Assessing Algorithms of Phasor Measurements Optimal Placement for State Estimation

Power System State estimation utilizes the available measurements to estimate the state of the system, which is necessary for maintaining energy service and for the applications of smart grids. Hence, obtaining an accurate and stable state estimator is the main objective to most of the meter placement studies that are related to the state estimation. However, modern power systems have recently started employing advanced meters such as the Smart meters and Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). However, a clear majority of the available PMUs placement algorithm discards the quality and numerical stability of the state estimation solution and focus only on achieving a completely observable power system. This leads to creating non-realistic meter configuration since the power systems have already their own measurement set. Therefore, the optimal placement algorithms should concern the existing configuration of the power network before suggesting new schemes. This paper investigates the validity of the existing optimal placement problem and their response to the requirements of the state estimation solution and provides suggestion to the practical placement strategies. The paper compares 25 of the top-cited papers in the research area of PMU optimal placement and assess the objectives of these papers in terms of the power system state estimation.