Restoration of System Security with Optimized Corrective Actions

Traditional power system tools are not comprehensive enough to analyze detailed cascading processes. To analyze the cascading process for a number of what-if scenarios, the Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool (DCAT) has been developed using GE PSLF. This tool can analyze both dynamic and steady-state behavior of power systems, including protection system models in dynamic simulations, and simulate corrective actions in post-transient steady-state conditions Also, it mimics operator corrective actions to mitigate aggravated states caused by dynamic cascading. This paper formulates an optimization model for selecting corrective actions that utility operators can take during major contingencies and demonstrates the model on the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Heavy Winter case using six scenarios that capture various possibilities for an extreme contingency. The results show how various corrective actions are able to alleviate line and voltage violations and thus reduce the load loss in the system.