EE 369

POWER SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Lecture 12
Power Flow
Tom Overbye and Ross Baldick

Announcements

Homework 9 is: 3.47, 3.49, 3.53, 3.57,

3.61, 6.2, 6.9, 6.13, 6.14, 6.18, 6.19,
6.20; due November 7. (Use infinity norm
and epsilon = 0.01 for any problems
where norm or stopping criterion not
specified.)
Read Chapter 12, concentrating on
sections 12.4 and 12.5.
Homework 10 is 6.23, 6,25, 6.26, 6.28,
6.29, 6.30 (see figure 6.18 and table 6.9
for system), 6.31, 6.38, 6.42, 6.46, 6.52,
2

Power System Planning

Source: Midwest ISO MTEP08 Report

MISO Generation Queue

Source: Midwest ISO MTEP08 Report

MISO Conceptual EHV

Overlay

Black lines are DC, blue lines are 765kV, red are 500 kV

Source: Midwest ISO MTEP08 Report

ERCOT
Also has considerable wind
and expecting considerable
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Energy Zones study identified
most promising wind sites,
Building around $5 billion
(original estimate, now closer
to $7 billion) of transmission to
support an additional 11 GW of
6

CREZ Transmission Lines

NR Application to Power
Flow
We first need to rewrite complex power equations
as equations with real coefficients (we've seen this earlier):

* *
Y
V

V
Y
ik k
i ikVk
k 1

k 1
These can be derived by defining

Si

Vi I i*

Vi

Yik @ Gik jBik

Vi @ Vi e

ji

Vi i

ik @ i k
Recall e j cos j sin
8

Real Power Balance

Equations n
n
Si Pi jQi Vi Yik*Vk*
k 1

Vi Vk

k 1

jik
V
V
e
(Gik jBik )
i k

k 1

(cos ik j sin ik )(Gik jBik )

Resolving into the real and imaginary parts:

Pi
Qi

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sin ik ) PGi PDi

k 1
n

Vi Vk (Gik sin ik Bik cosik ) QGi QDi

k 1

Newton-Raphson Power
Flow
In the Newton-Raphson power flow we use Newton's
method to determine the voltage magnitude and angle at
each bus in the power system that satisfies power balance.
We need to solve the power balance equations:
n

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sin ik ) PGi PDi 0

k 1
n

Vi Vk (Gik sin ik Bik cosik ) QGi QDi 0

k 1

10

Power Flow Variables

For convenience, write:
Pi ( x )
Qi ( x )

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sin ik )

k 1
n

Vi Vk (Gik sin ik Bik cosik )

k 1

The power balance equations are then:

Pi ( x ) PGi PDi 0
Qi ( x ) QGi QDi 0
11

Power Flow Variables

Assume the slack bus is the first bus (with a fixed
voltage angle/magnitude). We then need to determine
the voltage angle/magnitude at the other buses.
We must solve f ( x ) 0, where:
2
M

n
x
V 2

M
V
n

P2 ( x ) PG 2 PD 2

Pn ( x ) PGn PDn
f (x )
Q2 ( x ) QG 2 QD 2

Q (x) Q Q
n
Gn
Dn
12

N-R Power Flow Solution

The power flow is solved using the same procedure
discussed previously for general equations:
For v 0; make an initial guess of x, x (0)
While f (x ( v ) ) Do
x
v
End

( v 1)

(v)

x [J (x
v 1

(v)

)] f ( x

(v)

13

Power Flow Jacobian Matrix

The most difficult part of the algorithm is determining
and factorizing the Jacobian matrix, J(x)

J (x )

f1
(x )
x1

f1
(x)
x2

f 2
(x )
x1

f 2
(x)
x2

f1
( x )
x2 n 2

f 2
( x )
x2 n 2

M
f 2 n 2
( x )
x2 n2

f 2 n 2
f 2 n 2
(x)
(x) L

x2
x1
14

Power Flow Jacobian Matrix,

contd
Jacobian elements are calculated by differentiating
each function, fi ( x), with respect to each variable.

