Electrical Power & Energy Systems, Vol. 18, No. 7, pp.
461-468, 1996
ELSEVIER PII: S0142-0615(96)00004-X
Optimal reactive power dispatch
algorithm for voltage stability
improvement
Bansilal, D Thukaram and K Parthasarathy
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 01 2, India
This paper presents an algorithm for monitoring and
improving voltage stability in power systems for a base
case and credible contfllgency conditions. The monitoring
methodology proposed here is based on the L-index of load
buses. This index uses ~!nformation on a normal load flow
and is in the range of O (no load of system) to 1 (voltage
collapse). The control clgainst voltage collapse is based on
minimizing the sum of the squares of L-indices for a given
system operating cond#ion. The proposed algorithm gives
an optimal setting of various control devices like generator
excitation, switchable VAR compensators and OLTC trans-
formers. The algorithm also identifies critical OL TCs that
should be made manual to avoid possible voltage instability
due to their operation based on voltage improvement
criteria under peak load conditions. The proposed algor-
ithm has been tested under simulated conditions on a
number of real lndian power systems and the results
obtained for a 24-node E H V Indian power network and
for a modified IEEE 30-bus system are included for illus-
tration purposes. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Keywords: voltage stability, L-index, least squares mini-
mization
I, Introduction
With the increased loading of existing power transmis-
sion systems, the problem of voltage stability and voltage
collapse, has become a major concern in power system
planning and operation. The voltage collapse phenom-
enon can be related to the action of OLTC transformers,
current limiters of generators, inadequate reactive power
supply (at least locally) and load characteristics at low
voltage magnitude. Vo]Ltagecollapse is characterized by a
slow variation in the system operating point, due to
increase in the loads, in such a way that the voltage
magnitude gradually decreases until a sharp accelerated
change occurs. It has been observed that voltage
Received 6 July 1995; revised 7 September 1995; accepted 16
November 1995
461
Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0142-0615/96/$15.00+ 0.00
magnitudes do not give a good indicator of proximity
to a voltage stability limit 1
Voltage collapse analysis involves both static and
dynamic factors. From a system operator's viewpoint a
stressed (heavily loaded) system has to be carefully
monitored and adequate control action taken when the
operating point approaches the limit of voltage stability.
In the day-to-day operation and control of power systems
these decisions require very fast computations in the
energy control centre. As dynamic computations are
time consuming (CPU time), the static aspects of voltage
stability are of great importance to system security and
stability assessment. In the recent literature many voltage
stability and voltage collapse prediction methods have
been presented. These methods are:
• voltage collapse index based on closely located power
flow solution pairs2;
• voltage collapse index based on sensitivity analysis3;
• voltage collapse index based on a normal load flow
solution (L-index)4;
• minimum singular value (MSV) of the Newton-Raph-
son power flow Jacobian matrixS'6;
• voltage collapse index based on the optimal impedance
solution at maximum power transfer v.
While the different methods listed above give a general
picture of the proximity of the system to voltage collapse,
the index proposed in Reference 4 gives a scalar number
to each load bus, called the L-index. This index value
ranges from 0 (no load of system) to 1 (voltage collapse).
The bus with the highest L-index value will be the most
vulnerable bus in the system and hence this method helps
in identifying the weak areas in the system which need
critical reactive power support. Among the different
indices for voltage stability and voltage collapse predic-
tion the L-index gives fairly consistent results. The
advantage of this method lies in the simplicity of the
numerical calculations and expressiveness of the results.
Different methods have been proposed in the literature
to improve the voltage stability margin. Zalapa and
Cory 8 partition the system into reactive areas and identify
a vulnerable node for each reactive area. Proximity
462 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement. Bansilal et al

