Local vs. wide-area undervoltage load shedding in the presence of induction motor loads

In the presence of induction motor loads, long-term voltage instability may end up in a sharp voltage decrease, which makes the tuning of undervoltage load shedding more delicate. This paper first investigates the ability of a purely distributed load shedding scheme, previously proposed by the authors, to cope with these situations. Owing to difficulties to reconcile dependability and security, an alternative wide-area protection is considered. The latter consists of generators sending overexcitation signals to the load shedding controllers in order to allow the latter to act faster. Detailed time simulations of a test system are reported.