Power Systems Planning

Lecture 4 – Optimal Power Flow

 Course overview
Week Lecture Lab
43 Introduction Getting started
44 Power systems modelling Network modelling
45 Power flow Plotting
46 Power flow Power flow
47 Timeseries
48 Excursion Power quality
49 Optimal power flow Optimal power flow
50 Optimal power flow Getting started
51 Short-circuit analysis Open lab
2 Short-circuit analysis Protection example
3 Protection Protection example
4 DER integration pandapower – Timeseries & controllers
5 DER integration pandapower – open lab
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT 6 Summary project presentations
Hochschule Darmstadt

77
 Learning objectives
After today‘s course you will be able to…
Know Indirect control of bus voltages and line power flows
Understand Impact of congestion management on locational marginal prices

Calculate PTDFs based on the fast decoupled power flow method

Apply
Lagrange linear programming for generation economic dispatch
Calculate
Formulate and run Optimal Power Flow in simple networks

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Literature
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt
Power Systems, CRC Press, 3rd Edition – Chapter 5.2
78
 Control of power flow ij overloaded line, what can we do?

A major issue with power system operation

is the limited capacity of the transmission
system
• lines/transformers have loading limits
(thermal)
• bus voltages must remain within a
narrow band
In a meshed system, there is no direct way
of controlling power flow down a
transmission line (e.g., there are no valves
to close to limit flow)
What we would like to determine is how a
We need to indirectly control transmission
change in generation at bus k affects the
line flow by changing the generator outputs
power flow on a line from bus i to bus j.
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

79
 Indirect control of power flow
One way to determine the impact of a
generator change is to compare a
before/after power flow.
For example below is a three bus case with
an overload
Increasing the generation at bus 3 by 95
MW (and hence decreasing it at bus 1 by a
corresponding amount), results in a 30.3
MW drop in the MW flow on the line from
bus 1 to 2, and a 64.7 MW drop
on the flow from 1 to 3.

Expressed in %:

−30,3 MW
= −32%
95 MW

−64,7 MW
= −68%
95 MW
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

80
 Analytic calculation of sensitivities
Calculating control sensitivities by repeat power flow solutions is tedious and would require
many power flow solutions. An alternative approach is to analytically calculate these values.
The power flow from bus 𝑖 to bus 𝑗 is:
𝑉𝑖 𝑉𝑗 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗
𝑃𝑖𝑗 = 𝑉𝑖 𝑉𝑗 𝐺𝑖𝑗 cos 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗 + 𝐵𝑖𝑗 sin 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗 ≈ sin 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗 ≈
𝑋𝑖𝑗 𝑋𝑖𝑗
Thus: Cuando el angulo varía
∆𝜃𝑖 − ∆𝜃𝑗 ∆𝜃𝑖𝑗 10-15º, se simplifica
∆𝑃𝑖𝑗 ≈ =
𝑋𝑖𝑗 𝑋𝑖𝑗
We just need to obtain
∆𝜃𝑖𝑗
What is delta tetha, sensitivity
∆𝑃𝐺𝑘
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

81
 Fast Decoupled power flow method
Assumptions (under normal steady state operation):
• voltage magnitudes are all nearly equal to 1.0 pu

• transmission lines are mostly reactive 𝐺𝑖𝑗 ≪ 𝐵𝑖𝑗

• angular differences among the bus voltages are quite small (within 5 − 10 degrees)
⇒ sin 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗 ≈ 𝜃𝑖 − 𝜃𝑗
• injected reactive power at any bus is always much less than the reactive power consumed
by the elements connected to this bus 𝑄𝑖𝑖 ≪ 𝐵𝑖𝑖 ∙ 𝑉𝑖2
active power is driven by angles and reactive by voltages, thats why it is called decoupled

∆𝐏 𝐁′ 0 ∆𝛉 𝐁 ′ and 𝐁 ′′ are susceptance matrices which can be directly

= ′′ ∙
∆𝐐 0 𝐁 ∆𝐕 obtained from Y-bus. 𝐁 ′ corresponds to susceptances of
calWe asume voltage under control, unknown angles (both PV and PQ buses) and 𝐁 ′′ corresponds
and we suppose v angle 0 to susceptances of unknown voltages (only PQ buses).
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

