A Novel Sectionalizing Method for Power System Parallel Restoration Based on Minimum Spanning Tree

Parallel restoration is a way to accelerate the black-start procedure of power systems following a blackout. An efficient sectionalizing scheme can reduce the restoration time of a system, taking into account the black-start ability, generation-load balance of subsystems, restoration time of branches, start-up time of generating units, and effects of dispatchable loads and faulted devices. Solving the sectionalizing problem is challenging since it needs to handle a large number of Boolean variables corresponding to the branches and nonlinear constraints associated with system topology. This paper investigates power system sectionalizing problem for parallel restoration to minimize the system restoration time (SRT). A novel sectionalizing method considering the restoration of generating units and network branches is proposed. Firstly, the minimum spanning tree (MST) algorithm is used to determine the skeleton network of a power system. Secondly, the number of subsystems is determined according to the number of black-start units. Based on the skeleton network, candidate boundary lines among subsystems are identified. Then, constraints are evaluated to identify feasible sectionalizing schemes. Except commonly used constraints on power balancing and black-start units, this paper also considers using dispatchable loads to meet the minimum output requirements of generating units. Finally, the sectionalizing scheme with the minimum SRT is selected as the final solution. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by the IEEE 39-bus and 118-bus test systems. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method can balance the restoration time of subsystems and minimize the SRT.