PTERRA PHILIPPINES, INC.

Outline

Power Flow Formulation

What is a Power Flow?

Power Flow Formulation
Power Flow Solution Methods
Non-convergence of the Power Flow
Power Flow Adjustments

Presented by
Pterra Philippines, Inc.
All rights reserved

What is a Power Flow?

Numerical Model

A numerical model of the electric

power system in steady-state
Pgen, Pload real power generation and load
Qgen, Qload reactive power generation and
load
Vgen, Vbus1, Vbus2, Vload voltage at
various locations
Tap1, Tap2 tap step for transformers
I current on transmission lines

Also known as load flow

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PTERRA PHILIPPINES, INC.

Characteristics of the Power Flow

Sample Single-Line Diagram

Based on one phase of a three-phase electric

system

Assumes phases are balanced

More accurately, the positive sequence
component of a 3-phase system
Hence, the use of SINGLE LINE DIAGRAMS

Uses a simplified notation known as the PERUNIT system

Electric parameters are specified with respect to

a standard BASE

Uses complex numbers to represent electric

parameters

Real and imaginary numbers

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The Per-Unit System

The Per-Unit System

Expression of system quantities as fractions

of a defined base unit quantity

For example, 100 MW on a 100 MVA base is 1.0

per unit or 1 p.u.

Simplifies power flow modeling

Similar apparatus (generators, transformers,

lines) will have similar per-unit impedances
expressed on their own rating, regardless of their
absolute size.
Per-unit quantities are the same on either side of
a transformer, independent of voltage level
By normalizing quantities to a common base,
power flow calculations are simplified

0.25 pu

- +

P1

+ -

3
0.1 pu

0.2 pu

V1 = 1 pu
Network impedances,
generator power and load
are indicated in per-unit.

V2
V3
P3 = -1.5 pu

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P2 = 1.2 pu

Mutual admittances are

Y12= - 4pu
Y13= - 10 pu
Y23= -5 pu
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The Power Flow Formulation

The Power Flow Formulation

Ohms Law is the relationship between
voltages and currents. For a network, it
can be expressed in matrix notation as:
[I] = [Ybus] [V]

Given: Pgen, Pload, Qload, Vgen

Find: Qgen, Vbus1, Vbus2, Vload, I
Also Tap1, Tap2, electrical losses
Using:

Where

[I] is an array of node current injections

[V] is an array of node voltages
[Ybus] is the node admittance matrix

numerical methods,
positive sequence network,
per-unit quantities and
complex variables
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The Power Flow Formulation

1

2
yb

The Power Flow Formulation

I1 Y11
0 Y
21
I3 0

yd

I1

I3
ya

10

yc

Y12
Y22
Y32

0
Y23
Y33

V1
V
2
V3

Y11 = ya + yb
Y12 = Y21 = -yb

n = 3 = total number of nodes

Vi : voltage (to ground) at node i
I1 & I3 : current injections at nodes 1 & 3
Yii : sum of all admittances connecting to node i
Yij : - (sum of all admittances between nodes i & j)

Y22 = yb + yd + yc
Y23 = Y32 = -yd
Y33 = yd
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The Power Flow Formulation

The Power Flow Formulation

The current injection is expressed as a function

of the real and reactive power as follows:

Ii

Pi j Qi Pi j Qi

Vi*
Vi i

The resulting equation for each bus or

node i is:
N

Pi jQi Si Vi (V j Yij* )
*

j 1

Where:

Pi = P injected into the network at bus i

Qi = Q injected into the network at bus i
|Vi| = Magnitude of voltage at bus i
i = Angle of bus i voltage
*=conjugate of a complex quantity

Complex injected power Si is a non-linear

function of the complex bus voltages V.
Where V is Vi i
Direct solution is not possible; need to use
numerical iterative methods

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The Power Flow Formulation

The Power Flow Formulation

At each node or bus, there are four quantities: P, Q, V

and

Solution requires specification of two out of four quantities

at each bus

Types of bus

Buses with generators

PV bus P and V are input parameters, Q and are solved for
PQ bus - P and Q are input parameters, V and are solved for
Swing Bus - V and are input parameters, P and Q are solved
for

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Codes for types of power flow bus

used in commercial software
Type of Bus

PSS/E Code

PSLF Code

PV or generator
bus

PQ or load bus

Swing or slack
bus

Buses with no generators

PQ bus - P and Q are input parameters, V and are solved for

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The Power Flow Formulation

The Power Flow Formulation

Switching from PV to PQ bus

Given : Pi jQi Si Vi (V j Yij* )

Initially, the bus with a generator may be

specified as a PV bus

j 1

where : Yij Gij jBij

Regulates voltage V as long as the generators

reactive limits have not been reached.