indicators (Q-distances) to low voltage and voltage col- values Fji are obtained from the Y-bus matrix as follows
lapse conditions are then evaluated for the vulnerable
nodes. A control strategy is then formulated using sensi-
tivity techniques for increasing the Q-distance to low
voltage and voltage collapse. T. Kumano e t al. 9 monitor
= L (2)
the system voltage collapse based upon multiple load flow where i G, [L and 12~, 1'~L represents currents and vol-
solutions and sensitivity analyses. A suboptimal preven- tages at the generator nodes and load nodes. Rearranging
tive control is then formulated to shift the operating point equation (2) we get
with the aim of increasing the total demand margin
between the current operating point and the critical
load flow point. F. Bourgin et al. l0 present a comprehen-
sive summary on the present practices and trends from
fG = L/~GL I~GGJ ~7"G ] (3)

planning real time operations to prevent voltage collapse Where p L G = _[I?LL]-I[I?LC] are the required values.
in French power systems (EDF). A. M. Chebbo et al] 1 The L-indices for a given load condition are computed
have formulated an LP technique using a voltage collapse for all load buses and the maximum of the L-indices gives
index7 to improve voltage stability. the proximity of the system to voltage collapse. An L-
This paper presents a nonlinear least squares optimiza- index value away from 1 and close to 0 indicates an
tion algorithm for improving the voltage stability margin improved voltage stability margin. The equation for the
based on the L-index of Reference 4. The control L-index for the jth node can be rewritten as
variables considered are switchable VAR compensators,
OLTC transformers and generator excitation. The model g
used for the power system includes limits for reactive Lj = 1.o - Z FJ, v' zoj, + - 6
power generation at generators, load characteristics and i=1 Vj
generation control characteristics. Generally, in reactive
power dispatch the objective is either to minimize real Lj : 1.0-- + vi r 67 )
power losses or to minimize the deviations of voltages vj ( +
from desired values. The objective in the proposed algo-
"32 r g "32
rithm is to minimize the sum of the squares of the L- g V~Fr| It", V~Fml
indices at all or a subset of critical nodes (from a voltage L2= I'0-Z~Ji=I yi] + k ~ j'iJ (4)
stability point of view) in the system. Results obtained
from the proposed algorithm are compared with The objective function selected is
• the minimum singular value (MSV) of the modified
power flow Jacobian matrix, GsS; minJ(X) = t L2
• the loss minimization algorithm 14, and j=g+ '
• the V-P nose curve and P-Q curve.
The increase of the load margin to voltage collapse is (5)
,=1 g F j ,
demonstrated. The proposed algorithm identifies critical
OLTC transformers which should be made manual to
improve the voltage stability margin under stressed oper- Where X = [Vl, V2,..., Vn]. In equation (4) for the L-
ating conditions. A typical set of results for the base case index the bus angles can be considered to be constant for
and contingency conditions are presented for a 24-node a given load condition, while the ~i values are fixed for a
EHV Indian power network and a modified IEEE 30-bus given network configuration. Hence the only variables
system. are system node voltage magnitudes. Generator voltages
are control variables and load voltages can be expressed
as a function of the reactive power control variables. The
condition for the minimum of J(X) is VxJ(X) = 0. Where
II. P r o b l e m f o r m u l a t i o n
Consider a system where: [os(x)/ov,]
n is the total number of buses with
1,2,..., g generator buses (g),
g + l , g + 2 , . . . , g + s SVC buses (s),
VxS(X) =
oJ(X!/ow
I
g + s + 1,..., n remaining buses (r = n - g - s)
t number of OLTC transformers
oJ(X)/ov, j
A load flow result is obtained for a given system
operating condition which is otherwise available from VxJ(X) = 2H~bR + 2H~bM
the output of the on-line state estimator. The load flow where
algorithm incorporates the load characteristics and the
generator control characteristics12'13. Using the load flow g V.
results the L-index4 is computed as ,o- Z
Lj = 1 - Zg Fji ~JJf'i (1) bR =
i=1
V1 Fr
wherej = g + 1 , . . . , n and all the terms within the sigma 1.0 - ~ --~. ni
on the RHS of equation (1) are complex quantities. The i=1 n
 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement." Bansilal et al 463

