arXiv subjects

Anamitra Pal

Publications and source records attributed to Anamitra Pal.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Time-Synchronized Full System State Estimation Considering Practical Implementation Challenges

As the phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement problem involves a cost-benefit trade-off, more PMUs get placed on the higher voltage buses. However, this causes many of the lower voltage levels of the bulk power system to not be observed by PMUs. This lack of visibility then makes time-synchronized state estimation of the full system a challenging problem. We propose a Deep Neural network-based State Estimator (DeNSE) to overcome this problem. The DeNSE employs a Bayesian framework to indirectly combine inferences drawn from slow timescale but widespread supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data with fast timescale but select PMU data to attain sub-second situational awareness of the entire system. The practical utility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by considering topology changes, non-Gaussian measurement noise, and bad data detection and correction. The results obtained using the IEEE 118-bus system show the superiority of the DeNSE over a purely SCADA state estimator and a PMU-only linear state estimator from a techno-economic viability perspective. Lastly, scalability of the DeNSE is proven by estimating the states of a large and realistic 2000-bus Synthetic Texas system.

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arXiv2024

Analyzing Cross-Phase Effects of Reactive Power Intervention on Distribution Voltage Control

Increasing photovoltaic (PV) penetration in the distribution system can often lead to voltage violations. Mitigation of these violations requires reactive power intervention from PV inverters. However, the unbalanced nature of the distribution system leads to mixed effects on the voltages of nearby nodes for each inverter injecting or absorbing reactive power. In particular, reactive power absorption to reduce over-voltage in one phase can exacerbate over-voltage in a different phase. In this paper, the factors impacting the incremental and decremental voltage effects of reactive power intervention are analyzed in detail. The result of these effects on the distribution system performance is presented to highlight their significance and the need to factor them in for any coordinated voltage control algorithm.

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arXiv2024

Design and Validation of a Very Low-Power Phasor Measurement Unit

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) provide a high-resolution view of the power system at the locations where they are placed. As such, it is desirable to place them in bulk in low voltage distribution circuits. However, the power consumption of a PMU/micro-PMU is in the order of Watts (W) that results in them requiring an external power supply, which in turn increases the overall cost. This work details the hardware design of a PMU capable of measuring and reporting voltage and current phasors for a single-phase system at an average power consumption of only 30.8 mW -- one to two orders of magnitude lower than existing academic and commercial PMUs. This enables the proposed PMU to run for two weeks using an 11-Wh battery or indefinitely if paired with an inexpensive solar panel. A test-bench developed in accordance with the 2018 IEC/IEEE 60255-118-1 PMU Standard confirms the accuracy of this PMU. Given its low power consumption, the proposed design is expected to accelerate adoption of PMUs in modern distribution grids.

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arXiv2024

Analytical Verification of Performance of Deep Neural Network Based Time-Synchronized Distribution System State Estimation

Recently, we demonstrated success of a time-synchronized state estimator using deep neural networks (DNNs) for real-time unobservable distribution systems. In this letter, we provide analytical bounds on the performance of that state estimator as a function of perturbations in the input measurements. It has already been shown that evaluating performance based on only the test dataset might not effectively indicate a trained DNN's ability to handle input perturbations. As such, we analytically verify robustness and trustworthiness of DNNs to input perturbations by treating them as mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problems. The ability of batch normalization in addressing the scalability limitations of the MILP formulation is also highlighted. The framework is validated by performing time-synchronized distribution system state estimation for a modified IEEE 34-node system and a real-world large distribution system, both of which are incompletely observed by micro-phasor measurement units.

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arXiv2023

Improving Photovoltaic Hosting Capacity of Distribution Networks with Coordinated Inverter Control -- A Case Study of the EPRI J1 Feeder

Adding photovoltaic (PV) systems in distribution networks, while desirable for reducing the carbon footprint, can lead to voltage violations under high solar-low load conditions. The inability of traditional volt-VAr control in eliminating all the violations is also well-known. This paper presents a novel coordinated inverter control methodology that leverages system-wide situational awareness to significantly improve hosting capacity (HC). The methodology employs a real-time voltage-reactive power (VQ) sensitivity matrix in an iterative linear optimizer to calculate the minimum reactive power intervention from PV inverters needed for mitigating over-voltage without resorting to active power curtailing or requiring step voltage regulator setting changes. The algorithm is validated using the EPRI J1 feeder under an extensive set of realistic use cases and is shown to provide 3x improvement in HC under all scenarios.

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arXiv2023

Time-Synchronized State Estimation Using Graph Neural Networks in Presence of Topology Changes

Recently, there has been a major emphasis on developing data-driven approaches involving machine learning (ML) for high-speed static state estimation (SE) in power systems. The emphasis stems from the ability of ML to overcome difficulties associated with model-based approaches, such as handling of non-Gaussian measurement noise. However, topology changes pose a stiff challenge for performing ML-based SE because the training and test environments become different when such changes occur. This paper circumvents this challenge by formulating a graph neural network (GNN)-based time-synchronized state estimator that considers the physical connections of the power system during the training itself. The results obtained using the IEEE 118-bus system indicate that the GNN-based state estimator outperforms both the model-based linear state estimator and a data-driven deep neural network-based state estimator in the presence of non-Gaussian measurement noise and topology changes, respectively.

