_18_ELC4340_Spring13_Loadflow.

doc

Loadflow
Formulationoftheloadflowproblem. GaussSeidel,NewtonRaphson,andStott'salgorithm.
Calculationoflineflows,systemlosses,andareainterchange.
1

FormulationoftheProblem

Theloadflowproblemisoneoftheclassicpowersystemengineeringproblems. Duringthe
earlydaysofdigitalcomputers,manyadvancesintechniquesforsolvinglargesetsofequations
werebroughtaboutspecificallytohelpsolvetheloadflowproblem.
Inmostelectricalcircuitanalyses,thenetworkconsistsofknownimpedances,voltagesources,
andcurrentsources.However,intheloadflowproblem,activeandreactivepowers,ratherthan
shuntimpedances,arespecifiedatmostnetworkbusses,becausemostloadsbehave,onaverage,
asconstantpowerloads(activeandreactivepower),aslongastheirappliedvoltageremains
withinreasonableranges. Consider,forexample,theairconditioningloadofabuilding. A
certainamountofenergyisrequiredtomaintain T betweeninsideandoutsidetemperatures.
Eventhoughtheairconditionercyclesonandoff,andthevoltagemaychangeslightly,theair
conditioning load appears, on the average, as a fixed power load, rather than as a fixed
impedanceload.
Powersystemloadsarecloselymonitoredatsubstations,atlargecustomers,andfortotalelectric
utilitycompanies.Loadstendtohavepredictabledaily,weekly,andseasonalpatterns.Annual
peak demands and energies for electric utilities are forecasted for generation and planning
purposes.
Mostloadflowsmodelthreephasebalancedsystems. Positivesequencevalues,usuallyinper
unit,representR,L,C,P,Q,S,,V,andI.
The purpose ofthe loadflow programis to compute bus voltages andline/transformer/cable
powerflowsoncenetworktopology,impedances,loads,andgeneratorshavebeenspecified.
Ideally,thecomputedbusvoltagesforthestudysystemshouldremainwithinacceptableranges,
andline/transformer/cablepowerflowsshouldbebelowtheirratedvalues,forareasonableset
ofoutagecontingencies.
Fromaloadflow perspective,therearefourparameters ateverybusvoltagemagnitude V,
voltageangle ,activepowerP,andreactivepowerQ.Twomaybespecified,andtheother
twocalculated.Formostbusses,PandQarespecified,andVand arecalculated.Obviously,
PandQcannotbespecifiedatallbussesbecausethatwouldimplythatsystemlossesareknown
apriori. Therefore,theloadflowproblemmustincludeone"swingbus"atwhichthe P can
assumeanyvaluesothatit"makesup"systemlosses. Theswingbusisusuallyacentrally
located large generator whose voltage magnitude and phase angle (usually = zero) are
specified.

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Althoughanytwoofthefourparameterscanbespecified,theusualwayinwhichpowersystem
bussesareclassifiedisgiveninTable1.
Table1.LoadflowClassificationofPowerSystemBusses
Classification

Knowns

Unknowns

PQ(LoadBus)

P,Q

V,

PV(GeneratorBus)

P,V

Q,

V (SwingBus)

V,

P,Q

Theloadflowprogramsolvesforthesetofunknownsthatproducespowerbalanceatallbusses,
orasillustratedforbusiinFigure1,
Pispec jQispec Picalc jQicalc ,

where
Picalc jQicalc Vi I i* .