either QR transformations or Moore-Penrose matrix

V1 cm
Vg+'--~l" (g+l)i
inverse techniques•

bM = I1.1 Algorithmic steps

Step 1. Read the system data.
g 1/.
X-" "~FS. Step 2. Form network matrices•
i~=lgn m Step 3. Perform initial power flow.
Step 4. Compute L-index for all the load nodes and
-Firg+l)l/ Vg+l -F JV. hence find max L-index.
Step 5. If max L-index is within acceptable limits (as per
utility practice) then go to step 11.
-r dvo Step 6. Compute [H'] matrix and [b] vector.
-Firg+l)g/Vg+l
Step 7. Solve for control variables using equation (10).
g
2 r Step 8. The control variables are adjusted for a suitable
Z ( V i / V ( g + l ) )Fig+l>i 0 0 step size.
i=1
Step 9. Control variables are updated and checked for
their limits. If no scope for controller change
g exists then go to step 11.
0 Vn)Fni Step 10. Perform power flow and go to step 4.
i=1 Step 11. Print the results•

Fig+l>l/Vg+l ... Fnml/Vn

III. E f f e c t o f O L T C o n voltage stability
Generally in reactive power dispatch the objective func-
Fig+,)g/'Vg+, ... F~/V,, tion selected for optimization are
g
= 2 m • minimization of real power losses in the system (Objec-
- y~(Vi/Vig+l))F~g+l)i 0 0
i=1
tive Ploss);
• minimization of voltage deviations from desired vol-
tage values (Objective Vdesired).
g
0 0 - Z(V,/V 2
)rn,m Both the objectives achieve their desired minimum by
i=l optimal control of the reactive power control variables•
To make VxJ(X) equal zero, Newton's method is applied The control recommended while achieving its objective
which gives correction,; required for the control variables may in certain cases actually deteriorate the system
as, voltage stability condition under stressed conditions
especially when using OLTC transformers. While
OLTC transformers improve the voltage profile at the
= [-VxJ(X)] load end (especially with objective Vdesired)by lowering of
the tap position (boost to low voltage side), this may lead
The Jacobian of ~TxJ(X) is calculated by treating HR and to voltage instability conditions due to inadequate reac-
HM as a constant matrix and we obtain tive power support. Hence from the system security point
AX = [2H~HR + 2H~HM]-' [-2H~bR - 2H~bM] of view an objective function which incorporates an
improvement of the voltage stability margin is found to
(6) be necessary. As the L-index value indicates the proximity
Hence we can write of the system to voltage collapse we have selected mini-
mization of the sum of the square of the L-indices as the
l U S H R + H ~ I H M ] A X = [ - n ~ b R - n~lbM] (7) objective as indicated in equation (5). This objective
This reduces to the form recommends optimal control of the reactive power con-
trol variables such that the overall system voltage stabi-
[Z] [<XX] = [b] (8) lity is improved•
Where AX = [A VGA )~]t. Equation (8) can be written as In case of the objective Vdesired the controller action,
especially the direction of tap change recommended may
[He] [AVe] + [HL][A,VL] = [b] (9)
be opposite to the tap change direction recommended by
A VL is expressed in terms of the reactive power control the proposed objective. This is because the objective Vd~i~ed
variables (see AppendiLx for details) and hence equation tries to improve the secondary side voltage by recommend-
(9) can be rewritten as ing tap reduction, but under heavy load conditions this may
actually deteriorate the system voltage stability margin.
Hence the proposed objective also helps in identifying the
+ [HL][S] ZXVa = [b] critical OLTCs which should be made manual to avoid
LAQsj the possibility of voltage instability conditions due to the
operation of OLTC transformers based exclusively on
voltage magnitude improvement criteria•
[H'] AVe
i]
L~xQsJ
= [b] (10)
IV. Approach
Equation (10) is solved for the control variables using Network security analysis and optimization form the core
464 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement." Bansilal et al

