Power System Stability Overview

• Power system is defined as a network of one or more generating units, loads

and power transmission lines including the associated equipments connected
to it.
• The stability of power system is its ability to develop restoring forces equal to
or greater than the disturbing forces to maintain the state of equilibrium.
• Power system stability problem gets more pronounced in case of
interconnection of large power networks.
• Power is generated by synchronous generators that operate in synchronism
with the rest of the system.
• A generator is synchronized with a bus when both of them have
same
frequency, voltage and phase sequence. We can thus define,
The Power System Stability defined as:

1. The ability of the power system to return to steady state without losing
synchronism.

2. The ability of the system to remain in synchronism after having been

subjected to some form of disturbances. Conversely, instability means a
condition denoting loss of synchronism or falling Out-Of-Step (OOS).

3. The IEEE/CIGRE Joint Task Force on stability terms and conditions have
proposed a definition for power system stability as follow [2]: “Power
System stability is the ability of an electric power system, for a given
initial operating condition, to regain a state of operating equilibrium after
being subjected to a physical disturbance, with most system variables
bounded, so that practically the entire system remains intact”.
 Need Of Stability Classification
• Stability analysis is easier. Also it leads to the proper and
effective understanding of different power system instabilities.

• Key factors that leads to instability can be easily identified.

• Methods can be devised for improving power system stability

 Usually power system stability is categorized into Steady State,

Dynamic
and Transient Stability.

Power System Stability classification

 Steady State Stability:
• The ability of the system to bring itself back to its stable configuration
following a small disturbance in the network (like normal load fluctuation
or action of automatic voltage regulator).
• It can only be considered during a very small and gradual change in the
system operating conditions.
• In other words the steady state stability limit of a system refers to the
maximum amount of power that can be transferred through the system
without loss of its steady state stability.
• These studies can be done by using power flow studies.
 Dynamic Stability:
• Dynamic Stability (also known as small-signal stability) is defined as the ability
of the power system to maintain synchronism when subjected to continuous
small disturbances (random fluctuations in loads and /or generation levels).
• A disturbance is considered to be small if the equations that describe
the response of the system may be linearized for the purpose of analysis.
• Considers extension of steady state stability.
• The dynamic stability problem is usually one of insufficient damping of system
oscillations.
• This type of stability requires a study of more than a minute to several hours.
• We can say that it small disturbances for long time on the system with inclusion
of the automatic control devices.
 Transient Stability:
• The ability of the power system to maintain synchronism after subjected to
severe disturbance. Following a large disturbance (machine power angle)
changes due to sudden acceleration or deceleration of the rotor shaft.
• The disturbance may be sudden application of load, loss of generation, loss
of large load, or a fault on the system.
• In order to study this type of stability, a fraction of a second is enough
to observe the first swing of machine power angle following a disturbance.
 The Objective Of Transient Stability study:-

• Ascertain whether the load angle returns to a steady value following the
clearance of the disturbance.
 Survey of Transient Stability
• Analysis
Until now, much of the effort and interest related to power system stability has
been concentrated on transient stability and the system is designed and operated
so as to meet a set of reliability criteria regarding transient stability.
• The analysis of small signal stability is not as widespread as transient
stability analysis. This is mainly because, a system that remained stable for the
first few seconds after a severe disturbance was sure to remain stable for the
small disturbances.
• Transient stability depends on both the initial operating condition and the
disturbance parameters like location, type, magnitude etc. Instability is normally
in the form of a periodic angular separation.
• In the past, transient stability has been evaluated using Time Domain (TD)
approach, but it’s found to be inefficient for evaluating stability for large
system. This has encouraged the expansion of various transient stability
assessments, such as Equal Area Criterion (EAC), Extended Equal Area
Criterion (EEAC) and Transient Energy Function (TEF) to calculate the Critical
Clearing Time (CCT).

 Types of disturbances:-

o The opening of a transmission line increasing the reactance of the system.

o The system fault decreasing voltage of the system.

o The sudden application or removal of loads.

o The loss of a generator disturbing the energy balance.

Power System Stability classification
 Rotor Angle Stability:
• Rotor angle stability refers to the ability of synchronous machines of an
interconnected power system to remain synchronism after being subjected to a
disturbance. It depends on the ability to maintain/restore equilibrium between
electromagnetic torque and mechanical torque of each synchronous machine
in the system
 Small-disturbance (or Small-Signal) Rotor Angle Stability.
• Is concerned with the ability of the power system to maintain synchronism
under small disturbances.
 Large-disturbance (or Transient) Rotor Angle Stability.
• The ability of the power system to maintain synchronism when subjected to a
severe disturbance, such as a short circuit on a transmission line.
 Frequency Stability:

• Frequency stability refers to the ability of a power system to maintain steady

frequency following a severe system disturbance resulting in a significant
unbalance between generation and load.
• Instability that may result occurs in the form of sustained frequency
swings leading to tripping of generating units and/or loads.
• During frequency problems, the time frames of the processes and devices that
are activated will range from fraction of seconds, up to several minutes.
• Frequency stability may be a short-term phenomenon or a long-term
phenomenon.
 Voltage Stability:
• Voltage stability refers to the ability of a power system to maintain steady state
voltages at all power system buses after being disturbed from a given initial
operating condition.
• It depends on the ability to maintain/restore equilibrium between reactive
load demand and reactive load supply from the power system.
• Instability that may result occurs in the form of a progressive fall or rise of
voltages of some buses. A possible outcome of voltage instability is loss of
load in one area, or tripping of transmission lines and other elements by their
protective systems leading to cascading outages (voltage collapse) in another
area.
 Voltage stability is classified into the following subcategories:
 Large-disturbance Voltage Stability.

• refers to the system’s ability to maintain steady voltages following

large disturbances such as system faults or loss of generation.
 Small-disturbance Voltage Stability.

• refers to the system’s ability to maintain steady voltages when subjected to

small disturbances such as incremental changes in system loads.
 Voltage stability may be either a short-term or a long-term phenomenon:

 Short-term Voltage Stability involves dynamics of fast acting load

components such as induction motors. The study period is in the order of
several seconds.
 Long-term Voltage Stability involves slower acting equipment such as tap-
changing transformers and generator current limiters. The study period may
extend to several minutes.
 Methods used to improve stability
o Increasing the internal voltage of the machine or the voltage of the system to
increase the maximum power that can be transmitted through the transmission
line.
o Decreasing the series reactance by using two parallel lines or by inserting
capacitors in series.
o Improving the speed by which the relays detect the fault and the speed by
which the circuit breakers operate to isolate the faulted line.
o Using dynamic braking resistor at or near generator bus to compensate the
reduction of the load and so reduces acceleration.
o Installing of fast valving system on turbines to control the input mechanical
power to turbine generators.
o Increasing the inertia constant of the machine, but this method is not used
for
economic reasons.