Inotherwords,thepowerspecifiedateachbusmustequalthepowerflowingintothesystem.
NoteinFigure1thatspecifiedpowerisdrawnaspositivegeneration,tobeconsistentwithKCL
equationYV=I.
TotalCurrentFlowingFromBusiintotheSystemis
I=IB1+IB2+IB3
i
IB1
Busi

Branch
Currents IB2
Into
System
IB3

|Vi | i
spec
spec
*
P+jQ
=VI
i
i
i
i

Figure1.PowerBalanceforBusi
Sincetherearetwounknownsateverybus,thesizeoftheloadflowproblemis2N,whereNis
thenumberofbusses.Obviously,tosolvetheproblem,theremustbetwoequationsforevery
bus.ThesecomefromKCL,whichforanybusihavetheform
Pi

spec

jQispec

Picalc

jQicalc

Vi I i*

j 1

Vi

y i , jV j

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Separatingintorealandimaginarycomponentsyieldstwoequationsforbusi,
N

Pispec

Vi

Qispec

Vi

where Vi

j 1
N

j 1

yi, j V j cos i j i , j

yi , j V j sin i j i , j

Vi i , V j V j j , y i , j y i , j i , j

Theproblemnowisnowtofindthesetofbusvoltagesthatsatisfiestheabove2Nequations.
2.

GaussSeidelMethod

GaussSeidelisanearlyformulationoftheloadflowproblemthatrequireslittlememoryanditis
easilyprogrammed.However,itisusuallyslowerthanothermethods.Itisbasedupontheidea
ofexpandingthecomplexformofthepowerbalanceequationasfollows:
Pi

spec

jQispec

Vi I i*

j 1

Vi

yi, jV j

Vi yi , iVi yi , jV j

j 1, j i

or
Pispec jQispec Vi* yi , iVi Vi*

yi , jV j
j 1, j i

sothat
Vi

spec
N

jQispec
1 Pi

yi , jV j .
y i, i

Vi*
j 1, j i

Thesolutionprocedureisto:
1.

Initialize the bus voltages. For load busses, use V = 1 + j0. For generator busses
(includingtheswingbus),use V Vspec j 0 .

2.

Onebyone,updatetheindividualbusvoltagesusing
Vi

spec
N

jQispec
1 Pi

yi , jV j .
y i, i

Vi*
j 1, j i

ForPVbusses,updatethevoltageangle,whileholdingthevoltagemagnitudeconstantat
thespecifiedvalue.Donotupdatetheswingbus.

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3.

CheckthemismatchPandQateachbus.Ifallarewithintolerance(typicaltoleranceis
0.00001pu),asolutionhasbeenfound.Otherwise,returntoStep2.

Convergenceisusuallyfasterifanaccelerationfactorisused. Forexample,assumethatthe
voltageatbusiatiterationmis Vim ,andthattheupdatingequationinStep2computes V jnew .
Insteadofusing V jnew directly,acceleratetheupdatewith

Vim 1 Vim Vinew Vim ,

whereaccelerationfactor isintherangeof1.2to1.6.
3

NewtonRaphsonMethod

TheNewtonRaphsonmethodisaverypowerfulloadflowsolutiontechniquethatincorporates
firstderivativeinformationwhencomputingvoltageupdates. Normally,only3to5iterations
arerequiredtosolvetheloadflowproblem,regardlessofsystemsize.NewtonRaphsonisthe
mostcommonlyusedloadflowsolutiontechnique.
AneasywaytoillustratetheNewtonRaphsontechniqueistosolveasimpleequationwhose
answersarealreadyknown.Forexample,consider

x 1 x 99 0 ,
whichwhenexpandedbecomes
x 2 100 x 99 0 .

Theobjectiveistofindxsothat
f ( x) x 2 100 x 99 0 .

Ofcourse,inthiscase,thetwosolutionsareknownaprioriasx=1,andx=99.
The NewtonRaphson procedure is based on Taylor's expansion, truncated past the first
derivative,whichgives
f ( x x ) f ( x )

f ( x)
x

x .