For example, if fi ( x) is the bus i real power equation

fi ( x)

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sinik ) PGi PDi

k 1

fi
( x)
i

fi
( x)
j

Vi V j (Gij sin ij Bij cosij ) ( j i )

Vi Vk (Gik sinik Bik cosik )

k 1
k i

15

Two Bus Newton-Raphson

Example

For the two bus power system shown below, use t

Newton-Raphson power flow to determine the
voltage magnitude and angle at bus two. Assume
that bus one is the slack and SBase =100MVA.
Line Z = 0.1j

One

1.000 pu

Two

1.000 pu

0 MW
0 MVR

2
Unkown: x ,
V2

200 MW
100 MVR

Also, Ybus

j10 j10

j
10

j
10

16

Two Bus Example, contd

General power balance equations:
n

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sin ik ) PGi PDi 0

k 1
n

Vi Vk (Gik sin ik Bik cosik ) QGi QDi 0

k 1

For bus two, the power balance equations are

(load real power is 2.0 per unit,
while reactive power is 1.0 per unit):
V2 V1 (10sin 2 ) 2.0 0
2

V2 V1 ( 10cos 2 ) V2 (10) 1.0 17 0

Two Bus Example, contd

P2 ( x ) 2.0

V2 (10sin 2 ) 2.0

Q2 ( x ) 1.0

V2 ( 10cos 2 ) V2 (10) 1.0

Now calculate the power flow Jacobian

P2 ( x )
2

J(x)

P2
( x)
V2

Q2
Q2
( x)
( x)
2
V2
10 V2 cos 2
10sin 2

10 V2 sin 2 10cos 2 20 V2
18

Two Bus Example, First

Iteration
2(0)
0

For v 0, guess x (0)

f (x

(0)

J (x

(0)

. Calculate:
1

V2(0) (10sin 2(0) ) 2.0

V (0)
2

10 V2(0) cos 2(0)

10 V2(0) sin 2(0)

(1)

2.0

1.0

(0)
(0) 2
( 10cos 2 ) V2
(10) 1.0

Solve x

V2(0)

0 10 0

10
1
0

10sin 2(0)
(0)
10cos 2
1

2.0
1.0

(0)
20 V2

0.2

190.9

10 0

0
10

Two Bus Example, Next

Iterations
0.9(10sin( 0.2)) 2.0
0.212

0.279
2
0.9( 10cos( 0.2)) 0.9 10 1.0

8.82 1.986
1.788 8.199

(1)

f (x )

J (x (1) )
x

(2)

0.2
0.9

f (x (2) )

f (x

(3)

8.82 1.986
0.212

1.788 8.199

0.279

0.0145
0.236

(3)
x

0.8554

0.0190

0.233

0.8586

0.0000906
)
Close enough! V2 0.8554 13.52

0.0001175
20

Two Bus Solved Values

Once the voltage angle and magnitude at bus 2 are

known we can calculate all the other system values
such as the line flows and the generator reactive
power output
200.0 MW
168.3 MVR

One

-200.0 MW
-100.0 MVR

Line Z = 0.1j

1.000 pu
200.0 MW
168.3 MVR

Two

0.855 pu -13.522 Deg

200 MW
100 MVR

21

Two Bus Case Low Voltage

Solution
This case actually has two solutions! The second
"low voltage" is found by using a low initial guess.
Set v 0, guess x

f (x

(0)

J (x

(0)

(0)

. Calculate:

0.25

V2(0) (10sin 2(0) ) 2.0

V (0)
2

2

0.875

(0)
(0 ) 2

( 10cos 2 ) V2
(10) 1.0
10sin 2(0)

10 V2(0) sin 2(0)

10cos 2(0) 20 V2(0)

10 V2(0) cos 2(0)

22

2.5 0

Low Voltage Solution, cont'd

1

0 2.5 0
2
Solve x

0 5
0.875
0.25

1.42
1.462

(2)
(2)
(3)
f (x )
x
x

0.534
0.2336

(1)

0.8
0.075

0.921

0.220

Low voltage solution

200.0 MW
831.7 MVR

One

-200.0 MW
-100.0 MVR

Line Z = 0.1j

1.000 pu
200.0 MW
831.7 MVR

Two

0.261 pu -49.914 Deg

200 MW
100 MVR
23

Two Bus Region of

Convergence
Graph shows the region of convergence for
different initial
guesses of bus 2 angle (horizontal axis) and
Red region
magnitude (vertical axis).
converges
to the high
voltage
solution,
while the
yellow region
converges
to the low
voltage
solution