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arXiv2022

Data-Driven Flow and Injection Estimation in PMU-Unobservable Transmission Systems

Fast and accurate knowledge of power flows and power injections is needed for a variety of applications in the electric grid. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) can be used to directly compute them at high speeds; however, a large number of PMUs will be needed for computing all the flows and injections. Similarly, if they are calculated from the outputs of a linear state estimator, then their accuracy will deteriorate due to the quadratic relationship between voltage and power. This paper employs machine learning to perform fast and accurate flow and injection estimation in power systems that are sparsely observed by PMUs. We train a deep neural network (DNN) to learn the mapping function between PMU measurements and power flows/injections. The relation between power flows and injections is incorporated into the DNN by adding a linear constraint to its loss function. The results obtained using the IEEE 118-bus system indicate that the proposed approach performs more accurate flow/injection estimation in severely unobservable power systems compared to other data-driven methods.

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arXiv2022

Transmission Line Parameter Estimation Under Non-Gaussian Measurement Noise

Accurate knowledge of transmission line parameters is essential for a variety of power system monitoring, protection, and control applications. The use of phasor measurement unit (PMU) data for transmission line parameter estimation (TLPE) is well-documented. However, existing literature on PMU-based TLPE implicitly assumes the measurement noise to be Gaussian. Recently, it has been shown that the noise in PMU measurements (especially in the current phasors) is better represented by Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), i.e., the noises are non-Gaussian. We present a novel approach for TLPE that can handle non-Gaussian noise in the PMU measurements. The measurement noise is expressed as a GMM, whose components are identified using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Subsequently, noise and parameter estimation is carried out by solving a maximum likelihood estimation problem iteratively until convergence. The superior performance of the proposed approach over traditional approaches such as least squares and total least squares as well as the more recently proposed minimum total error entropy approach is demonstrated by performing simulations using the IEEE 118-bus system as well as proprietary PMU data obtained from a U.S. power utility.

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arXiv2022

State and Topology Estimation for Unobservable Distribution Systems using Deep Neural Networks

Time-synchronized state estimation for reconfigurable distribution networks is challenging because of limited real-time observability. This paper addresses this challenge by formulating a deep learning (DL)-based approach for topology identification (TI) and unbalanced three-phase distribution system state estimation (DSSE). Two deep neural networks (DNNs) are trained for time-synchronized DNN-based TI and DSSE, respectively, for systems that are incompletely observed by synchrophasor measurement devices (SMDs) in real-time. A data-driven approach for judicious SMD placement to facilitate reliable TI and DSSE is also provided. Robustness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by considering non-Gaussian noise in the SMD measurements. A comparison of the DNN-based DSSE with more conventional approaches indicates that the DL-based approach gives better accuracy with smaller number of SMDs.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2022

Representative Scenarios to Capture Renewable Generation Stochasticity and Cross-Correlations

Generating representative scenarios for power system planning in which the stochasticity of renewable generation and cross-correlations between renewables and load are fully captured, is a challenging problem. Traditional methods for scenario generation often fail to generate diverse scenarios that include both seasonal (frequently occurring) and atypical (extreme) days required for planning purposes. This paper presents a methodical approach to generate representative scenarios. It also proposes new metrics that are more relevant for evaluating the generated scenarios from an applications perspective. When applied to historical data from a power utility, the proposed approach resulted in scenarios that included a good mix of seasonal and atypical days. The results also demonstrated pertinence of the proposed cluster validation metrics. Finally, the paper presents a trade-off for determining optimal number of scenarios for a given application.

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arXiv2021

GPS Spoofing Attacks on Phasor Measurement Units: Practical Feasibility and Countermeasures

Prior research has demonstrated that global positioning system (GPS) spoofing attacks on phasor measurement units (PMUs) can cripple power system operation. This paper provides an experimental evidence of the feasibility of such an attack using commonly available digital radios known as software defined radio (SDR). It also introduces a novel countermeasure against such attacks using GPS signal redundancy and low power long range (LoRa) spread spectrum modulation technique. The proposed approach checks the integrity of the GPS signal at remote locations and compares the data with the PMUs current output. This countermeasure is a ready-to-deploy system that can provide an instant solution to the GPS spoofing detection problem for PMUs.

