Damping inter-area Oscillations using Restructuring Corrective Actions

Nowadays, with the advent of phasor measurement units, control center operators can evaluate and monitor online the status of power systems small signal stability. In operation of power systems conditions may arise that traditional controllers cannot damp electromechanical oscillations. In these situations corrective actions can be used to suppress the oscillations. Corrective actions should be analyzed and evaluated before applying to the system. This paper investigates the effect of line switching as a corrective action on damping inter-area modes via a new algorithm which is based on calculation of first order sensitivity coefficients. The proposed method characterizes the effect of changing load flow pattern as well as topology of the network due to the line transmission switching on displacement of the inter-area mode. The 10-bus two-area test system is used to examine performance of the proposed method. The results prove accuracy and effectiveness of the method.