I State ] Network
estimator
overloads ,9
output

+
Phase shifters
hvdc links
P rescheduling
no
Corrective Voltage 9 I T2 8
control violations

Credible
contingencies
~
obj Vdesire d
SVC'S
oltc's
gen excitation
-I-
~141"3
24 22

Voltage -I I
stability I ll-- T 17
no
Preventive
control ~
obj Vstability
svc's
oltc's
gen excitation
_1 28 l
Figure 1. Block schematic of some functions in ECC Figure 2. Single line diagram of IEEE 30-bus system
functions in a modern ECC. Figure 1 shows a block
schematic of a few functions performed in the ECC. The
system status is obtained from the output of the on-line
state estimator. The output of the state estimator is
T1
checked for limit violations and if the system is insecure 5-r
then corrective control action has to be taken. If the
system is operating in a secure state, then the system is
subjected to a subset of credible contingencies and the 6
system status is evaluated. After a contingency study, if
the system status indicates insecure operation then sui-
T3
table preventive control action has to be formulated.
If network overloads are present, then different control
strategies can be adopted for overload alleviation as
indicated in block A. If voltage violations are present
T9
then the objective usually used is to minimize the voltage 14 --r--a~
deviations from the desired values as indicated in block B.
As present-day power systems operate under stressed
conditions, maintaining and improving voltage stability
has gained prime importance. Hence the proposed algo- S-~19
rithm for voltage stability improvement can be incorpo- 12 i TlO
rated in an ECC as indicated by block C in Figure 1. For T6 ~ - ~
an operating condition the operator may obtain the 15
T8,
optimal control of both blocks B and C, and if the
directions of the suggested controller action are contra-
dictory, especially in the case of OLTCs, then such
controller movements are either blocked or made
manual to prevent the possibility of a voltage collapse.
The outputs of blocks A, B and C can be used as a Figure 3. Single line diagram of 24-bus system
decision support aid for the operator in an ECC to take Table 1. System data
suitable control actions for improving voltage stability
and secure system operation. 24-node 30-bus
system system
V. R e s u l t s a n d d i s c u s s i o n s No. of generators 4 6
The developed algorithm has been tested on a number of No. of transformers 11 4
actual Indian power systems under simulated conditions. No. of t lines 16 37
A typical set of results for a 24-node EHV 400 kV Indian P-generation (Mw) 2682 144.4
network and a modified IEEE 30-bus system are pre- P-load (Mw) 2620 137.5
sented. The single-line diagrams of the two test systems Q-load (Mvar) 871.0 70.0
are as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The system size details
are given in Table 1. For all the results presented the
control variables like switchable VAR compensators, Case 1 24-node system, base case condition
OLTC transformers and generator excitation are initially The system voltage profile and L-index values before
at their nominal values. and after optimization for peak load conditions of the
 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement." Bansilal et al 465

