Optimal PMU Placement Techniques for the Topological Observability of a Partial network of the Southern Grid of India

Abstract

This paper presents algorithms for optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMU’s) to make the power system observable using i)Integer Linear Programming formulation (ILP) and ii)Genetic Algorithm (GA). Observability test is carried out based on topological connectivity of network, using “root vector” without any need for triangularisation of a matrix. The root indicates the number of buses observed due to the placement of PMU at a bus. Computational time required for observability test is very low as there is no formulation of matrix or triangularaisation of a matrix. The proposed techniques are tested on IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems. Further, these techniques are also tested on partial network of Southern Grid of India (72 bus system). The results are compared with the existing algorithm (ILP) and the results of the proposed GA algorithm are very promising with significant reduction in CPU time. This algorithm can be employed very effectively for large size power systems for optimal placement of PMU’s.