A Remedial Action Scheme to Prevent Mid/Long-Term Voltage Instabilities

The main objective of this article is to propose a special protection system (SPS) to execute efficient remedial actions to prevent mid-term and long-term voltage instabilities. In this method, when the operating point (OP) leaves the normal operation state, the proposed SPS is initiated to execute the required corrective remedial actions to bring the OP back to a normal state and maintain bus voltages above prespecified thresholds. Considering the local nature of Volt/Var control and in order to execute fast remedial actions, in this approach, the required generation rescheduling or load shedding procedures were selected based on the electrical distance concept. This allows for remedial actions with the highest impact on volt/var control. In addition, in generation rescheduling procedures, the proposed method uses the ability of utility-scale photovoltaic resources, which can change their generation quickly. This plays a major role in maintaining stability of power systems. Efficiency of the proposed algorithm was validated through several scenarios performed in IEEE 39-bus, Nordic32, and PST 16 test systems using DIgSILENT PowerFactory software. Results of these dynamic simulations and their comparison with some previously published methods show the effectiveness of this method in timely executing appropriate remedial actions to maintain system stability.

Automated summary

This article proposes a special protection system (SPS) to prevent voltage instabilities in power systems by executing efficient remedial actions based on local Volt/Var control and electrical distance concept. The proposed method utilizes utility-scale photovoltaic resources for quick generation rescheduling procedures, contributing to the stability of power systems. Validation through dynamic simulations in different test systems demonstrates the effectiveness of this method in timely executing appropriate remedial actions to maintain system stability.