An Equivalent Circuit-Based Approach for Power and Emission Tracing in Power Networks

This article develops an equivalent circuit-based model to perform power and emission tracing in power grids. By relying on the proposed model, a power network can be readily converted into a series of equivalent acyclic circuits so that the contributions of generators to a specific load can be clearly and unequivocally traced from a circuit point of view without making any assumptions on how nodal power inflows contribute to the outflows. The effectiveness of the proposed method is discussed through both power flow and optimal power flow simulations on three case studies, including a simple two-generator network, and the IEEE standard 14-bus and 118-bus systems. Furthermore, the proposed power flow tracing method is used in estimating the electricity-associated emissions from the customer side.