Particle Swarm Optimization Method to Assess a Voltage Stability Region by Multi-Parameter Bifurcation Analysis

An electrical power system's feasibility region is defined by all operating points that can be reached by continuous variation of its parameters without leading the system to instability. The information about the size of this region and its boundary is important for utilities to guarantee the secure operation of power systems. In this paper a new approach is proposed to determine the feasibility region without applying the principle of continuation. For this purpose, a particle swarm optimization is developed to transform the problem of finding one equilibrium point for a given system's conditions into a problem of computing several (all in most cases) equilibrium points for the same operating conditions. Determining several equilibrium points for all possible operating conditions, then joining all results, allow us to assemble a complete bifurcation diagram of the system under analysis. A benchmark power system is used to numerically illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, whose results are compared with those obtained by the application of a continuation method. Copyright (C) 2011 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.