Tracing power flow from generators to loads and branches using incidence matrix multiplication

Power flow tracing has been received more attention in recent years due to the situation of deregulation and open access in power industry. It is usually required to calculate the power transfers from individual generators to loads and branches, shares of each load and generation in branch flows. This paper proposes a novel power flow tracing technique using a directed path from buses to buses, which is produced by multiplying the incidence matrix between buses. The contribution of generators to branch flows and the extraction of loads from generators are determined using the directed path and the definition of distribution factor of an outflow. The major advantages of the proposed method are that the relationship between inflows and outflows and the tracing path are described explicitly and no exhaustive search and matrix inversion are required. The method was illustrated using a simple five bus power system, the IEEE-30, and the IEEE-RTS power systems.