24-node system for the. base case condition are as shown reduction of about 30%. The minimum singular value
in Figure 4. The controller settings and system parameters (MSV) of the modified power flow Jacobian also
are indicated in Table 2. As indicated from Table 2 and increases from 3.044 to 3.787 thus indicating an improve-
Figure 4 the maximum L-index value at node 24 decreases ment in the voltage stability margin for the system under
from 0.499 to 0.421, a reduction of about 14% and the peak load conditions. The minimum voltage of the system
overall system index decreases from 2.114 to 1.551 a also improves from 0.877 to 0.91.
The V-P nose curve for initial and optimal controller
1.2 -- settings for uniform load increase throughout the system
is as shown in Figure 5. For the initial controller settings
voltage collapse occurs at 118.5% of its peak load (2620
1.0 - : • • "- + : =+":: ~ +• ~ .
+ MW), while for the optimal controller settings, voltage
+ + +
collapse occurs at 128.1% of its peak load. Thus an
•-l
,d
0.8 increase of 9.6% (251.52MW) in the load margin is
realized. The P-Q curve for generator 4 for initial and
0.6 optimal controller settings is as shown in Figure 6. The
0 optimal controller settings gives an additional margin for
o 0 0
0.4 __ 0 x 0 x x reactive power generation at 4. A similar improvement
"3
0 ×
0 0
x
0
0
x 0 0x is observed at other generators.
> x 0 x x
0 x The V-P nose curve for load increase at the most
0.2 × 9 9
9~ critical node (node 24) is as shown in Figure 7. The initial
O
load at node 24 is 180 M W and 70 MVAR. The load is
0 I I I I I I 1 I I I
4 6 8 l0 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
increased in steps maintaining the same power factor. For
the initial controller settings voltage collapse occurs when
Nodes
the load at node 24 is 412 MW, while for the optimal
Figure 4. L-index values of 24-bus system, b a s e c a s e : controller settings voltage collapse occurs when the load
0 / + initial L-index/voltage values; x / l l final L-index/ at node 24 is 526 MW. Thus an increase of 114 M W in the
voltage values load margin at node 24 is realized. The P-Q curve for
generator 4 for initial and optimal controller settings is as

Table 2. 24-bus system, controller settings

1.0

Controller Case 1 Case 2

T5 ] .0125 0.95 0.8
T6 0.975 0.95
T7 1.0 1.00
T8 (I.975 1.00 0.6

T9 1.05 1.05
>
T10 1.05 1.05
;~ 0.4 - -
Tll 0.95 0.95
V] ] .05 1.05
112 1.05 1.05 0.2 - -
V3 1.05 1.05
V4 1.05 1.05
0 I [ t [ I _1
S-7 20.0 20.0 100 106 112 118 124 130 136

S-16 5.0 15.0 % of base load

S-20 20.0 20.0 Figure 5. V-P nose curve, base case, uniform load
S-24 ].5.0 10.0
increase

Initial values
L max L24 = 0.499 L13 = 0.670 400
~L 2 2.114 2.991
v mm iv13 = 0.877 v13 = 0.790
Vmax IV1 = 1.0 V1 = 1.0 300
<
P-loss 64.01 Mw 77.43 Mw
MSV of Gs 3.044 1.987
200
6o
Final values
100
Lmax /24 = 0.421 L13 = 0.543
L2 11.551 2.067
vmm ][/'20 = 0.910 1120 = 0.893 o I I I I I I
Vmax iV9 = 1.051 V1 = 1.05 100 106 112 llS 124 130 136
P-loss 55.08 Mw 64.55 Mw % o f base load
MSV of Gs 3.787 2.785
Figure 6. P-Q curve, base case, uniform load increase
466 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement." Bansilal et al

1.0 1.2 --
r ~

1.0 -- • • ++ +
0.8 + • • • • +~ • + m • •
o
+ • + + + ++ +
_ + + 4-+
•- 0.8
0.6 4
0
0.6
o x o
0.4 -- × 0 ×
~o 0
0.4 O
0 0 0 x x ×
x 0 × x 0 0
0.2 -- 0 x 0 x ×
0.2 x x 0
o£
0 I I I I I 1 I I I I i i I I I i
180 240 300 360 420 480 540 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Load increase at n o d e 2 4 ( M W ) Nodes

