Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552

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Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Characteristics of the dynamics of distribution electrical networks

Bin Huang a,*, E. Handschin b
a
China Electric Power Research Institute, No. 15, Xiaoying East Road, Beijing 100085, China
b
Institute of Power Systems and Power Economics, University of Dortmund, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper quantifies the characteristics of the distribution network dynamics by use of eigenvalue anal-
Received 17 August 2007 ysis. The study reveals that: (1) the parameters of the lines and cables, rather than the network topology,
Received in revised form 18 July 2008 are the predominant factors to determine the distribution of the network eigenvalues; (2) the range of
Accepted 15 August 2008
them is bounded by the relevant values of the lines and cables; (3) in a real distribution system in Europe,
the real parts of the eigenvalues should be within 69.3 to 33,055, namely, the dynamic procedure of
the network itself dies down to 5% of its initial value within less than 0.043 s and (4) thus after the inte-
Keywords:
gration of DG, adopting a steady state model to represent the distribution network is acceptable.
Electrical network dynamics
Electrical network model
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Distributed generation (DG)

1. Introduction
The growing trend of distributed generation (DG) is easily rec-
ognized because of various political, economic and environmental
reasons. The DG, on the one hand, usually has a relatively large
capacity up to several megawatts when compared to the tradi-
tional electricity sources/loads connected to the distribution net-
work; on the other hand, usually operates more or less in a
stochastic manner. These lead to a concern whether the appar-
ently continuous and large amplitude stochastic inputs from DG
will induce harmful responses in the distribution electrical net-
work (as in Fig. 1, and the DG is considered as a stochastic
source, namely no detailed DG type is referred, to represent the
problem in a more general sense). A key point for the investiga-
tion is how to treat the electrical network dynamics. If they are
ignored, one can expect to adopt Monte–Carlo method through
power flow calculation [1] or use frequency scanning techniques
[2] to achieve some results. If not, the problem will be more
complicate.
Though it is well known the electrical network dynamic proce-
dure dies out quite fast so that it is often neglected [3,4], in distri-
bution systems, since the parameters of the lines/cables as well as
the topology differ a lot from those of a transmission network, it is
still a question if the ignoring of the network dynamics is correct.
To the authors’ knowledge, no documents discuss in detail to quan-
tify the characteristics of the electrical network dynamics, espe-
cially those of the distribution systems. Thus, it is not rigorous to
directly adopt the steady state model to represent the network
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: binhich@hotmail.com (B. Huang).
after the integration of DG, though the results at the end may still
be right. To meet the need, eigenvalue analysis is employed in this
paper to achieve some quantified conclusions.
2. Modelling of distribution electrical networks
2.1. Relation of network eigenvalues under abc and dq0 frames
The electrical network is modelled under dq0 reference frame.
The reason is if the analysis demonstrates the negligence of the
network dynamics is inappropriate, the developed model can be
incorporated to other system component dynamic models for the
consequent analysis. Kron transformation [5] is adopted for the
modelling and the reference frame is designated as: the q-axis
coincides with the system reference phasor and leads the d-axis
by 90°.
The theoretical precondition for investigating the properties of
the network dynamics under abc frame by evaluating the network
eigenvalues under dq0 frame, is the eigenvalues under abc frame
can be reconstructed from those under dq0 frame. This is feasible
based on the following observation: a symmetric network is as-
sumed with 3N state variables, namely 3N eigenvalues. Under
dq0 reference frame, these 3N eigenvalues consist of N pairs of
eigenvalues which are complex-conjugate/double-real ones and
relate only to the dq components (lately referred to as kdq), and N
eigenvalues which relate only to the 0 components (lately referred
to as k0). Correspondingly, under abc frame the 3N eigenvalues can
be divided into two groups, one contains N pairs of eigenvalues (la-
tely referred to as kabc2N), the other includes the rest (lately referred
to as kabcN). Then the eigenvalues under abc and dq0 reference
frame have the following relations:

0142-0615/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijepes.2008.08.001
548 B. Huang, E. Handschin / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552
Fig. 1. Potential problems caused by the stochastic input of DG.
 The eigenvalues of kabc2N are assumed as r1 ± jx1. After the dq0
transformation, the corresponding eigenvalues are r1 ±
j(x1  x0) and r1 ± j(x1 + x0).
 The eigenvalues of kabcN hold unchanged after the dq0
transformation.
Detailed discussions are given in Appendix A.
2.2. Concept of the characteristic eigenvalues
Before going further, the term ‘characteristic eigenvalues’ (CE) is
introduced in advance. Fig. 2a presents a simple system: a load is
fed by a generator via a transmission line. The length of the line
is 1km and the parameters are as: R = 0.128 X/km, X = 0.122 X/
km, B = 116.239 lS/km (R the resistance, X the reactance and B
the susceptance. These parameters are from a cable made in Ger-
many with the type No. 20 kV NEKEBA 3  150). Its p equivalent
Fig. 2. Explanation for the selection of the characteristic eigenvalues.
Fig. 3. Topology of the SNI.
model has nine eigenvalues under abc frame as given in Fig. 2b.
Under a balance operation, only the dq circuit components are of
interests. Thus in Fig. 2c only kabc2N is kept (the counterpart of
kdq) while kabcN is dropped. The CE of the given system is deliber-
ately selected as in Fig. 2d, which preserves all the necessary infor-
mation of kabc2N. Compared to Fig. 2c, the pair of zero eigenvalues is
dropped in Fig. 2d, because they have trivial meaning and their
occurrence as well as the quantity can be expected by investigating
the network topology. A further discussion is given in Appendix B.
3. Simulations and results
3.1. A brief view of the study networks
In this work, two networks are available for the investigation:
Study network I (SNI)—which is based on the IEEE 34 node test
feeder (Fig. 3) [6]. Some modifications are made as follows: (1) the
two voltage regulators sited in line segment 814–850 and 852–832
are omitted. The transformer sited in line segment 832–888 is re-
placed by a line with a 1 km length. (2) All lines are assumed to be
symmetric with the parameters given in Section 2.2.
Study network II (SNII)—the structure and data are from a real
distribution system in Germany (Fig. 4). Compared to SNI, this net-
work connects to the transmission system through node 1 as well
as node 2. More information is available in Appendix C.
Later on, the analysis focuses in detail on the SNI. Then the con-
clusions are verified by studying the SNII.
3.2. Properties of the network eigenvalues
3.2.1. Distribution of the characteristic eigenvalues of the study
network I and its variants
Both the network topology and the parameters are considered
to be relevant for the distribution of the CE of the network. In order
 B. Huang, E. Handschin / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552 549

to find the key factor, the topology as well as the parameters are
altered hence some variants are developed from the SNI. For topol-
ogy, there are three options as: (1) T1, which refers to the original
topology (Fig. 3); (2) T2, in which the line between node 824 and
828 is removed, and a new line between node 826 and 834 is
added; (3) T3, in which the line between node 824 and 828 is re-
moved, and a new line between node 814 and 858 is added. For
line parameters, there are also three options as: (1) P1, which refers
the parameters given in Section 2.2. As shown in Fig. 2, the CE of
the line with 1 km length is 164.8 + j166,850. (2) P2, in which
the parameters of the lines 808–812, 816–824 and 860–836 are al-
tered as: Rn = 2  R, Xn = X/2, Bn = B, where R, X, B are the same as in
P1 and Rn is the altered resistance, Xn the altered reactance and Bn
the altered susceptance. For a 1 km length altered line, its CE is
659.22 + j235,960. (3) P3, besides the alteration given in P2, lines
830–854, 854–856 and 854–852 are changed as: Rn = R/2,
Xn = 2  X, Bn = B. For a 1 km long altered line, its CE is
41.2 + j117,980.
The distribution of the CE of the SNI and its variants is plotted in
Fig. 5. From Fig. 5a–c, it can be seen that though the network topol-
ogy changes, the real parts of the CE remain unchanged, which
match the one given in Fig. 2d. This indicates that, compared to
network topology, line parameters predominantly determine the
real parts of the CE. This observation can be verified by investigat-
ing Fig. 5d–i. Taking Fig. 5d–f as an example, in which the distribu-
tion of the CE are similar; while the comparison of Fig. 5a–c to Fig.