If a generator reaches its maximum or

minimum reactive limit during the power flow
solution, the bus switches to a PQ bus
Generator reactive power is held at the reactive
limit, and the bus voltage is allowed to vary.

then : Pi [ Vi V j (Gij cos ij Bik sin ij )]

j 1
N

and : Qi ( Vi V j (Gij sin ij Bik cos ij )]

j 1

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Outline

Power Flow Solution Methods

Methods considered most effective
and most useful for practical power
system problems are:

What is a Power Flow?

Power Flow Formulation
Power Flow Solution Methods
Non-convergence of the Power Flow
Power Flow Adjustments

Gauss-Seidel - method of successive

displacement
Named after the German mathematicians Carl
Friedrich Gauss and Philipp Ludwig von
Seidel

Newton-Raphson - method for finding

successively better approximations to the
zeroes (or roots) of a real-valued function
Named after Isaac Newton and Joseph
Raphson

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Gauss-Seidel Method

Power Flow Solution Methods

Characteristics of numerical methods for
solving the power flow

A technique for solving the equations of the

linear system of equations one at a time in
sequence, and uses previously computed
results as soon as they are available.
Algorithm:

Need an initial estimate of the unknown

parameters
Typically, this is voltage
If all voltages are initialized at 1.0 p.u., this is
known as a FLAT START

Solves to a level of error known as a

mismatch tolerance

Typically, V=1.0 pu, = 0, Q=0

If the mismatch tolerance is met, the power flow is

convergent

Assume starting values for all unknown

parameters

May fail to find a solution due to modeling or

numerical errors
The power flow solution is divergent

Solve for bus 1 unknowns using the assumed

values for the other buses
Solve for next bus unknowns using updated
values from previous bus
Solve all other buses in sequence
When convergence criteria are met, stop, case is
converged

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Gauss-Seidel Method

Gauss-Seidel Method

The voltages at each bus are:

Vi

1
Y ii

Pi j Q i

V i*

k 1
k i

Convergence criteria specify the

acceptable accuracy for the power flow
solution

Y ik V k

Basis for stopping an iterative method

Max |V| is below a specified

convergence tolerance,

Where V is a complex number

comprising of /Vi / and i

Where V is the difference in voltage at a

bus between the present calculated value
and the previous value
V = Vnew - Vold

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Typically (0.01 pu > > 0.0001 pu)

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Gauss-Seidel Method

Gauss-Seidel Method

Modifications to the method:

Characteristics:

Acceleration/deceleration factors - to
either accelerate or decelerate the rate of
convergence to a solution by updating
voltages as follows
Vnew = Vold + a*(Vnew-Vold)
0.7a1.5

Is able to converge even if the initial

estimate of voltage is poor
Acceleration factor must be tuned to
match system for optimum performance
Will not identify modeling errors

Commercial software may allow for

separate values of a for the real and
imaginary components of V
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Gauss-Seidel Method
START

Initial
Estimate of
the unknown
parameters

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Newton-Raphson Method

Solve the new

values using the
previous values

A technique for solving nonlinear

equations using successive linear
approximations

Compute the
mismatch
tolerance
NO

Less than
specified
tolerance?
YES
End

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PTERRA PHILIPPINES, INC.

Newton Raphson Method

Newton Raphson Method

Starting from the power flow equations, get

the partial derivatives of P and Q to V and
For P with respect to V for a 3-bus system:
P1
V1
P2

V1
P3

V1

P1

V1

P2

V1

V1

P3

P1
V2
P2
V2
P3
V3

P1
V3
P2
V3
P3
V3

In matrix notation:
P
V
Q [J]

[J] is called the Jacobian matrix

(matrix of 1st derivatives)

Repeat this expansion for Q with respect to

V, P with respect to , Q with respect to

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Newton Raphson Method

Newton Raphson Method

Convergence criteria:

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Max P and Q is below a specified

convergence tolerance,
Typically (0.1 pu > > 0.001 pu)

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PTERRA PHILIPPINES, INC.

