Improving Voltage Profile of the Nigerian Power Grid

TL;DR

This paper presents a framework for adjusting generator voltage setpoints to improve the Nigerian power grid's voltage profile, reducing collapse risk and enhancing resilience through real-world case studies.

Contribution

It introduces a circuit-theoretic optimization method for re-dispatching voltage setpoints, specifically tailored for improving grid stability in Nigeria.

Findings

Improved voltage profiles in Nigerian grid test cases.

Enhanced grid resilience and security after re-dispatch.

Demonstrated effectiveness through contingency analysis.

Abstract

Extreme voltages at the system nodes are one of the primary causes for total and partial collapse of the Nigerian grid. In this paper, we develop a framework to re-dispatch the voltage set-points of committed generators in the grid to improve the voltage profile of the system nodes thus lowering the likelihood of a grid collapse. This framework is an extension of circuit-theoretic formulation that can robustly solve general-purpose grid optimization problems. In the results section, we re-dispatch the voltage setpoints for committed generators in real-life Nigerian grid operation and planning test cases to improve the overall voltage profile of the grid. We further demonstrate that the re-dispatched grid is more resilient and secure than the base case through running contingency analyses.