3D Visualization of Power System State Estimation

This paper presents the results of a project which is undertaken in order to develop a flexible visualization tool to be used mainly by power system operators. The project concentrated on two application functions, namely the power flow and the state estimation. One of the essential goals of the envisioned tool is to aid system operators by providing images of the system with easily identifiable characteristics related to violations of various operating limits. In addition, the tool is expected to illustrate deficiencies associated with the existing metering system both from the point of view of metering design as well as accuracy. The result is a user-friendly 3D graphic interface for the stated two power system applications. In power flow analysis mode, animation and bus contouring technique is used for visualizing power flows and bus voltages. In state estimation mode, color contour is used to visualize different observable islands and bad measurements which are identified through the largest normalized residuals test. Effectiveness of the tool is illustrated via different scenarios which are created using the IEEE 118 bus system as an example.