Optimal Micro-PMU Placement for Improving State Estimation Accuracy via Mixed-integer Semidefinite Programming

Micro-phasor measurement units (µPMUs) with a micro-second resolution and milli-degree accuracy capability are expected to play an important role in improving the state estimation accuracy in the distribution network with increasing penetration of distributed generations. Therefore, this paper investigates the problem of how to place a limited number of µPMUs to improve the state estimation accuracy. Combined with pseudo-measurements and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) measurements, an optimal µPMU placement model is proposed based on a two-step state estimation method. The E-optimal experimental criterion is utilized to measure the state estimation accuracy. The nonlinear optimization problem is transformed into a mixed-integer semidefinite programming (MISDP) problem, whose optimal solution can be obtained by using the improved Benders decomposition method. Simulations on several systems are carried out to evaluate the effective performance of the proposed model.