Fig. 4. Topology of the SNII.

Fig. 5. Distributions of the characteristic eigenvalues of the SNI and Its variants.
550 B. Huang, E. Handschin / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552

Fig. 6. Distributions of the characteristic eigenvalues of the SNII.

5d–f reveals that the CE subjects to a sharp change. Hence, though

the topology has an influence on the CE, the parameters of the line
are of much greater influence.
A more instructive principle about the relation between the line
parameters and the CE of the network can be formed as: a network
is assumed to consist of M different types of lines, then the maxi-
Fig. 8. Examples for investigating the properties of the characteristic eigenvalues.
mum and minimum values of the real part of the lines’ CE span a
range, which covers that of the network CE. Take Fig. 5i as an
example, in which, the network has three different types of lines.
from 1 kV to 20 kV in Europe. Its databank contains the parameters
The real parts of their CE are 41.2, 164.8 and 659.22. They
of 361 types of lines/cables. These data are fully studied and the re-
span a range from 41.2 to 659.22, which totally covers the
sults reveal that, the maximum real part value of the CE of these
one spanned by that of the network CE (44.9 to 526.2).
lines/cables is 69.3, while the minimum one of that is 33,055.
Thus, it can be expected that, the eigenvalues of a real distribution
3.2.2. Distribution of the characteristic eigenvalues of the study
network in Europe will have real parts sited within the range from
network II
69.3 to 33,055. This means that the dynamic procedure of the
The CE of the SNII is plotted in Fig. 6. Meanwhile, the CE of the
network itself caused by a certain disturbance will die down to
cables in the SNII is given in Table 1. It is worth noting when cal-
5% of its initial value within 0.0001–0.0433 s.
culating the CE, all the cables are assumed with a 1 km length.
The real part of the lines’ CE spans a range from 160.01 to
3.4. Proper electrical network model after the integration of DG
673.63, which totally covers the one spanned by that of the net-
work CE (160.01 to 513.27).
Though there are no enough statistics as proofs, it is sensible to
judge that normally the time intervals between two disturbances
3.3. Characteristics of the distribution network dynamics in Europe
caused by DG will be much longer than 0.0433 s (here the altera-
tions of the DG status, for example, the switching on and off, are
Neplan [7] provides comprehensive information about the
also deemed as disturbances). This demonstrates that after the
lines/cables for the distribution systems with the voltage levels
integration of DG, the steady state model of the distribution net-
work is still acceptable.
Table 1
Characteristic eigenvalues of the cables in the SNII
4. Conclusions and comments
Type of cable CE Type of cable CE
NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 160.01 + j138820 NKBA 3  70 409.31 + j191350 By studying the eigenvalues of the electrical network, the fol-
NAKBA 3  240 229.44 + j161700 NAKBA 3  95 507.37 + j184290
NAKBA 3  150 350.92 + j172360 NAKBA 3  70 673.63 + j191350
lowing conclusions are drawn:

Fig. 7. System under abc and dq0 frames.

