One of the biggest threats to the power systems as critical infrastructures is large-scale blackouts resulting from cascading failures (CF) in the grid. The ongoing shift in energy portfolio due to ever-increasing penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) may drive the electric grid closer to its operational limits and introduce a large amount of uncertainty coming from their stochastic nature. One worrisome change is the increase in CFs. The CF simulation models in the literature do not allow consideration of RES penetration in studying the grid vulnerability. In this dissertation, we have developed tools and models to evaluate the impact of RE penetration on grid vulnerability to CF. We modeled uncertainty injected from different sources by analyzing actual high-resolution data from North American utilities. Next, we proposed two CF simulation models based on simplified DC power flow and full AC power flow to investigate system behavior under different operating conditions. Simulations show a dramatic improvement in the line flow uncertainty estimation based on the proposed model compared to the simplified DC OPF model. Furthermore, realistic assumptions on the integration of RE resources have been made to enhance our simulation technique. The proposed model is benchmarked against the historical blackout data and widely used models in the literature showing similar statistical patterns of blackout size.

This thesis considers three separate but connected problems regarding energy networks: the load flow problem, the optimal power flow problem, and the islanding problem. All three problems are non-convex non linear problems, and so have the potential of returning local solutions. The goal of this thesis is to find solution methods to each of these problems that will minimize the chances of returning a local solution. The thesis first considers the load ow problem and looks into a novel approach to solving load flows, the Holomorphic Embedding Load Flow Method (HELM). The current literature does not provide any HELM models that can accurately handle general power networks containing PV and PQ buses of realistic sizes. This thesis expands upon previous work to present models of HELM capable of solving general networks efficiently, with computational results for the standard IEEE test cases provided for comparison. The thesis next considers the optimal power flow problem, and creates a framework for a load flow-based OPF solver. The OPF solver is designed with incorporating HELM as the load flow solver in mind, and is tested on IEEE test cases to compare it with other available OPF solvers. The OPF solvers are also tested with modified test cases known to have local solutions to show how a LF-OPF solver using HELM is more likely to find the global optimal solution than the other available OPF solvers. The thesis finally investigates solving a full AC-islanding problem, which can be considered as an extension of the transmission switching problem, using a standard MINLP solver and comparing the results to solutions obtained from approximations to the AC problem. Analysing in detail the results of the AC-islanding problem, alterations are made to the standard MINLP solver to allow better results to be obtained, all the while considering the trade-off between results and elapsed time.

abstract: With the power system being increasingly operated near its limits, there is an increasing need for a power-flow (PF) solution devoid of convergence issues. Traditional iterative methods are extremely initial-estimate dependent and not guaranteed to converge to the required solution. Holomorphic Embedding (HE) is a novel non-iterative procedure for solving the PF problem. While the theory behind a restricted version of the method is well rooted in complex analysis, holomorphic functions and algebraic curves, the practical implementation of the method requires going beyond the published details and involves numerical issues related to Taylor's series expansion, Padé approximants, convolution and solving linear matrix equations. The HE power flow was developed by a non-electrical engineer with language that is foreign to most engineers. One purpose of this document to describe the approach using electric-power engineering parlance and provide an understanding rooted in electric power concepts. This understanding of the methodology is gained by applying the approach to a two-bus dc PF problem and then gradually from moving from this simple two-bus dc PF problem to the general ac PF case. Software to implement the HE method was developed using MATLAB and numerical tests were carried out on small and medium sized systems to validate the approach. Implementation of different analytic continuation techniques is included and their relevance in applications such as evaluating the voltage solution and estimating the bifurcation point (BP) is discussed. The ability of the HE method to trace the PV curve of the system is identified. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2014

No description available.

Neste trabalho propomos uma abordagem para a resolução do problema de Fluxo de Potência Ótimo (FPO) perturbado. A metodologia consiste na obtenção da solução ótima para o problema inicial via um programa de FPO, e na utilização de sensibilidade para estimar novas soluções depois de ocorridas algumas perturbações no problema. Essas perturbações são variações de carga em uma ou mais barras do sistema. A técnica de sensibilidade está baseada nas informações de segunda ordem e nas condições de otimalidade. A obtenção da solução após ocorrerem perturbações no sistema é direta e não necessita de parâmetros iniciais e de correção, como penalidade e barreira, utilizados nos programas de FPO convencionais. Os resultados numéricos apresentados evidenciam o potencial desta metodologia para resolução do problema de FPO perturbado. / An approach to solve the perturbated Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem is proposed in this study. The methodology consists in obtaining the optimal solution for the initial problem via a program of OPF, and using sensitivity to estimate new solutions after the occurrence of some perturbations in the problem. These perturbations consist in load variations in some buses of the system. The sensitivity technique is based on both the information of second order and otimality conditions. The computation of the solutions after the occurrence of perturbations in the system does not depend of initial and correction parameters such as penalty and barrier used in the conventional OPF programs. The numerical results demonstrate the potential of this methodology for the solution of the perturbated OPF problem.

Neste trabalho propomos uma abordagem para a resolução do problema de Fluxo de Potência Ótimo (FPO) perturbado. A metodologia consiste na obtenção da solução ótima para o problema inicial via um programa de FPO, e na utilização de sensibilidade para estimar novas soluções depois de ocorridas algumas perturbações no problema. Essas perturbações são variações de carga em uma ou mais barras do sistema. A técnica de sensibilidade está baseada nas informações de segunda ordem e nas condições de otimalidade. A obtenção da solução após ocorrerem perturbações no sistema é direta e não necessita de parâmetros iniciais e de correção, como penalidade e barreira, utilizados nos programas de FPO convencionais. Os resultados numéricos apresentados evidenciam o potencial desta metodologia para resolução do problema de FPO perturbado. / An approach to solve the perturbated Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem is proposed in this study. The methodology consists in obtaining the optimal solution for the initial problem via a program of OPF, and using sensitivity to estimate new solutions after the occurrence of some perturbations in the problem. These perturbations consist in load variations in some buses of the system. The sensitivity technique is based on both the information of second order and otimality conditions. The computation of the solutions after the occurrence of perturbations in the system does not depend of initial and correction parameters such as penalty and barrier used in the conventional OPF programs. The numerical results demonstrate the potential of this methodology for the solution of the perturbated OPF problem.