Figure 7. V-P nose curve, base case, load increase at
node 24
shown in Figure 8. The optimal controller settings gives
an additional margin for reactive power generation at
generator 4. A similar improvement is observed at the
other generators.
Case 2 24-node system, line 12-17 outage contingency
Figure 9 shows the system voltage profile and L-index
values before and after optimization obtained for a line
outage (line 12-17) contingency under peak load condi-
tions. The controller settings and system parameters are
indicated in Table 2. As indicated from Table 2 and
Figure 9 the maximum L-index at node 13 decreases
from 0.67 to 0.543, a reduction of about 19% and the
overall system index decreases from 2.991 to 2.067 a
reduction of about 30%. The minimum singular value
(MSV) of the modified power flow Jacobian also
increases from 1.987 to 2.785 indicating an improvement
in the system voltage stability margin for this contingency
under peak load conditions. The minimum voltage of the
system also improves from 0.79 to 0.893.
V-P nose curve studies were carried out for this case.
For a uniform load increase throughout the system,
voltage collapse occurs at 105.5% of its peak load for
initial controller settings and at 114.8% of its peak load
for optimal controller settings. Thus an increase of 9.3 %
(243.66 MW) in load margins is realized.
V-P nose curve studies were also carried out for load
400
Figure 9. L-index values of 24-bus system, line 1 2 - 1 7
outage: 0 / / + initial L-index/voltage values; x / m final
L-index/voltage values
increase at the most critical node (node 13). The initial
load at node 13 is 450MW and 180MVAR. The load is
increased in steps maintaining the same power factor. For
the initial controller settings voltage collapse occurs when
the load at node 13 is 506 MW, while for optimal con-
troller settings voltage collapse occurs at 602 MW. Thus
an increase of 96MW in the load margin at node 13 is
realized.
Case 3 30-bus system, heavy load condition
Figure 10 shows the system voltage profile and L-index
values before and after optimization obtained for a
modified IEEE 30-bus system under a heavy load (175%
of peak load) condition. The controller settings and
system parameters are indicated in Table 3. As indicated
from Table 3 and Figure 10, the maximum L-index at
node 30 decreases from 0.408 to 0.258, a reduction of
about 35%, and the overall system index decreases from
1.084 to 0.503, a reduction of about 53%. The minimum
singular value (MSV) of the modified power flow Jaco-
bian also increases from 0.458 to 0.605, indicating an
improvement in the system voltage stability margin under
stressed conditions. The minimum voltage of the system
also improves from 0.778 to 0.983. The results obtained
1.2
mmmm m m mm m m m mmmmmm m mmm
1.0
I +4- ++ 4.+
e"
+4-4-4-+ 4-++++.i..I_ 4-
0.8 + 4-+

300 E 0.6
£

o
200 0.4
0 0
>,
0oO0 O0000 Ox x
0.2 o×××~ O×OOo×
x x ××x × ×
100 - -

0 I i i )
10 15 20 25 30
0 I I L I I I
180 240 300 360 420 480 540 Nodes
Load increase at n o d e 2 4 ( M W )
Figure 10. L-index values of 30-bus system: © / + initial
Figure 8. P-O curve, base case, load increase at node L-index/voltage values; x / i final L-index/voltage
24 values
 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement: Bansilal et al 467