Newton Raphson Method

Outline

Modification/Improvements

Non-divergent power flow

Applies a reduction to the Jacobian multiplier
whenever the solution appears to exit feasible
space

Decoupled Newton
Simplifies computational requirement by
assuming that the real and reactive components
of the power flow equations are independent of
each other

What is a Power Flow?

Power Flow Formulation
Power Flow Solution Methods
Non-convergence of the Power Flow
Power Flow Adjustments

Fixed Slope Newton

Simplifies computational requirement by not
updating the Jacobian for each iteration
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Power Flow Solutions

Power Flow Solutions

Power Flow solution results:

Convergence

Divergence

All nodes have met the mismatch tolerance

Singularity of the Jacobian
Steady-state voltage collapse

Non-convergence
Is it physical (singularity) or numerical?

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Power Flow Solutions

Power Flow Solutions

METHOD

ADVANTAGES

Gauss-Seidel

o
o

Tolerates well data errors

and poor voltage and
reactive power conditions.
If failing to converge, it gives
an idea of problems.
Has low computer memory
requirements

DISADVANTAGES
o
o

o
o

Newton
Raphson

o
o

Converges quickly for wellconditioned systems

(quadratic convergence rate).
Computation time increases
linearly with the system size.
Small mismatches can be
achieved.

o
o

Slow convergence rate.

Exhibits problems when the
system is stressed due to
high levels of active power
transfer.
Acceleration factors for
better performance.
Number of iterations
increases with system size.

Intolerant of data errors.

Difficult to converge for
cases with poor voltage
estimates.
Does not indicate cause for
failing to converge.

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Power Flow Solutions

METHOD
Gauss-Seidel

Non-Convergent Power Flows

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Use when:
o Data is suspect
o Poor voltage estimate
o N-R fails to converge
o Network has reactive
power problems

Do not use when:

o Network has very low
(or negative)
impedance branches
o Variation of the
method works for
negative branches

Power Flow
solution
results:

NewtonRaphson

Use when:
o Large network size
with high solution
accuracy.
o Network contains
negative reactance
branches

Do not use when:

o Network contains
branches with low X/R
ratios
o Reactive power
problems

Convergence
Divergence
Nonconvergence
Is it physical
(singularity)
or
numerical?

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PTERRA PHILIPPINES, INC.

Non-Convergent Power Flows

Non-Convergent Power Flows

What can you do if the case does not
converge?

General options to address nonconvergence

Check convergence monitor. See which

bus has the biggest mismatch.
If terminated check the mismatch. If it is
relatively small, change the maximum
number of iterations and solve again.
If blown up, identify the bus with the
largest mismatch. Also, what is the total
mismatch?
Check if there is a modeling error in the
vicinity of the bus

transformer taps, phase shifters, switched shunts

remote bus control models

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Other methods for addressing nonconvergence

Non-divergent power flow
Applies a reduction to the Jacobian
multiplier whenever the solution appears to
exit feasible space

Interior-Point Newton method

uses [H] - the Hessian matrix, a 2nd
approximation of the nodal equations to
improve the convergence

Optimal Power Flow

Open reactive limits

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Non-Convergent Power Flows

Equivalence remote portions of model

Change solution parameters
Reduce acceleration factor
Increase mismatch tolerance
Increase iteration limit

Try changing the swing bus

Adjust local controls

Power Flow Adjustments

Outside of the power flow formulation,
adjustments may be added to the
computer model to handle various
types of power system equipment.
Examples:

Allows parameters to change in order to find

a feasible solution

Transformer tap adjustments

Phase-shifter adjustments
HVDC converter transformer tap
adjustments
Switching of capacitor banks and reactors

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Power Flow Adjustments

Typically adjustments are added in between
iterations and are triggered by setpoints
embedded in software

The settings may not be accessible to users

Differences in these settings lead various
commercial to different solutions for the same
power flow case

Poorly defined adjustments can lead the

power flow solution to oscillate or diverge

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