Dynamic Instability of a Power System Caused by Aggregation of Induction Motor Loads

Aggregated loads of induction motors are often used in the study of power system dynamic stability. This paper reports the finding that aggregation of the same or similar induction motors may likely cause the dynamic instability. Theoretical analysis is presented in the paper to show that a group of N same induction motors in parallel connection is equivalent to N dynamic independent subsystems. Oscillation modes of one of the equivalent subsystems are affected by the number of induction motors. Hence, when the number of induction motors increases, it is possible that the oscillation modes of the group of induction motors may move toward the right on the complex plane, leading to the dynamic instability in the worst case. The analysis explains why aggregation of induction motors may possibly bring about the risk of power system dynamic instability. In this paper, case studies of an example power system with a cluster of induction motors are presented. Results of modal computation and simulation demonstrate that when the number of induction motors increases, aggregation of the same or similar induction motors leads to the dynamic voltage instability and growing low-frequency electromechanical power oscillations in the test case.