Table 3. 30-bus system, controller settings Table 4. 24-bus system: only OLTC transformers
Controller Initial Vstability /°loss Initial values
T1 1.0 0.9 0.9375 L max L24 = 0.499
T2 1.0 0.9 0.9625 ~L 2 2.114
T3 1.0 0.9 0.9375 v mln v13 = 0.877
T4 1.0 0.9 0.9625 Vmax V1 = 1.0
P-loss 64.01 Mw
V1 1.0 1.05 1.05
V2 1.0 1.05 1.05 Objective Objective
V3 1.0 1.042 1.05
Controller Vdesired Vstability
V4 1.0 1.046 1.05
115 1.0 1.05 1.05 T5 0.9375 0.9375
V6 1.0 1.05 1.05 T6 0.9250 0.9375
S-10 0.0 10.0 7.0 T7 0.9750 0.9375
S-13 0.0 3.0 3.0 T8 0.9375 0.9375
S-15 0.0 5.0 5.0 T9 0.9625 0.9375
S-16 0.0 10.0 7.0 T10 0.9250 0.9375
S-18 0.0 7.0 7.0 T11 0.9500 1.0625
S-20 0.0 5.0 5.0
Final values
S-25 0.0 5.0 5.0
S-27 0.0 2.0 2.0 L max L24 ----0.4965 L24 = 0.4928
S-30 0.0 5.0 5.0 L2 2.127 2.099
L max L30 = 0.408 L30 -- 0.258 L30 = 0.284 V mm VI2 = 0.890 V12 = 0.881
E L2
. 1.084 0.503 0.579 V max V1 = 1.0 V1 -- 1.0
V mm V30 = 0.778 V30 = 0.983 1/'30 = 0.927 P-loss 63.80 Mw 64.11 Mw
Vmax V1 = 1.0 V12 = 1.066 V1 = 1.05
P-loss 24.05 Mw 20.19 Mw 19.92 Mw
MSV o f G s 0.458 0.605 0.577 2.114 to 2.127, indicating thereby a deterioration in the
system voltage stability margin. In the case of objective
Vstability the maximum L-index at node 24 decreases from
0.499 to 0.4928 and also the overall system L-index
by the loss minimization algorithm (Ploss) are also pre- decreases from 2.114 to 2.099. Here objective Vstability
sented in Table 3. The system losses (initially 24.05 Mw) recommends tap reduction at all OLTC transformers
decrease to 20.19 Mw by the proposed voltage stability except at T11 where it recommends an increase in tap.
improvement algorithra and to 19.92Mw by the loss Hence OLTC T11 is critical for the 24-node system and
minimization algorithm, thus the loss minimization algo- should be made manual to avoid possible voltage instabil-
rithm is able to achieve a higher reduction in system ity due to the operation of the OLTC transformer to
losses. The max L-index and overall system index values improve the voltage at the secondary side of the trans-
obtained by the loss minimization algorithm are 0.284 former, voltage collapse under peak load conditions.
and 0.579 respectively, which are higher than those
obtained by the proposed voltage stability improvement
algorithm. The minimum singular value of the modified VI. Conclusions
power flow Jacobian matrix is 0.577 which is lower than A reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability
that obtained by the proposed algorithm. Thus the margin improvement has been proposed. This algorithm
voltage stability improvement algorithm is able to is formulated using the L-index Reference 4. The power
increase system voltage: stability by a greater margin. system model considered incorporates limits on the reac-
Case 4 24-node system, critical OLTC identification tive power generation of generators, load characteristics
To identify critical OLTC transformers in the system and generation control characteristics. The proposed
under peak load conditions only OLTC transformers algorithm is demonstrated to give encouraging results
were used as control variables. Results were obtained for the base case and credible contingency conditions.
using two different objective functions: The results obtained are compared with minimum singu-
lar value of the modified power flow Jacobian, the loss
• minimization of voltage deviations from pre-desired minimization algorithm and concurrent results have been
values (Objective Vdesired); obtained. V-P nose curve studies are also presented and
• minimization of the sum square of L-indices for the an improvement in the load margin with respect to
system (Objective Vstability ). voltage collapse is demonstrated. The algorithm also
Results for the base case initial condition are presented in identifies critical OLTC transformers that should be
Table 4 for a 24 node system for peak load condition. All made manual under peak load conditions to prevent a
