A Review of the Use of Phasor Measurement Units in Power System State Estimation

Today’s power systems are facing great challenges because of increasing expansions, variable loads and renewable energy sources on the distribution systems, and growing demand to connect the networks together. As a result, estimation of the power system state is becoming an important task in modern power systems due to the increase of its complexity. Continuous development in synchrophasor measurement technology and communication systems enhances and encourages researchers and electric utilities to employ this technology to improve the performance of power system operation, control, protection, and state estimation (SE). A review of the methods used for power system state estimation is presented in this paper. This paper essentially aims to focus on the applications of Phasor Measurement Units for Power System SE. Issues of conventional state estimation process based on wide-area monitoring (excluding Phasor Measurement Units) and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system have been highlighted. In addition, the paper investigates studies from the literature to show the possibilities and advantages brought by the synchrophasor measurement technology for Power System State Estimation.