Improving Power Flow Robustness via Circuit Simulation Methods

TL;DR

This paper introduces circuit simulation techniques to improve the robustness and convergence of power flow calculations in large power systems, overcoming previous limitations with complex I-V formulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel split equivalent circuit approach that ensures robust convergence for complex I-V based power flow methods across diverse system configurations.

Findings

Demonstrates global convergence on systems with up to 10,000 buses.

Achieves consistent convergence from arbitrary initial conditions.

Outperforms traditional methods in convergence reliability.

Abstract

Recent advances in power system simulation have included the use of complex rectangular current and voltage (I-V) variables for solving the power flow and three-phase power flow problems. This formulation has demonstrated superior convergence properties over conventional polar coordinate based formulations for three-phase power flow, but has failed to replicate the same advantages for power flow in general due to convergence issues with systems containing PV buses. In this paper, we demonstrate how circuit simulation techniques can provide robust convergence for any complex I-V formulation that is derived from our split equivalent circuit representation. Application to power grid test systems with up to 10000 buses demonstrates consistent global convergence to the correct physical solution from arbitrary initial conditions.