Dynamic equivalents for transient
stability studies of electrical
power systems
J Machowsk,
Technical Un=verslty of Warsaw, ul Koszykowa 75, Gmach
Mechan&t pok 3a, 00-661 Warszawa, Poland
Along wtth the growth m stze of eleetrwal power systems,
attentton ts mereasmgly bemg given to vartous reduction
techntques of dynamtc system models for transient stabthty
studtes One of these ts the topologwal reductton that
includes coherency-based aggregatton A theorem from the
nonhnear vtbrattons theory ts apphed to dertve analytwal
coherency-crtterta for a classwal model of the system A
stmphfied algortthm of coherency recognttton ts gtven and
results for a sample system are shown Important properttes
o/ topologtcal equtvalents are proved and a relauonshtp to
modal reductton ts pointed out
Keywords short-term system dynamics, transtent stabthty,
dynamic equivalent
I. Introductmn
Electrical power systems, for transient stability studies, are
described by a set of nonhnear differential and algebraic
equations
x = f(x,y) (1)
0 = g(x, y)
that describe the dynamic response of synchronous machines
and transmission networks Disturbances, such as faults and
their clearances, are represented in equation (1) by the
relevant changes of coefficients in the right hand side of the
equation Equation (1) IS solved numerically m the parti-
tioned or simultaneous way I Contemporary electrical
power systems are so large that solving equation (1) numeri-
cally has for a long time been an expensive process even with
modern computers Hence, extensive efforts are being made
to develop techniques to reduce this set of equations to a
single smaller equivalent The techniques that have been
developed can be classified as modal, physical and topologi-
cal approaches The modal approach attempts modal reduc-
tion of the hnearIzed system model by considering the
controllability, observabihty and time-scale properties of
Recewed 5 March 1982, Rev=sed 26 November 1984
various system modes It has a good theoretical basis, but
certain disadvantages &scourage its wider application to
large systems Using a physical approach the number of
state variables are reduced by the correct choice of the
model type for each system component according to its
role in the given fault The topological approach consists
of the decomposition of the system into subsystems and
their aggregation Such operaUons can considerably reduce
the number of both differentml and algebraic equations
Additionally, selected load-nodes can be ehmlnated to
decrease further the number of algebraic equations Topo-
logical equivalents are homogeneous, i e they can be repre-
sented In terms of typical power-system components, so
they can be implemented in standard computer programs
for power-system simulation
Topological equwalents strictly preserve the dynamic
properties of the original system if coherence is taken as the
criterion for the decomposition Unfortunately, coherency
recognition IS a difficult task that consists of predicting a
property of the trajectory of nonhnear equations before
they are solved
So far, a few methods of coherency recognition have been
produced Lee and Schweppe 2 have been investigating
coherency m a statistical way, and have reached the conclu-
sion that coherency is caused by specific relatlonshxps
between some system parameters An algorithm tor coher-
ency recogmtlon has been suggested
Vorapay 3, on the basis of the equal-area method, has
derived a coetficlent as a funcUon ot system parameters
prior to the short-ctrcmt occurrence and the parameters
during Its duration This coefficient has been used to select
coherent generators Spalding et al 4 have observed that
coherency Is also related to coordinates of the closest
unstable equlhbnum point of equation (1) The procedure
based on that observation has been described Ohsawa and
HayaskIs have suggested utilizing a property of the Lya-
punov function It has also been observed that the llnearIzed
model of the system can be useful for coherency recogni-
tion Results of the simulation of a simplified linear model
have been utilized to select coherent generators 6 The
Vol 7 No 4 October 1985 0142-0615/85/040215-10 © 1985 8utterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd 215