Clearly,theaboveequationgivesastraightlineapproximationfor f ( x x ) .
Theobjectiveistofind x sothat f ( x x ) isthedesiredvalue(whichinthisexampleis
zero).Solvingfor x yields

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x

f ( x x) f ( x)
f ( x )
,
x x

whichforthisexampleis
x

0 f ( x)
f ( x)

f ( x)
f ( x ) .
x x
x x

Theupdateequationforiteration(m+1)isthen
x ( m 1) x ( m) x x ( m)

f ( x (m) )
,
f ( x)
x x ( m)

whereinthisexample
f ( x)
2 x 100 .
x

Ifastartingpointofx=2ischosen,thenthesolutionproceedsasfollows:
Iterationm

f(x)

97

f ( x)
x
96

0.9896

1.0193

98.02

0.9999

0.0098

98.00

Additionaliterationscanbeperformediftightersolutiontoleranceisneeded. Notethatifa
startingpointofx=50hadbeenchosen,thepartialderivativewouldhavebeenzero,andthe
methodwouldhavefailed.
Ifx=80isthestartingpoint,thentheprocessyieldsthefollowing:
Iterationm

f(x)

80

1501

f ( x)
x
60

105.02

626.2

110.04

99.33

32.45

98.66

99.00

98.00

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Therefore,thestartingpointgreatlyaffectstheabilityofaNewtonRaphsonmethodtoconverge,
andtheanswertowhichitconverges.Fortunately,intheloadflowproblem,mostvoltagesare
near1.0puinmagnitudeand0.0degrees,sothatweareabletoaccuratelyestimatestarting
values.
For the loadflow problem, the NewtonRaphson method is expanded in matrix form. For
example,considerasetofNnonlinearequationsandNunknowns,
f1 x1 , x 2 , , x N
f 2 x1 , x 2 , , x N

f N x1 , x 2 , , x N

y1
y2
.

yN

Thetaskistofindthesetofunknown x1 , x 2 , , x N ,giventheknownset y1 , y 2 , , y N ,and

givenastartingpoint x1(0) , x2(0) , , x (N0) .
ApplyingTaylor'stheoremasbefore,truncatedafterthefirstderivative,yieldsforRowi

(0)
( 0)
yi f i x1(0) x1 , x 2(0) x 2 ,, x N
x N f i x1(0) , x 2( 0) , , x N

f i

+ x1 x

1 x ( 0)

x2

f i
x2

x N
x (0)

f i
x N

x ( 0)

wherex(0)representsthestartingestimateset x1(0) , x2(0) , , x (N0) .

Nsimilarequationsinmatrixformare

y1
y
2

yN

f1
x
1
f 2
x1

f N
x1

f1
f1

x2
x N x1 f x (0) , x (0) ,, x (0)

N
1 1 2
f 2
f 2

(
0
)
(
0
)
x2 f 2 x , x ,, x (0)

N
1
2

x2
x N
,

x
( 0) ( 0)
( 0)
f N
f N N f N x1 , x2 ,, x N

x2
x N

or

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x
J x ,

y f x ( 0 ) , x ( 0) , , x ( 0)
N
2
1 1 1
( 0) ( 0)
y 2 f 2 x1 , x 2 ,, x (N0)

y N f N x ( 0) , x ( 0) , , x ( 0 )
N

1
2

whereJisanNxNmatrixofpartialderivatives,knownastheJacobianmatrix.Therefore,inan
iterativeprocedure,theaboveequationisusedtoupdatetheXvectoraccordingto

X ( m 1) X ( m) X ( m) X ( m) J ( m)

Y
1

spec

Y ( m)

where

Yspec

y1
y
2

, Y ( m)

f x

f x ( m) , x ( m) , , x ( m)
N
2
1 1
( m) ( m)
f 2 x1 , x2 ,, x N( m)

( m) ( m)
( m)
N 1 , x2 ,, x N

yN

In the loadflow problem, the matrix update equation is symbolically written in mixed
rectangularpolarformas
m)
P
P1(calc
1
spec

m)
P2 spec P2(calc

PNspec P ( m) J1 P J 2 P

Ncalc

J3
J4
Q
Q ( m)

