A Survey of Voltage Stability Indicators Based on Local Synchronized Phasor Measurements

This paper reviews and evaluates the main types of voltage stability indicators (VSIs) based on local measurements and further provides a background to their development. Due to weaknesses during dynamic conditions, the bus VSIs based on Thévenin's equivalent impedance methods are in general found to be unsuitable for most corrective applications, but may instead be used to estimate local loadability margin to voltage instability. Line VSIs, although requiring some data communication, are in general found to be more robust and may in most cases be used both for predictive and corrective applications. Sensitivity-based VSIs are typically more accurate for detecting voltage instability, but are instead sensitive to measurement noise and are highly nonlinear when the system is close to a voltage collapse, consequently being unsuitable for estimating stability margins. The VSIs based on the local identification of voltage emergency situations (LIVES) concept can take into account the delayed effects from load tap changers, making them suitable for corrective applications and to use in local protection schemes.