV systems. This paper deals with an experimental study of the dynamic behavior of a hybrid system prototype (based on “flexy-energy” concept) set up at Kamboinsé, located at 15 km far from Ouagadougou (12, 22° N and 1, 31° W) in Burkina Faso. The prototype is composed of a 2.85 kWp PV array, a 3.3 kW single phase inverter and a diesel generator rated at 9.2 kW. Two resistive load banks of about 4 kW each are used to simulate the load profiles. Experimental results show that the PV generation leads the distribution feeder to shift toward higher voltages. The voltage rise is exacerbated when the PV generation is at its highest and the demand at its lowest. Care should then be taken to ensure that for a hybrid PV/diesel system, the PV rated power connected to each phase of the diesel generator is as equal as possible. The present study also points out that “well designed” inverters generate very small voltage harmonics and current distortions, even when high PV penetration systems are considered.     

The study of directional overcurrent relay and directional earth-fault protection application for 33 kV underground cable system in Malaysia

Differential protection scheme is based on comparison of measured variables such as current and voltage at the two ends of a line via a communication channel such as pilot wire. This scheme is preferred and extensively used in distribution feeder protection system in Malaysia due to its fast operation. However pilot-wire differential scheme has its own drawbacks especially on the maintenance of the pilot-wire. Once the plot-wire is out of service, the feeder protection is jeopardised. One of the options to overcome such maintenance issue is to adopt directional relay as the feeder protection. This paper investigates a suitable relay connection and the maximum torque angle for the directional relay for 33 kV underground network. In this study, a section of 33 kV underground network in Kuala Lumpur (KL) city has been analysed. All faults types have been simulated at all possible location in the network. The obtained voltage and current were then used to determine the operation of directional overcurrent and earth-fault relay. The simulation results indicate that 30° relay connection with 0° maximum torque angle (30°/0°) is the most suitable setting to be applied for 33 kV underground network in KL, as against the best general and most versatile setting, 45°/90°.     

A novel intelligent approach for yaw position forecasting in wind energy systems

Yaw control systems orientate the rotor of a wind turbine into the wind direction, optimize the wind power generated by wind turbines and alleviate the mechanical stresses on a wind turbine. Regarding the advantages of yaw control systems, a k-nearest neighbor classifier (k-NN) has been developed in order to forecast the yaw position parameter at 10-min intervals in this study. Air temperature, atmosphere pressure, wind direction, wind speed, rotor speed and wind power parameters are used in 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6-dimensional input spaces. The forecasting model using Manhattan distance metric for k = 3 uncovered the most accurate performance for atmosphere pressure, wind direction, wind speed and rotor speed inputs. However, the forecasting model using Euclidean distance metric for k = 1 brought out the most inconsistent results for atmosphere pressure and wind speed inputs. As a result of multi-tupled analyses, many feasible inferences were achieved for yaw position control systems. In addition, the yaw position forecasting model developed was compared with the persistence model and it surpassed the persistence model significantly in terms of the improvement percent.     

Maclaurin–Newton algorithms in 132 kV subtransmission security simulations

This paper examines how applicable approximate Jacobian inversions are when implemented in the security analysis simulations of 132 kV power subtransmission. The complete Scottish 400/275/132 kV power transmission network was simulated, including the 132 kV subtransmission network with its high r/x ratios. Both the coupled and decoupled Maclaurin–Newton load flow algorithms were tested. It was proved that high r/x ratios found in the 132 kV level, five times higher than in 400/275 kV, have an important influence on convergence and accuracy of the inversion Jacobian load flow algorithms. It was found that the decoupled inversion load flow was applicable for 132 kV, it converged regularly, but had worse convergence and accuracy characteristics, compared to 400/275 kV applications, while the coupled inversion load flow was not applicable at all for 132 kV, it always diverged.     

Robust non-fragile power system stabilizer

This paper presents a step towards the design of robust non-fragile power system stabilizers (PSSs) for single-machine infinite-bus systems. To ensure resiliency of a robust PSS, the proposed approach presents a characterization of all stabilizers that can guarantee robust stability (RS) over wide range of operating conditions. A three-term controller (x₁ + x₂s)/(1 + x₃s) is considered to accomplish the design. Necessary and sufficient stability constraints for existing of such controller at certain operating point are derived via Routh–Hurwitz criterion. Continuous variation in the operating point is tackled by an interval plant model where RS problem is reduced to simultaneous stabilization of finite number of plants according to Kharitonov theorem. Controller triplets that can robustly stabilize vertex plants are characterized in a similar manner. The most resilient controller is computed at the center of maximum-area inscribed rectangle. Simulation results confirm robustness and resiliency of the proposed stabilizer.     

Optimization models based on GM (1, 1) and seasonal fluctuation for electricity demand forecasting

In this paper, a novel combined approach which combines the first-order one-variable gray differential equation (GM (1, 1)) model derived from gray system theory and seasonal fluctuation from time series method (SFGM (1, 1)) is proposed. This combined model not only takes advantage of the high predictable power of GM (1, 1) model but also the prediction power of time series method. To improve the forecasting accuracy, an adaptive parameter learning mechanism is applied to SFGM (1, 1) model to develop a new model named APL-SFGM (1, 1). As an example, the statistical electricity demand data from 2002 to 2011 sampled from South Australia of Australia are used to validate the effectiveness of the two proposed models. Simulation and graphic results indicated that both of two proposed models achieve better performance than the original GM (1, 1) model. In addition, the APL-SFGM (1, 1) model, which is actually an adaptive adjustment model, obtains a higher forecasting accuracy as compared to the SFGM (1, 1) model.     

Assessing the relevance of load profiling information in electrical load forecasting based on neural network models

The article is focused on evaluating the relevance of load profiling information in electrical load forecasting, using neural networks as the forecasting methodology. Different models, with and without load profiling information, were tested and compared, and, the importance of the different inputs was investigated, using the concept of partial derivatives to understand the relevance of including this type of data in the input space. The paper presents a model for the day ahead load profile prediction for an area with many consumers. The results were analyzed with a simulated load diagram (to illustrate a distribution feeder) and also with a specific output of a 60/15 kV real distribution substation that feeds a small town. The adopted methodology was successfully implemented and resulted in reducing the mean absolute percentage error between 0.5% and 16%, depending on the nature of the concurrent methodology used and the forecasted day, with a major benefit regarding the treatment of special days (holidays). The results illustrate an interesting potential for the use of the load profiling information in forecasting.