Effective optimal placement of PMUs for power system observability

Abstract

This paper presents a new algorithm for optimal placement of PMU's to make the given power system network observable under normal operating conditions. Observability test is carried out based on topological connectivity of network, using "root vector" without any need for triangularisation of a matrix. The root vector indicates the number of buses observed due to the placement of PMU at a bus. The aim of the optimal PMU placement problem is to minimize the number of PMU's employed in the power system to make it observable. The proposed technique is tested on IEEE 14-bus and 30-bus systems. Further, this technique is also tested on partial network of Southern Grid of India. The test results are compared with the existing algorithms and the results of the proposed algorithm are very promising with significant reduction in CPU time. Therefore, evidently this algorithm can be employed very effectively for well grown large size power systems for optimal placement of PMU's.