This paper extends the idea of the Thevenin equivalent into unbalanced 3ϕ circuits and proposes a 3ϕ long-term voltage stability indicator (VSI), that can identify critical loads in a system. Furthermore, in order to identify whether the voltage stability limit is due to the transmission network or a distribution network, a transmission-distribution distinguishing index (TDDI) is proposed. The novelty in the proposed indices is that they can account for the unbalance in the lines and loads, enabling them to use unbalanced phasor measurements naturally. This is supported by mathematical derivations and numerical results. A convex optimization formulation to estimate the 3ϕ Thevenin equivalent using PMU & μPMU measurements is proposed, making it possible to calculate VSI and TDDI in an online model-free manner. Numerical simulations performed using co-simulation between Pypower and GridlabD are presented for the IEEE 9 bus and the 30 bus transmission networks combined with several modified IEEE 13 node and 37 node distribution networks. These case studies validate the proposed 3ϕ-VSI and TDDI over a wide range of scenarios and demonstrate the importance of μPMU measurements in identifying the regions causing long term voltage instability.
The proliferation of phasor measurement units (PMUs) into electric power distribution grids presents new opportunities for utility operators to manage distribution systems more effectively. One potential application of PMU measurements is to facilitate distribution grid re-configuration. Given the increasing amount of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) penetration into distribution grids, in this work we formulate an Optimal Power Flow (OPF) approach that manages DER power injections to minimize the voltage phasor difference between two nodes on a distribution network to enable efficient networ…
The optimal PMU locations to collect voltage phase angle measurements for detecting line outages in wide-area transmission networks are investigated. The problem is established as one of maximizing the minimum distance among the voltage phase angle signatures of the outages, which can be equivalently formulated as an integer programming problem. Based on a greedy heuristic and a linear programming relaxation, a branch and bound algorithm is proposed to find the globally optimal PMU locations. Using this algorithm, the optimal tradeoff between the number of PMUs and the outage detection perform…
Distribution network topology detection and state estimation in real-time are critical for modern distribution systems management and control. However, number of sensors in distribution networks are limited and communication links between switch devices and distribution management system are not well-established. In this regard, this paper proposes mixed-integer quadratic programming (MIQP) formulations to determine the topology of distribution network and estimate distribution system states simultaneously using micro-phasor measurement units (micro-PMUs) and smart meter data. Two approaches b…
Dynamic state and parameter estimation (DSE) plays a key role for reliably monitoring and operating future, power-electronics-dominated power systems. While DSE is a very active research field, experimental applications of proposed algorithms to real-world systems remain scarce. This motivates the present paper, in which we demonstrate the effectiveness of a DSE algorithm previously presented by parts of the authors with real-world data collected by a Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) at a substation close to a power plant within the extra-high voltage grid of Germany. To this end, at first we der…
Optimal Power Flow (OPF) is an important tool used to coordinate assets in electric power systems to ensure customer voltages are within pre-defined tolerances and to improve distribution system operations. While convex relaxations of Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problems have been proposed for both balanced and unbalanced networks, these approaches do not provide universal convexity guarantees and scale inefficiently as network size and the number of constraints increase. To address these issues, we have recently explored a novel linearized OPF formulation for unbalanced distribution systems. Our…
Voltage control devices are employed in power distribution systems to reduce the power consumption by operating the system closer to the lower acceptable voltage limits; this technique is called conservation voltage reduction (CVR). The different modes of operation for system's legacy devices (with binary control) and new devices (e.g. smart inverters with continuous control) coupled with variable photovoltaic (PV) generation results in voltage fluctuations which makes it challenging to achieve CVR objective. This paper presents a two-timescale control of feeder's voltage control devices to ac…
As a typical approach of demand response (DR), direct load control (DLC) enables load service entity (LSE) to adjust electricity usage of home-end customers for peak shaving during DLC event. Households are connected in low voltage distribution networks, which is three phase unbalanced. However, existing works have not considered the network constraints and operational constraints of three phase unbalanced distribution systems, thus may ending up with decisions that deviate from reality or even infeasible in real world. This paper proposes residential DLC considering associated constraints of …
The need for flexibility and curtailable resources is crucial for ensuring the healthy operation of future distribution networks (DN). In this work, we propose a network-state driven framework that distribution system operators (DSOs) can utilize for activating flexible and curtailable resources for alleviating network voltage and thermal issues, while accounting for network voltage and current imbalances. This approach assumes the availability of dynamic network state information and uses nodal sensitivities for calculating a flexibility activation signal (FAS). The signal design is motivated…
