Studies of Transmission Stability

Stability may be defined as the capacity of a power system to remain in equilibrium under steady load conditions, and its ability to regain a state of equilibrium after a disturbance has taken place. The lack of stability first manifested itself in the cases of overloaded machines and high impedance tie lines. The transmission of large blocks of power over long distances has presented the problem in a new form. Attention was directed to this problem in a group of papers before the Institute at the Midwinter Convention of 1924. These papers gave a general discussion of the stability problem and pointed out the necessity of considering the limitations imposed not only by the line alone but by the transformers, rotating machines and load. Extensive and pertinent discussions followed which emphasized the importance of the limitations imposed on power transmission by stability conditions. The papers and discussions at the 1924 Midwinter Convention established a method for the determination of power limits under steady load conditions assuming fixed excitation. The limit so determined is due to the inherent characteristics of machines and does not take into account the possibility of changes in excitation due to the action of voltage regulators. The possibility of exceeding the ``inherent stability limits'' by the operation of the voltage regulators and exciters was pointed out. This condition of ``artificial stability'' was not at that time believed to be attainable.