82
 Analytic calculation of sensitivities
From the Fast Decoupled method:
−1
∆𝛉 = 𝐁 ′ ∙ ∆𝐏
So to get the change in ∆𝛉 due to a change of generation at bus 𝑘 we need to set ∆𝐏 equal to
all zeros expept a minus one at position 𝑘
0
⋮
∆𝐏 = −1 ⟵ bus 𝑘
⋮
0

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

83
 Analytic calculation of sensitivities
For the previous three bus case with The change in power flow is then:
𝑍𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 𝑗0,1:
∆𝜃1 − ∆𝜃2 0,0 − 0,033ത
−20 10 10 ∆𝑃1→2 = = = −0,033ത
𝑋12 0,1
𝐘bus = 𝑗 10 −20 10
10 10 −20 ∆𝜃2 − ∆𝜃3 0,033ത − 0,066ത
∆𝑃2→3 = = = −0,033ത
−20 10 𝑋23 0,1
𝐁′ =
10 −20 ∆𝜃1 − ∆𝜃3 0,0 − 0,066ത
Changing the generation in bus 3 gives: ∆𝑃1→3 = = = −0,066ത
𝑋13 0,1
−1
∆𝛉 = 𝐁 ′ ∙ ∆𝐏
∆𝜃2 −20 10 −1 0
= ∙
∆𝜃3 10 −20 −1
1 −2 −1 0 0,033ത
= ∙ ∙ =
30 −1 −2 −1 0,066ത
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

84
 Sensitivity factors
Power Transfer Distribution Factors (PTDFs)
 show the linear impact of a transfer of power
−1
 can be calculated using the fast decoupled power flow matrix ∆𝛉 = 𝐁 ′ ∙ ∆𝐏
 once we know ∆𝛉 we can derive the change in transmission line flows
Line Outage Distribution Factors (LODFs)
 used to approximate the change in the flow on one line 𝑖 caused by the outage of a second
line 𝑗: ∆𝑃𝑖 = 𝐿𝑂𝐷𝐹𝑖𝑗 ∙ 𝑃𝑗
 typically they are only used to determine the change in the MW flow
 used extensively in real-time operations
 are load-independent but do dependent on the assumed network topology

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

85
 Generation dispatch
Since the load is variable and there must be enough generation to meet the load, almost
always there is more generation capacity available than load
Optimally determining which generators to use can be a complicated task due to many
different constraints
• For generators with low or no cost fuel (wind and solar PV) it is “use it or lose it”
• For others like hydro there may be limited energy for the year
• Some fossil has shut down and start times of many hours
Economic dispatch looks at the best way to instantaneously dispatch the generation

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

86
 Generation types
Traditionally utilities have had three broad groups of generators
• baseload units: large coal/nuclear; always on at max
• midload units: smaller coal that cycle on/off daily
• peaker units: combustion turbines used only for several hours during periods of high
demand

Wind and solar PV can be quite

variable; usually they are
operated at max. available power

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

87
 Incremental (marginal) cost
0,25
What is the incremental cost for producing

Levelized Cost of Energy (USD/kWh)

Nuclear
an additional MWh?
0,2
Depends on the actual production Hard Coal

Found by differentiating the cost curve 0,15 Brown coal

Difference to LCoE: 0,1

 Marginal cost used for operations

planning (dispatch) – investment is out 0,05
of scope
 LCoE used for inverstment planning 0
0 5000 10000
Equivalent full-load hours Tm
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

88
 Economic dispatch (1)
The goal of economic dispatch is to determine the generation dispatch that minimizes the
instantaneous operating cost, subject to the constraint that total generation must cover the
total load and transmission losses
Minimize
𝑚 𝐶𝑇 : total cost
𝐶𝑇 = ෍ 𝐶𝑖 𝑃𝐺𝑖 𝐶𝑖 𝑃𝐺𝑖 : cost for generator 𝑖
𝑖=1
𝑃𝐺𝑖 : production of generator 𝑖
𝑃𝐷 : total demand
Such that
𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 : losses
𝑚