V
1spec 1calc
(
m
)
Q2 spec Q

2calc

( m)
Q
Nspec Q Ncalc

m 1 m
1
1 m 1

2 m
2

N m 1 N m

V1 m 1 V1 m

V2

m 1 V m

m 1
m
VN
V N

or,inabbreviatedform,
P J1
Q J

J2
J 4

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Thedimensionoftheaboveproblemisactually 2 N Number of PV busses 2 since V
updatesatPVbussesarenotrequired,andsince V and updatesattheswingbusarenot
required.
Inhighlyinductivepowersystems,Piscloselyrelatedtovoltageangles,andQiscloselyrelated
tovoltagemagnitudes.Therefore,intheabovemixedrectangularpolarformulation,thetermsin
J 1 and J 4 tendtohavelargermagnitudesthanthosein J 2 and J 3 . Thisfeaturemakesthe
Jacobian matrix more diagonally dominant, which improves robustness when Gaussian
eliminatingorLUdecomposingJ.
TheaboveformulationoftheJacobianmatrixisoftenmodifiedtotakeadvantageofsymmetry
inthepartialderivatives.Thismodificationis
1
V
P

Q
1

P
V
Q
V

V

.
V

Thepartialderivativesarederivedfrom
N

Picalc

Vi

Qicalc

Vi

j 1

yi , j V j cos i j i , j

j 1

yi, j V j sin i j i , j

andhavethefollowingform
For J1 ,
N
Pi
Vi yi , j V j sin i j i , j
i
j 1, j i

Pi
Vi yi , k Vk sin i k i, k , k i .
k

For J 2 ,
Pi

Vi

yi, j
j 1, j i

V j cos i j i , j 2 Vi yi , i cos i, i

Pi
Vi yi , k cos i k i, k , k i .
Vk

For J 3 ,

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Qi

Vi

j 1, j i

yi , j V j cos i j i , j

Qi
Vi yi , k Vk cos i k i, k , k i .
k

For J 4 ,
Qi

Vi

yi, j V j

j 1, j i

sin i j i , j 2 Vi yi, i sin i , i

Qi
Vi y i, k sin i k i, k , k i .
Vk

NotethesymmetryintheJterms.If V
theexpressionsfor J1 are

isusedasanupdatingparameterratherthan ,then

N
Pi
yi , j V j sin i j i , j
Vi i
j 1, j i

Pi
Vi yi, k sin i k i , k , k i .
Vk k

andfor J 3 ,
Qi

Vi i

yi , j V j

j 1, j i

cos i j i , j

Qi
yi , k Vk cos i k i , k , k i .
Vi k

andthereisevenmoresymmetryinJ.
Thediagonaldominanceof J1 and J 4 canbeobservedbytheexaminingthepartialderivatives
asfollows:thedifferencesbetweenvoltageanglesatadjacentbussesisusuallysmall,sothatthe
i j termsaresmall.Theanglesfoundintheadmittancematrixareusuallylarge(i.e.near
90 o )becausemostpowersystemsarereactive.Therefore,thesinetermsinthematrixupdate
equationtendtobenearunity,whilethecosinetermstendtobenearzero.Decoupledloadflow
programsuseonly J1 and J 4 ,treatingthePandQproblemsseparately.
Sothatthebenefits ofoptimalbusorderingcanbefullyexploited, nondecoupled loadflow
Jacobianmatricesareusuallyformulatedinthefollowingalternatingrowform,ratherthanthat
describedsymbolicallyabove:

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_18_ELC4340_Spring13_Loadflow.doc
P1
Q
1

P2

Q2

PN
Q
N

V1 1

V1
V2 2

J V2 .

V N N
V

ThesolutionprocedurefortheNewtonRaphsonloadflowproceedswith:
1.

Initialize the bus voltages. For load busses, use V = 1 + j0. For generator busses
(includingtheswingbus),use V Vspec j 0 .

2.

Form the Jacobian matrix, and update all bus voltage magnitudes and phase angles,
exceptforthoseattheswingbus,andexceptforthevoltagemagnitudesatPVbusses.

3.

CheckthemismatchPandQateachbus.Ifallarewithintolerance(typicaltoleranceis
0.00001pu),asolutionhasbeenfound.Otherwise,returntoStep2.