We propose an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based algorithm for coordinating the charge and discharge of electric vehicles (EVs) to manage grid voltages while minimizing EV time-of-use energy costs. We prove that by including a Communication-Censored strategy, the algorithm maintains its solution integrity, while reducing peer-to-peer communications. By means of a case study on a representative unbalanced two node circuit, we demonstrate that our proposed Communication-Censored-ADMM (CC-ADMM) EV charging strategy reduces peer-to-peer communications by up to 80%, compared t…
This paper proposes an efficient algorithmic approach that overcomes the critical challenges in the real-time unbalanced distribution system state estimation, topology error processing, and outage identification simultaneously: (1) Limited locations of measurement devices and unsynchronized measurement data as well as missing and bad data, (2) Complicated mixed-phase switch actions and mutual impedances, and (3) the nonlinear nature of unbalanced distribution system power flow and measurement data . A single snap-shot mixed-integer quadratic programming (MIQP) optimization framework is propose…
The economic dispatch problem is considered for unbalanced three-phase power distribution networks entailing both non-deferrable and elastic loads, and distributed generation (DG) units. The objective is to minimize the costs of power drawn from the main grid and supplied by the DG units over a given time horizon, while meeting the overall load demand and effecting voltage regulation. Similar to optimal power flow counterparts for balanced systems, the resultant optimization problem is nonconvex. Nevertheless, a semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation technique is advocated to obtain a (rela…
This paper presents a convex, multi-period, AC-feasible Optimal Power Flow (OPF) framework that robustly dispatches flexible demand-side resources in unbalanced distribution feeders against uncertainty in very-short timescale solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) forecasts. This is valuable for power systems with significant behind-the-meter solar PV generation as their operation is affected by uncertainty from forecasts of demand and solar PV generation. The aim of this work is then to ensure the feasibility and reliability of distribution system operation under high solar PV penetration. We develop and p…
The rapidly transforming electric power distribution system due to the integration of distributed energy resources(DERs) specifically roof-top photovoltaic (PV) generation may lead to significant operational challenges. In this paper, we address the challenges related to variable power generation profile from PV resources leading to voltage fluctuations at the secondary feeder level. The objective is to develop local smart inverter control methods to reduce the voltage fluctuations at distribution buses using reactive power support. Towards this goal, an approach based on the power flow measur…
Unbalance issues in low-voltage distribution networks (LVDN) can be worsened by increasing penetration of residential PV generation if unevenly distributed among three phases. To address this issue, the phase-switching device (PSD) provides a viable and efficient method by dynamically switching customers to other phases. This paper further investigates how to optimize residential phase connections by controlling PSDs efficiently. The optimization problem is formulated as a mixed-integer non-convex programming (MINCP) problem considering relevant operational requirements of an LVDN based on the…
We present a method for joint phase identification and topology recovery in unbalanced three phase radial networks using only voltage measurements. By recovering phases and topology jointly, we utilize all three phase voltage measurements and can handle networks where some buses have a subset of three phases. Our method is theoretically justified by a novel linearized formulation of unbalanced three phase power flow and makes precisely defined and reasonable assumptions on line impedances and load statistics. We validate our method on three IEEE test networks simulated under realistic conditio…
Uncertainty and variability of renewable energy sources present an imperative technical challenge for Electrical Distribution Utilities. Power Quality indices represent quality of energy delivered and reliability. In this work, a control strategy design for real-time PQ management in active distribution systems is presented. The present work addresses management of voltage fluctuations induced by the variability in renewable generation. A zero energy reserve approach to tackle fluctuations of renewable energy generators is developed. The power consumption of flexible loads is modulated to redu…
With increasing penetrations of single-phase, rooftop solar PV installations, the relative variations in per-phase loading and associated voltage unbalance are expected to increase. High voltage unbalance may increase network losses and lead to failure of three-phase equipment such as motor loads. However, solar PV panels are connected to the grid through inverters, which can provide reactive power support and may mitigate some of these negative effects. In this paper, we utilize a three-phase AC optimal power flow (OPF) formulation to minimize voltage unbalance using reactive power from solar…
Linear Single- and Three-Phase Voltage Forecasting and Bayesian State Estimation with Limited Sensing
AI Now Institute at New York University（纽约大学AI研究所）；Alliander（阿利安德）；Grid Integration Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室电网集成组）；Energy & Resources Group at UC Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校能源与资源小组）；Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校电气工程和计算机科学系）
