Estimating interharmonics by using sliding-window ESPRIT

A method is proposed for estimating interharmonic frequencies in power system voltage and current signals. The method is based on a spectrum-estimation method known as estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT). To allow for a more reliable spectral estimation and to cover nonstationarity in the signal, a sliding-window version of ESPRIT is introduced. This paper describes the basic ESPRIT method as well as sliding-window ESPRIT. The paper discusses the application of the method to one synthetic signal and three measurement signals. It is shown that the method allows for very accurate frequency estimation of interharmonic components. The limitations of the methods, such as line splitting and spurious components, can be overcome by using the coherent information obtained from the sliding-window method. A number of remaining issues are also discussed in this paper.