Stott'sAlgorithm

Stott'salgorithmtakesadvantageofthestrongdecouplingofPandQthatoccursinmosthigh
voltagepowersystems.HisformulationisbasedupontheassumptionthatPisprimarilyrelated
to ,andthatQisprimarilyrelatedto V .
Hebeginsbywritingtheexpressionforpoweratbusi,whichis
Picalc

jQicalc

j 1

Vi

yi, jV j .

Hethendefines
yi , j Gi, j jBi, j .

Expandingthepowerexpressionyields
N

Picalc jQicalc

Vi i Vi j Gi, j

j 1

or,expandinginrealandimaginaryform
Picalc

jBi , j

Vi V j Gi, j cos i, j Bi, j sin i, j

j 1

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Qicalc

where i , j

Vi V j Gi, j sin i, j Bi, j cos i, j ,

j 1

i j .

Fromtheaboveequations,thenecessaryloadflowpartialderivativesare
Pi
j

Vi V j Gi , j sin i , j Bi , j cos i , j
j i

and
Pi

j 1, j i

Vi V j Gi , j sin i , j Bi , j cos i , j

which,bycomparingtotheQequationsimplifiesto
Pi
2
Qi Vi Gi, i sin i, i Bi , j cos i, i

= Qi

Vi

Bi , i .

Similarly,forQ,
Qi
Vj

Vi Gi , j sin i , j Bi , j cos i , j
j i

1 Pi
,
V j j j i

and
Qi

Vi

V j Gi, j sin i, j Bi, j cos i, j 2 Vi Gi, i sin i, i Bi, i cos i, i .

j 1, j i

Aftersimplifying,theaboveequationbecomes
Qi
Q
i Vi Bi , i .
Vi
Vi

TheformoftheJacobianupdateequationisnow

P H
Q 0

0
L

1
,
V V

where

H i , j Li , j Vi V j Gi , j sin i , j Bi , j cos i , j , i j ,

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H i , i Qi Vi
Li, i Qi Vi

Bi , i

Bi , i .

Now, since the angular differences are small, then cos i , j sin i , j . In reactive power
systems, Bi, j Gi, j ,sothat Bi , j cos i, j Gi, j sin i , j .Also,inmostcases, Bi , i Qi
,sothat Vi2 Bi, i Qi .SubstitutingtheseapproximationsintotheaboveexpressionsforH
andLyields
H i , j Li , j Vi V j Bi , j

H i , i Li , i Vi

Bi , i .

Theseleadtothefollowingsimpleformoftheupdateequation:
V1 0
0 V
2
P

0 0

B1,1
B
2,1

V N B N ,1

0
0

VB 'V

B1,2
B2,2

B N ,2

B1, N
B 2, N

V1 0

0 V2


B N , N 0 0

0
0

1

2

V N N

V1 0 0 B1,1 B1,2
0 V 0 B
2,1 B2,2
2

0 0 V N B N ,1 B N ,2

B1, N V1 0 0
B2, N 0 V2 0

B N , N 0 0 V N

V1
V
1
V 2
V2

V
N
V N

V
.
V

VB ''V

Stottproposesthefollowingadditionalsimplifications:
1.

Omitfrom B' thosenetworkelements whichprimarilyaffectMVArflows(i.e.shunt

reactances,offnominaltransformertaps,etc.)

2.

Omitfrom B''theangleshiftingeffectsofphaseshiftingtransformers,whichprimarily
affectMWflows.

3.

Sincethevoltagemagnitudesareclosetounity,write

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B (firstonehalfiteration),

P
'

B V
V

'

and

Q
V
''
''

B V
B V (secondonehalfiteration).
V
V

4.

NeglectseriesresistanceswhencalculatingB'.

Atthispoint,B'andB''remainconstantthroughoutthesolution.Therefore,B'andB''shouldbe
LUdecomposedonce,andreusedforeachhalfiteration.Thesolutionsstepsare
1.

LUdecomposeB'andB''.

2.

Calculate

3.

Update using

4.

