696
AER 16 POWER SYSTEM STABILITY
foance of the system. The system models used in such studies are extensive
because present-day power systems are vast, heavily interconnected systems
with hundreds of machines which can interact through the medium of their
extra-high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage networks. These machines have associ
ated excitation systems and turbine-governing control systems which in some but
not all cases are modeled in order to reect properly correct dynamic perfor
mance of the system. If the resultant nonlinear dierential and algebraic
equations of the overall system are to be solved, then either direct methods or
iterative step-by-step procedures must be used. In this chapter we emphasize
transient stability considerations and introduce basic iterative procedures used
in transient stability studies. Before doing so, however, let us rst discuss certain
terms commonly encountered in stability analysis.l
A power system is in a steady-state operating condition if all the measured
(or calculated) physical quantities describing the operating condition of the
system can be considered constant for purposes of analysis. When operating in
a steady-state condition if a sudden change or sequence of changes occurs in
one or more of the parameters of the system, or in one or more of its operating
quantities, we say that the system has undergone a disturbance from its
steady-state operating condition. Disturbances can be large or- small depending
on their origin. A large disturbance is one for which the nonlinear equations
describing the dynamics of the power system cannot be validly linearized for
purp oses of analysis. Transmission system faults, sudden load changes, loss of
generating units, and line switching are examples of large disturbances. If the
power system is operating in a steady-state condition and it undergoes change
which can be properly analyzed by linearized versions of its dynamic and
algebraic equations, we say that a small disturbance has occurred. A change in
the gain of the automatic voltage regula tor in the excitation system of a large
generating unit could be an example of a small disturbance. The power system
is steady-state stable for a particular steady-state operating condition if, follow
ing a small disturbance, it returns to essentially the same steady-state condition
of operation. However, if following a large disturbance, a signiftcantly different
but acceptable steady-state operating condition is attained, we say that the
system is transiently stable.
Steady-state stability studies are usually less extensive in scope than
transient stability studies and often involve a single machine operating into an
innite bus or just a few machines undergoing one or more small disturbances.
Thus, steady-state stability studies examine the stability of the system under
small incremental variations in parameters or operating conditions about a
steady-state equilibrium point. The nonlinear dierential and algebraic equa
tions of the system are replaced by a set of linear equations which are then
IFor further discussion, see "Proposed Terms and Denitions for Power System Stability," A Task
Force Report of the System Dynamic Performance Subcommittee, IEEE Transactions on Power
• I
Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS 101, July 1982, pp. 1894- 1898.