 B. Huang, E. Handschin / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552
Table 2
Eigenvalues of the systems given in Fig. 8
Case of kabc2N
Fig. 6a 80.331, 80.331, 49.716, 49.716, 25.133, 25.133
Fig. 6b 37.667 ± j8115.9, 37.667 ± j8115.9, 24.764 ± j6205,
24.764 ± j6205,15.159 ± j16598, 15.159 ± j16598, 0, 0
Fig. 6c 34.048 ± j7866.8, 34.048 ± j7866.8,
23.51 ± j3972.7,23.51 ± j3972.7,
20.032 ± j13372, 20.032 ± j13372
Fig. 6d 36.927 ± j7995.1, 36.927 ± j7995.1, 28.096 ± j4706.2,
28.096 ± j4706.2, 12.566 ± j11107, 12.566 ± j11107
Fig. 6e 37.762 ± j7639.4, 37.762 ± j7639.4, 24.64 ± j3298.6,
24.64 ± j3298.6, 15.188 ± j16584, 15.188 ± j16584
 There is a close relation for the network eigenvalues under abc
and dq0 reference frame.
 The parameters of the lines/cables are the predominant factors
to determine the network eigenvalues.
 The distribution of the network eigenvalues is bounded by the
relevant values of the lines/cables.
 In a real distribution network in Europe, the eigenvalues will
have the real parts within 69.3 to 33,055.
 It is acceptable to employ the steady state model to represent
the distribution network after the integration of DG.
So far, some conclusions are achieved, though some limitations
still exist, such as:
 Though the eigenvalues of kabcN are not included in the above
discussion, it is expected that the maximum and minimum val-
ues of the real parts of the lines’ kabcN span a range, which covers
the interval of the network’s kabcN.
 Frequency dependence of line parameters is not considered
when calculating the eigenvalues. A possibly improved approach
is: (1) assuming the system is stepwise frequency independent;
(2) forming the state matrix within this frequency band; (3) cal-
culating the eigenvalues, and those whose imaginary parts con-
form to the frequency band belong to the set of the eigenvalues
of the real system and (4) steps 1–3 can be executed iteratively
until all the eigenvalues have been found. During this procedure,
it is important to note that as the frequency keeps rising, the p
equivalent model for lines/cables will not be proper even for the
distribution networks. In this case distributed parameter models
can be adopted. With the improved approach, though the net-
work eigenvalues subject to a change, the achieved conclusions
are expected to be still applicable.
 The studied networks in this paper are based on radial topology.
It is open for further study if the results are also applicable to
meshed networks. However, a positive answer can be reason-
ably expected.
Acknowledgment
Bin Huang acknowledges the financial support from the Gradu-
ate School of Production Engineering and Logistics, University of
Dortmund.
Appendix A
Padiyar [5] describes the relations of the network eigenvalues
under abc and dq0 frames. But the discussion is confined to the ba-
sic components such as a series impedance and a shunt capaci-
tance. It is not known if the principles are applicable to a more
general network. A mathematically strict proof for them may be
551
too complex to achieve. Here the discussion is based more on a
physical meaning rather than on a mathematical reasoning.
kabc2N is assumed to have eigenvalues of r1 ± jx1. Firstly, the in-
put signal Iabc in Fig. 7 is assumed to be positive sequential sinusoid
with a frequency of x1. It is well known the output signal Oabc can
be considered as a combination of a transient signal as well as a
steady signal. For simplifying the discussion, the steady output sig-
nal is assumed to have a prominently large amplitude, namely,
there exists a resonance in the response. After the dq0 transforma-
tion, Idq0 consists of only dq components with a frequency of
x1  x0, while the 0 component constantly equals to zero [8].
Applying the dq0 transformation to Oabc is equivalent to apply
the transformation separately to the transient signal as well as
the steady signal in Oabc. For the transient signal, the decaying ratio
keeps unchanged, which means the real parts of the network
eigenvalues hold unchanged after the transformation. For the stea-
dy signal, the frequency is shifted to x1  x0, which means under
the dq0 frame the resonance frequency is shifted to x1  x0. Hence
by applying the dq0 transformation the network has eigenvalues of
r1 ± j(x1  x0). It is worth noting the transformation also alters
the frequency of the transient signal. In order to simplify the anal-
ysis the above discussions focus only on the impact on the decay-
ing ratio.
Then, Iabc is assumed to be negative sequential sinusoid with a
frequency of x1. Since the negative sequence signal has nearly
the same impact to the network as that of the positive sequence
signal, a similar reasoning as above reveals the network under
the dq0 frame has eigenvalues of r1 ± j(x1 + x0).
Finally, kabcN is assumed to have eigenvalues of r2 ± jx2 and Iabc
is assumed to be three phase identical (zero sequence) with a fre-
quency of x2. A similar deduction as above reveals the eigenvalues
hold unchanged under abc and dq0 frames (applying the dq0 trans-
formation to the zero sequence signals leads to zero in dq -axis
while a sinusoidal signal the same as the input one in 0-axis).
Appendix B
Three kinds of node of the distribution system are important for
the analysis as: (1) starting node (SN) – which is usually the com-
mon coupling point of the transmission network and the distribu-
tion network; (2) ending node (EN) – which is the node where only
one transmission line is connected and (3) connecting node (CN) –
which connects at least two transmission lines as well as other en-
ergy sources or sinks (such as DG, shunt capacitor and load). If a
node connects more than one transmission lines but without any
energy sources or sinks, it is not a CN.
It is observed that the kabc2N of the network consists of two
eigenvalues at the origin, if the SN, EN and CN are connected with
an equivalent shunt capacitor.
Firstly, the following will demonstrate if the requirements are
met, the system has eigenvalues at the origin. The definition re-
veals that SN, EN and CN are the interface of the network to other
system components. Assuming the state space model of the net-
work is x_ ¼ Ax þ Bu , then if each SN, EN and CN connects an
equivalent shunt capacitance, the input vector u only consists of
currents ðu ¼ ½ i1 ; i2 ; :::; in T Þ. Here all the currents are set to zero
except i1 ðu ¼ ½ i1 ; 0 ::: 0 T ), i1 is a constant value) to simplify the
discussion. Since all the nodes are either isolated from the ground
or connected to the ground via a shunt capacitance, theoretically
the constant current source i1 will drive all the nodal voltages
increasingly to infinity. This matches the observation that the net-
work has eigenvalues at the origin. However, if some of the SN, EN
and CN do not have an equivalent shunt capacitance, then u con-
sists of both currents and voltages (u ¼ ½ i1 ::: v1 ::: 0 T ). If u is still
specifically chosen as ½ i1 ; 0 ::: 0 T , this physically means node i is
552 B. Huang, E. Handschin / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 30 (2008) 547–552