෍ 𝑃𝐺𝑖 = 𝑃𝐷 + 𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠
𝑖=1

Initially we'll ignore generator limits and the losses

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

89
 Economic dispatch (2)
This is a minimization problem with a single equality constraint
For an unconstrained minimization a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for a minimum is
the gradient of the function must be zero: ∇𝑓 𝑥 = 0
The gradient generalizes the first derivative for multi-variable problems:
𝜕𝐟 𝐱 𝜕𝐟 𝐱 𝜕𝐟 𝐱
∇𝐟 𝐱 = , ,⋯,
𝜕𝑥1 𝜕𝑥2 𝜕𝑥𝑛
When the minimization is constrained with an equality constraint we can solve the problem
using the method of Lagrange Multipliers

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

90
 Economic dispatch (3)
Key idea is to modify a constrained For the economic dispatch we have a
minimization problem to be an minimization constrained with a single equality
unconstrained problem contraint
𝑚 𝑚
For the general problem
𝐋 𝐏𝐆 , λ = ෍ 𝐶𝑖 𝑃𝐺𝑖 + λ 𝑃𝐷 − ෍ 𝑃𝐺𝑖
Minimize 𝐟 𝐱 s. t. 𝐠 𝐱 = 0
𝑖=1 𝑖=1
We define the Lagrangian The necessary conditions for a minimum are:
𝑇
𝐋 𝐱, 𝛌 = 𝐟 𝐱 + 𝝀 𝐠 𝐱 𝜕𝐋 𝐏𝐆 , λ d𝐶𝑖 𝑃𝐺𝑖
= − λ = 0 ∀𝑖
Then the necessary conditions for a 𝜕𝑃𝐺𝑖 d𝑃𝐺𝑖
minimum are: 𝑚

∇𝐋𝐱 𝐱, 𝛌 = 𝟎 and ∇𝐋𝛌 𝐱, 𝛌 = 𝟎 𝑃𝐷 − ෍ 𝑃𝐺𝑖 = 0

𝑖=1

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

91
 Economic dispatch (4)
Limitations of Lagrange method:
 The direct solution only works well if the incremental cost curves are linear and no
generators are at their limits
 Generators have limits on the minimum and maximum amount of power they can
produce. Often times the minimum limit is not zero. This represents a limit on the
generator’s operation with the desired fuel type.
 Because of varying system economics usually many generators in a system are operated
at their maximum MW limits.

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

92
 Optimal Power Flow (OPF)
OPF functionally combines the power flow with economic dispatch
Minimize a cost function (operating cost, transmission losses etc.) taking into account
realistic equality and inequality constraints

Equality constraints Inequality constraints

 bus real and reactive power balance  transmission line/transformer limits
 generator voltage setpoints  generator MW limits

 area MW interchange  generator reactive power capability

 bus voltage magnitudes

Available Controls:
generator MW outputs, transformer taps and phase angles , reactive power controls, switches
(topological changes)
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

93
 OPF solution methods
Non-linear approach using Newton’s
method
 handles marginal losses well, but is
relatively slow and has problems
determining binding constraints
 Generation costs (and other costs)
represented by quadratic or cubic
functions
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt
94
Linear Programming
 fast and efficient in determining binding
constraints, but can have difficulty with
marginal losses.
 Generation costs (and other costs)
represented by piecewise linear
functions
Solution iterates between:
1. solving a full ac power flow solution
(system controls are assumed fixed)
2. solving a primal LP (changes system
controls)
 Two bus example
Unconstrained Line
With no overloads Transmission line
the OPF matches the Total Hourly Cost : 8459 $/hr is not overloaded
economic dispatch Area Lambda : 13.01

Bus A 13.01 $/MWh Bus B 13.01 $/MWh

300.0 MW 300.0 MW
197.0 MW 403.0 MW
AGC ON AGC ON

Marginal cost of supplying power to

each bus (locational marginal costs)
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

95
 Two bus example
Constrained Line
With the line loaded Transmission line
to its limit, additional Total Hourly Cost : 9513 $/hr is overloaded
load at Bus A must Area Lambda : 13.26
be supplied locally,
causing the marginal
costs to diverge.
Bus A 13.43 $/MWh Bus B 13.08 $/MWh