Checkconvergence,andcontinueifnotconverged.

5.

Calculate

6.

Update V using

7.

Checkconvergence,andreturntoStep2ifnotconverged.

5.

OtherConsiderations

P
'
B .
V

Q
''
B V
V

CurrentandPowerFlowinTransmissionLinesandCables
Oncethebusvoltagesthroughoutthesystemhavebeencalculated,thentheloadflowprogram
must calculate power flows through lines/transformers/cables. The standard piequivalent
modelsareusedforthispurposeasfollows:

Ijk

Vj/ j
Q(pu)
2

jX

Icapj

Vk/ k
Icapk

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2

Ikj

_18_ELC4340_Spring13_Loadflow.doc

sofromsidej,

I jk

V j j Vk k
Q
Vj
j 90 0
R jX
2

andfromsidek,

I kj

Vk k V j j
Q
Vk
k 90 0
R jX
2

Notethatthecurrentonthetwooppositeendsofthelinearenotexactlythesameduetothefact
thatthecapacitorcurrentsarenot,ingeneral,equaltoeachother.Thepowerflowsforthetwo
*
endsoftheline,directedinward,are S jk V jk I *jk , S kj Vkj I kj
.
TransmissionlinevaluesforR,X(orL),andlinechargingQ(orC),shownontheprevious
diagram,areenteredinperunitfortheentirelengthoftheline.Therelationshipbetweenthese
parametersandthepermetercalculationsdevelopedinthetransmissionlinechapterfollow.

RandX=Larethepositivesequencepermetervaluesofthetransmissionline(e.g.,
resistanceofaphasebundlepermeter,andLwhereLisapproximately1mHperkm),
multipliedbythelengthofthetransmissionline,andconvertedtoperunitohms.

Cisthepositivesequencecapacitancepermeterofthetransmissionline,multipliedby
thelengthofthetransmissionline.UsingC,thenlinechargingQiscomputedusingbase
2
2
voltage with Q 3CV LN
. Then, Q is converted to per unit, and half is
CV LL
placedoneachendofthetransmissionline.Fora345kVlineat60Hz,andassuming12
pFpermeter,Qisabout0.538MVArperkm.Thecorrespondingcapacitivecurrentto
energizethelineisthen0.90Aperkm.

OneperunitQcorrespondstooneperunitadmittanceY. Itisstandardpracticein
loadflowstorepresentQ/2oneachendofalineasanadmittancejQ/2(inperunit).For
the above example, and using a 100 MVA base, the line charging Q of a 100 km
transmissionwouldbe53.8MVAr,anditwouldbemodeledinternallyintheloadflowas
admittancesj0.269pumhosoneachend.
CurrentandPowerFlowinTransformers

ThetransformerequivalentcircuittakenfromSection3is

Vj/j
Busj

t/ :1

Busk' y

Ijk

Vk/ k
Ikj

Busk

,
soforsidek,

V j j
I kj Vk k
y,

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andforsidej,

I jk

I kj
t

Thecorrespondingpowerflowsforthetwoendsofthetransformerare S jk
.

*
V jk I *jk , S kj Vkj I kj

AreaInterchange
Largescalepowersystemsusuallyconsistofseveral,orperhapsmany,individualelectricutility
companies. Inthesecases,eachareamayhaveadesirednetinputoroutputpowertosatisfy
salesandpurchaseagreements.
Theareainterchangefeatureinaloadflowprogramsumsthetielineflowsintoeachareafora
netareapowerinput.Ifthesenetsarenotthedesiredvalues,towithinafewmegawatts,thenan
areacontrolgeneratorwithintheareaisadjustedbytheerroramount. Thesumofallinput
powersforallareasmust,ofcourse,bezero.
ConvergenceCriteria
Mostloadflowdatacasesaredevelopedusinga100MVAbase,sothata1%loadcorrespondsto
1MW.AtypicalconvergencecriteriaisthatthehighestindividualbusPandQmismatchesare
within0.0010.01%,or0.000010.0001pu.

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