Table 3
Line segment data of the SNII

Node Type of the cable Length (km) Node Type of the cable Length (km)
1–3 NAKBA 3  150 0.01 19–20 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.9086
3–4 NAKBA 3  150 0.2409 20 – 21 NAKBA 3  240 0.2885
4–5 NAKBA 3  150 0.226 21–22 NAKBA 3  240 0.8286
1–6 NAKBA 3  150 0.217 22–23 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.3374
6–7 NKBA 3  70 0.142 15–24 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.7855
7–8 NKBA 3  70 0.1334 24–25 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.9508
8–9 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.0416 25–26 NAKBA 3  150 0.4218
9–10 NKBA 3  70 0.2549 26–27 NAKBA 3  150 0.0982
10–11 NKBA 3  70 0.4249 2–28 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.4994
11–12 NAKBA 3  70 0.3664 28–19 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.9216
12–13 NAKBA 3  70 0.6168 19–29 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.4956
1–14 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.2619 29–30 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.2
14–15 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.4069 30–31 NA2XS(F)2Y 3  1  185 0.2
15–16 NAKBA 3  150 0.685 20–32 NAKBA 3  150 0.0661
16–17 NAKBA 3  150 1.6537 20–33 NAKBA 3  150 0.2606
17–18 NAKBA 3  150 0.71 33–34 NAKBA 3  150 0.2034
18–19 NAKBA 3  95 0.3076

Appendix C
Table 4
Parameters of the cables given in Table 3
See Tables 3 and 4.
Type of the cable R (X/km) X (X/km) B (lS/km)
NAKBA 3  70 0.446 0.104 103.673 References
NAKBA 3  95 0.323 0.1 116.239
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