the transformer taps are at nominal value (1.0) initially. possible voltage collapse.
As indicated from Table 4, while objective Vdesire d r e c o m -
m e n d s reducing the tap at all OLTC transformers and
improves voltage profile of the system, the maximum L- VII. References
index at node 24 decreases marginally from 0.499 to 1 Clark, H K 'New challenges:Voltage stability' IEEE Power
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468 Optimal reactive power dispatch algorithm for voltage stability improvement: Bansilal et al
2 Tamura, Y, Mori, H and lwanoto, S 'Relationship between relation between the net reactive power change at any bus
voltage instability and multiple load flow solutions in due to the change in the transformer tap setting and
electric power systems' IEEE Trans. Vol. PAS-102 pp voltage magnitudes can be written as
1115-1125
3 Crisao, O and Liu, M 'Voltage collapse prediction using an
improved sensitivity approach' Elect. Power Syst. Res.
(1984) pp 181-190 AQs ] =
IA12 A3 A41r
AS A6 A7 A8 / AVs
4 Kessel, P and Glavitseh, H 'Estimating the voltage stability AOr j A9 A10 All A12 LAVr
of a power system' IEEE Trans. P W R D Vol 1 No 3 (1986)
pp 346-354 where
5 Lof, P A, Anderson, G and Hill, D J 'Voltage stability
indices of stressed power systems' IEEE Trans. P W R S [AQr] = [ A Q 1 , . . . , AQg] t
Vol 8 No 1 (1993) pp 326-335
[AQs] = [AQs+I,... , AQg+s]t
6 Tiranuehit, A and Thomas, R J 'A posturing strategy against
voltage instability in electric power systems' IEEE Trans. [AQr] = [AQg+s+l,... , AQn]t
P W R S Vol 3 No 1 (1989) pp 87-93
[ x rl = [ A T I , . . . ,mzt] t
7 Chebbo, A M, Irving, M R and Stirling, M J H 'Voltage
collapse proximity indicator: behaviour and implications' [AVG] = [AVI,... ,Avg] t
Proc. lEE C Vol 139 No 3 (1992) pp 241-252
8 Rios Zalapa, R and Cory, B J 'Reactive reserve manage-
lAYs] :
ment' Proc. lEE C Vol 142 (1995) pp 17-23 [rV,] = V, ,", v,]*
9 Kumano, T, Yokoyama, A and Sekine, Y 'Fast monitoring
and optimal preventive control of voltage instability' Int. J. The submatrices A 1 to A 12 are the corresponding terms
Elect. Power Energy Syst. Vol 16 No 2 (1994) pp 117-125 of the partial derivatives O Q / O T and OQ/OV. Transfer-
10 Bourgin, F, Testud, G, Heilbroun, B and Verseille, J 'Present ring the control variable to the right-hand side and the
practices and trends in the french power system to prevent dependent variable to the left-hand side we obtain
voltage collapse' IEEE Trans. P W R S Vol 8 No 3 (1993)
pp 778-788
11 Chebbo, A M, Irving, M R and Stirling, M J H 'Reactive LAVrJ = [S1 S2]Lr j
power dispatch incorporating voltage stability' Proc. IEE C
Vol 139 No 3 (1992) pp 253-260 where
12 Thukaram, D, Parthasarathy, K and Ramakrishna Iyengar,
B S 'Steady state power flow analysis incorporating load S = [S1 $2]
and generation regulation characteristics' J. Inst. Eng
S1 = [B1]-I[B2]
(India) Vol 64 (April 1984) pp 274-279
13 Okamura, M, Oura, Y, Hayashi, S, Uemura, K and $2 = [B1]-t [B3]
Ishiguro, F 'A new power flow model and solution
method--including load and generator characteristics
and effects of system control device' IEEE Trans. P A S
Vol 94 No 3 (1975) pp 1042-1050 -All -A12
14 Thukaram, D, Parthasarathy, K and Prior, D L 'Improved
algorithm for optimum reactive power allocation' Int. J.
Electr. Power Energy Syst. Vol 6 No 2 (1984) pp 72-74 A9 A10
15 Thukaram, D, Parthasarathy, K and Iyengar, B S R 'Opti-
mum reactive power dispatch for alleviation of overvoltage
and undervoltage conditions in a large power system opera-
tion, Proc. 15th National Systems Conference Aligarh Matrix S is of size (s + r) x (t + g + s), B1 is of size
Muslim University (1991) pp 159-163 (s + r) x (s + r), B2 is of size (s + r) x (t + g), B3 is of
size (s + r) x s and I is an identity matrix of size s x s.
Appendix
The elements of the S matrix cannot be defined directly
and so it is evaluated as a sensitivity matrix 14'15. The