Multi-area network analysis

After the deregulation of the power systems, the large-scale power systems may contain several areas. Each area has its own control center and each control center may have its own state estimator which processes the measurements received from its local substations. When scheduling power transactions, which involve several control areas a system-wide state estimation solution is needed. In this dissertation, an estimation approach which coordinates locally obtained decentralized estimates while improving bad data processing capability at the area boundaries is presented. It is assumed that synchronized phasor measurements from different area buses are available in addition to the conventional measurements provided by the substation remote terminal units. The estimator with hierarchical structure is implemented and tested using different measurement configurations for two systems having 118 and 4520 buses. Furthermore, we apply this multi-area solution scheme to the problem of Total Transfer Capability (TTC) calculation. In a restructured power system, the sellers and buyers of power transactions may be located in different areas. Computation of TTC will then require system-wide studies. We investigate a multi-area solution scheme, which takes advantage of the system-wide calculated Power Transfer Distribution Factors (PTDF) in order for each area to calculate its own TTC while a central entity coordinates these results to determine the final value. The proposed problem formulation and its solution algorithm are presented. 30 and 4520 bus test systems are used to demonstrate the approach and numerically verify the proposed TTC calculation method.