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arXiv2021

Optimal BESS Allocation in Large Transmission Networks Using Linearized BESS Models

The most commonly used model for battery energy storage systems (BESSs) in optimal BESS allocation problems is a constant-efficiency model. However, the charging and discharging efficiencies of BESSs vary non-linearly as functions of their state-of-charge, temperature, charging/discharging powers, as well as the BESS technology being considered. Therefore, constant-efficiency models may inaccurately represent the non-linear operating characteristics of the BESS. In this paper, we first create technology-specific linearized BESS models derived from the actual non-linear BESS models. We then incorporate the linearized BESS models into a mixed-integer linear programming framework for optimal multi-technology BESS allocation. Studies carried out on a 2,604-bus U.S. transmission network demonstrate the benefits of utilizing the linearized BESS models from the model accuracy, convexity, and computational performance viewpoints.

math.OC↗

arXiv2021

Fast DTW and Fuzzy Clustering for Scenario Generation in Power System Planning Problems

Power system planning problems become computationally intractable if one accounts for all uncertain operating scenarios. Consequently, one selects a subset of scenarios that are representative of likely/extreme operating conditions, e.g. heavy summer, heavy winter, light summer, and so on. However, such an approach may not be able to accurately capture the dependencies that exist between renewable generation (RG) and system load in RG-rich power systems. This paper proposes the use of fast dynamic time warping (FDTW) and fuzzy c-means++ (FCM++) clustering to account for key statistical properties of load and RG for scenario generation for power system planning problems. Case studies using a U.S. power network, and comparison with existing scenario generation techniques demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach.

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arXiv2021

Mitigation of Saturated Cut-sets During Multiple Outages to Enhance Power System Security

Ensuring reliable operation of large power systems subjected to multiple outages is a challenging task because of the combinatorial nature of the problem. Traditional approaches for security assessment are often limited by their scope and/or speed, resulting in missing of critical contingencies that could lead to cascading failures. This paper proposes a two-component methodology to enhance power system security. The first component combines an efficient algorithm to detect cut-set saturation (called the feasibility test (FT) algorithm) with real-time contingency analysis (RTCA) to create an integrated corrective action (iCA), whose goal is to secure the system against cut-set saturation as well as critical branch overloads. The second component only employs the results of the FT to create a relaxed corrective action (rCA) to secure the system against post-contingency cut-set saturation. The first component is more comprehensive, but the latter is computationally more efficient. The effectiveness of the two components is evaluated based upon the number of cascade triggering contingencies alleviated, and the computation time. The results obtained by analyzing different case-studies on the IEEE 118-bus and 2000-bus synthetic Texas systems indicate that the proposed two-component methodology successfully enhances the scope and speed of power system security assessment during multiple outages.

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arXiv2021

Statistical Characterization of Random Errors Present in Synchrophasor Measurements

The statistical characterization of the measurement errors of a phasor measurement unit (PMU) is currently receiving considerable interest in the power systems community. This paper focuses on the characteristics of the errors in magnitude and angle measurements introduced only by the PMU device (called random errors in this paper), during ambient conditions, using a high-precision calibrator. The experimental results indicate that the random errors follow a non-Gaussian distribution. They also show that the M-class and P-class PMUs have distinct error characteristics. The results of this analysis will help researchers design algorithms that account for the non-Gaussian nature of the errors in synchrophasor measurements, thereby improving the practical utility of the said-algorithms in addition to building on precedence for using high-precision calibrators to perform accurate error tests.

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arXiv2021

Time Synchronized State Estimation for Incompletely Observed Distribution Systems Using Deep Learning Considering Realistic Measurement Noise

Time-synchronized state estimation is a challenge for distribution systems because of limited real-time observability. This paper addresses this challenge by formulating a deep learning (DL)-based approach to perform unbalanced three-phase distribution system state estimation (DSSE). Initially, a data-driven approach for judicious measurement selection to facilitate reliable state estimation is provided. Then, a deep neural network (DNN) is trained to perform DSSE for systems that are incompletely observed by synchrophasor measurement devices (SMDs). Robustness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by considering realistic measurement error models for SMDs. A comparative study of the DNN-based DSSE with classical linear state estimation indicates that the DL-based approach gives better accuracy with a significantly smaller number of SMDs.

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arXiv2020

Identification of Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Penetration Threshold in a Dynamic Setting

Integration of renewable energy resources with the electric grid is necessary for a sustainable energy future. However, increased penetration of inverter based resources (IBRs) reduce grid inertia, which might then compromise power system reliability. Therefore, power utilities are often interested in identifying the maximum IBR penetration limit for their system. The proposed research presents a methodology to identify the IBR penetration threshold beyond which voltage, frequency, and tie-line limits will be exceeded. The sensitivity of the IBR penetration threshold to momentary cessation due to low voltages, transmission versus distribution connected solar generation, and stalling of induction motors are also analyzed. Dynamic simulation studies conducted on a 24,000-bus model of the Western Interconnection (WI) demonstrate the practicality of the proposed approach.

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arXiv2020

Fast Identification of Saturated Cut-sets using Graph Search Techniques

When multiple outages occur in rapid succession, it is important to know quickly if the power transfer capability of different interconnections (or cut-sets) of the power network are limited. The algorithm developed in this paper identifies such limited cut-sets very fast, thereby enhancing the real-time situational awareness of power system operators. The significance of the proposed approach is described using the IEEE 39-bus test system, while its computational benefits are demonstrated using relatively large test-cases containing thousands of buses. The results indicate that the proposed network analysis can estimate the impact of an outage on any cut-set of the system and screen out the cut-set that gets saturated by the largest margin, very quickly.

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