380.0 MW 300.0 MW
260.9 MW 419.1 MW
AGC ON AGC ON

Marginal cost of supplying power to

each bus (locational marginal costs)
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

96
 Three bus example

Consider a three bus case (bus 1 is slack),

with all buses connected through 0.1 pu
reactance lines, each with a 100 MVA limit
Let the generator marginal costs be
 Bus 1: 10 $ / MWhr; 0 … 400 MW
 Bus 2: 12 $ / MWhr; 0 … 400 MW
 Bus 3: 20 $ / MWhr; 0 … 400 MW
Assume a single 180 MW load at bus 2

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

97
 Three bus example
Line limits not enforced

60 MW 60 MW
Bus 2 Bus 1
A A
10,00 €/MWh
MVA MVA

slack
0,0 MW 10,00 €/MWh
A 120 MW A 180,0 MW
120%
MVA MVA
0 MW
60 MW A A

120% 120 MW
MVA MVA
60 MW

Bus 3 10,00 €/MWh

180 MW
Total Cost
0,0 MW 1799,8 €/h
Line between Bus 1 and Bus 3 is
overloaded; all buses have the
same marginal cost
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

98
 Three bus example
Line limits enforced

20 MW 20 MW
Bus 2 Bus 1
A A
10,00 €/MWh
MVA MVA

slack
60,3 MW 12,00 €/MWh
A 100 MW A 119,7 MW
80% 100%
MVA MVA
0 MW
80 MW A A

80% 100% 100 MW

MVA MVA
80 MW

Bus 3 14,01 €/MWh

180 MW
Total Cost
0,0 MW 1920,8 €/h
LP OPF changes generation to
remove violation. Bus marginal
costs are now different.
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

99
 Three bus example
Line limits enforced

19 MW 19 MW
Bus 2 Bus 1
A A
10,00 €/MWh
MVA MVA

slack
62,3 MW 12,00 €/MWh
A 100 MW A 118,7 MW
81% 100%
MVA MVA
0 MW
81 MW A A

81% 100% 100 MW

MVA MVA
81 MW

Bus 3 14,01 €/MWh

181 MW
Total Cost
0,0 MW 1934,8 €/h
One additional MW of load at
bus 3 raises total cost by 14
$/MWh, as G2 went up by 2 MW
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
and G1 went down by 1MW
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

100
 Why is bus 3 LMP = $14 /MWh
All lines have equal impedance. Power flow in a simple network distributes inversely to
impedance of path.
• For bus 1 to supply 1 MW to bus 3, 2/3 MW would take direct path from 1 to 3, while 1/3 MW
would “loop around” from 1 to 2 to 3.
• Likewise, for bus 2 to supply 1 MW to bus 3, 2/3MW would go from 2 to 3, while 1/3 MW
would go from 2 to 1to 3.
With the line from 1 to 3 limited, no additional power flows are allowed on it.
To supply 1 more MW to bus 3 we need
• Pg1 + Pg2 = 1 MW
• 2/3 Pg1 + 1/3 Pg2 = 0; (no more flow on 1-3)
Solving requires we up Pg2 by 2 MW and drop Pg1 by 1 MW -- a net increase of $14.

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

101
 Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs)
In an OPF solution, the bus LMPs tell the
marginal cost of supplying electricity to that
bus
The term “congestion” is used to indicate
when there are elements (such as
transmission lines or transformers) that are
at their limits; that is, the constraint is
binding
Without losses and without congestion, all
the LMPs would be the same
Congestion or losses causes unequal LMPs
Image Source:
LMPs are often shown using color contours www.misoenergy.org/LMPContourMap/MISO_All.html

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris

Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

102
 Learning objectives
After today‘s course you will be able to…
Know Indirect control of bus voltages and line power flows
Understand Impact of congestion management on locational marginal prices

Calculate PTDFs based on the fast decoupled power flow method

Apply
Lagrange linear programming for generation economic dispatch
Calculate
Formulate and run Optimal Power Flow in simple networks

Thank you!
How did you like today‘s lecture?
Prof. Dr. Athanasios Krontiris
Fachbereich EIT
Hochschule Darmstadt

103