24

Maximum
of 15
iterations

PV Buses
Since the voltage magnitude at PV
buses is fixed there is no need to
explicitly include these voltages in x
nor write the reactive power
balance equations:
the reactive power output of the
generator varies to maintain the fixed
terminal voltage (within limits), so we
can just set the reactive power product
to whatever is needed.
An alternative is these
25
variations/equations can be included

Three Bus PV Case Example

For this three bus case we have
2
x 3

V2

P2 (x) PG 2 PD 2
f (x) P3 (x) PG 3 PD 3 0

Q2 (x) QD 2
Line Z = 0.1j

0.941 pu
One
170.0 MW
68.2 MVR

1.000 pu

Line Z = 0.1j

Three

Two

Line Z = 0.1j

-7.469 Deg
200 MW
100 MVR

1.000 pu
30 MW
63 MVR

26

PV Buses
With Newton-Raphson, PV buses
means that there are less unknown
variables we need to calculate
explicitly and less equations we need
to satisfy explicitly.
Reactive power balance is satisfied
implicitly by choosing reactive power
production to be whatever is needed,
once we have a solved case (like real
power at the slack bus).
27

Modeling Voltage
Dependent Load

So far we've assumed that the load is independent of

the bus voltage (i.e., constant power). However, the
power flow can be easily extended to include voltage
dependence with both the real and reactive load. This
is done by making PDi and QDi a function of Vi :
n

Vi Vk (Gik cosik Bik sin ik ) PGi PDi ( Vi ) 0

k 1
n

Vi Vk (Gik sin ik Bik cosik ) QGi QDi ( Vi ) 0

k 1

28

Voltage Dependent Load

Example
In previous two bus example now assume the load is
constant impedance, with corresponding per unit
admittance of 2.0 j1.0 :
2

P2 ( x ) 2.0 V2 V2 (10sin 2 ) 2.0 V2

2

Q2 ( x ) 1.0 V2 V2 ( 10cos 2 ) V2 (10) 1.0 V2 0

Now calculate the power flow Jacobian
10 V2 cos 2
J(x)
10 V2 sin 2

10sin 2 4.0 V2

10cos 2 20 V2 2.0 V2
29

Voltage Dependent Load,

cont'd
(0)
0

Again for v 0, guess x

f (x

(0)

V2(0)

J (x

(0)

Solve x

(1)

(0)

. Calculate:
1

(0)
V2

(0)
(0) 2
(10sin 2 ) 2.0 V2

2.0

2
2

1.0

V2(0) ( 10cos 2(0) ) V2(0) (10) 1.0 V2(0)
10 4
0 12
0

1

10 4

0
12

2.0
1.0

0.1667

0.9167

30

Voltage Dependent Load,

cont'd
With constant impedance load the MW/MVAr load a

bus 2 varies with the square of the bus 2 voltage

magnitude. This if the voltage level is less than 1.
the load is lower than 200/100 MW/MVAr.
160.0 MW
120.0 MVR

One

-160.0 MW
-80.0 MVR

Line Z = 0.1j

1.000 pu
160.0 MW
120.0 MVR

Two

0.894 pu
-10.304 Deg
160 MW
80 MVR

In practice, load is the sum of constant power,

constant impedance, and, in some cases,
31
constant current load terms: ZIP load.

Solving Large Power

Systems
Most difficult computational task is
inverting the Jacobian matrix (or solving
the update equation):
factorizing a full matrix is an order n3
operation, meaning the amount of
computation increases with the cube of the
size of the problem.
this amount of computation can be decreased
substantially by recognizing that since Ybus is
a sparse matrix, the Jacobian is also a sparse
matrix.
using sparse matrix methods results
32
in a

Newton-Raphson Power
Flow
Advantages
fast convergence as long as initial guess is close
to solution
large region of convergence

Disadvantages
each iteration takes much longer than a GaussSeidel iteration
more complicated to code, particularly when
implementing sparse matrix algorithms

Newton-Raphson algorithm is very common

in power flow analysis.
33