6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and

OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

Methods for obtaining an operating point sufficiently small signal stable

in Power Systems including Wind Parks
P. LEDESMA and C. GALLARDO
Electrical Engineering department
Carlos III University of Madrid
Butarque 15, 28911 Leganes
SPAIN

Abstract: This paper shows a simple approach to obtain an operating point sufficiently small signal stable. In the
case of a stable operating point with a poorly damped oscillatory mode, the objective is to increase the damping
of that mode. That is, the power system linearization at the operating point is modified. Operator actions such as
redispatch, varying load, varying reactive power (voltage) often modify the operating point to do this; the effect
of this is that transients near enough to the operating point will decay more quickly. However, the analysis does
not attempt the more difficult study of large signal transients. The existence of a stable operating point is of
course necessary for system security, but there is no guarantee that large signal transients will result in operation
at that operating point.

Key-Words: Linearization, critical mode, eigenvalues, Wind Power Converter, damping, inter-area oscillations

1 Introduction For the above reasons understanding oscillations and

The power system may be thought of as a large,
nonlinear system with many lightly damped
electromechanical modes of oscillation. If the
damping of these modes becomes too small or
positive, then the resulting oscillations can cause
equipment damage or malfunction [1].
Inter-area oscillations are observed as oscillations of
real power flow between regions of a power system
or groups of generators [2]. Voltages and currents
oscillate with the power swings. Sufficiently large
oscillations can trip, stress or disrupt monitoring
devices. In particular, oscillations can cause voltages
to exceed limits causing protective devices to trip and
arriving at defensible and reliable ways to damp
predict and control them are very important in power
systems including wind parks, because wind power
production has been increasing during the last two
decades, mainly in Denmark, Germany and Spain.
2 Test System
The 9-bus test system shown in Figure 1 has been
modeled; this system includes 3 generators and 1
Wind Park, and comprises 30 states variables. Models
were implemented in the PSS/E software package.
250 MW
35 MVAR
G2 200 MW T3 18/230 kV T2 230/13.8 kV G3 225 MW
~ 0.0085+j0.072 0.0119+j0.1006
~
B/2=j0.0745 B/2=j0.1045
0.032+j0.161

0.017+j0.092 0.039+j0.017

50 MW 8
forcing equipment outages. 2 7 9 3
B/2=j0.153

B/2=j0.179

0 MVAR

Three ways in which oscillations can arise are: WP 100 MW

Spontaneous oscillations, which arise when the mode 5 6
0.01+j0.085
B/2=j0.088

B/2=j0.079

damping becomes negative by a gradual change in 175 MW 175 MW

7.5 MVAR 7.5 MVAR
system conditions. Oscillations due to a disturbance,
outage of a line or generator under unfavorable 4
T1 16.5/230 kV
conditions can cause oscillations by suddenly All transmission lines are 230 kV
1
All impedances are in pu based on
reducing damping of a mode, and forced oscillations 100MVA system.

due to incomplete islanding or pulsating loads [3]. G1 313.5 MW ~ 180 MW

Two prominent types of subsynchronous oscillations 26.5 MVAR

are interarea oscillations, where power system areas
swing against each other at frequencies ranging from
0.1 Hz to 1 Hz, and local oscillations, where,
typically one plant swing against the rest of the
system or several generators swing against each other
at frequencies ranging from 1 Hz to 2 Hz. This work
concentrates on inter-area oscillations
Figure 1. 9-bus Test System
The 9 bus test system is essentially the WSCC system
from the text of Sauer and Pai [4], some adjustment
in loading and generation are carried out in order to
create a critical case.
The generators are round rotor with d and q axis
transient and subtransient effects represented. The
exciters are IEEE type 1.

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 120 ISSN 1790-5117

 6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

For transient stability simulations, the real and signal, Pw is the active power reference as provided
reactive power portions of the load are typically by the turbine usual control, and Pref is the new active
modeled as constant current and constant admittance. power reference. This control is intended to be
The real power portions of the loads are modeled as performed in wind power converters with voltage-dip
60% constant admittance and 40% constant current; ride through capability, and will actuate only during
the reactive power portions of the loads are modeled transient oscillations.
as 50% constant admittance and 50% constant current During normal operation, when frequency deviation
for buses 2, 5, 6 and 8, The load at bus 1 is modeled is null, the control signal Ppssw will be zero.
as constant power, active 100% and reactive 100% Reactive power reference Qref is supposed to be zero,
2.1 Control design of the PSS for variable- this is, wind turbine is operating at unit power factor.
speed wind power converter (WPSS). Although different control strategies may be used
The modeling of the variable-speed wind turbine is here, there is no reason to suppose that they would
depicted in figure 2. The wind turbine model includes have major effects on the results of the study [6].
a block which implements an actuator disk model. Its It should also be noted that this control technique
input variables are the wind speed, the mechanical uses only local variables, so that it does not involve
rotor speed and the pitch angle, and its output any telecommunication issue.
variable is the mechanical power. 3 Problem Formulation
Besides, there are a number of additional blocks such 3.1 State Space Model
as: A pitch angle controller, a rotor speed controller, To model the behavior of dynamic systems [7], quite
wind speed model, and PSS for variable-speed wind often a set of n first order nonlinear ordinary
power converter [5]. differential equations are used. This set commonly
Wind power system stabilizer Ppssw Df Frequency deviation has the form:
x& i = f i (x 1 , x 2 ,., x n ; u 1 , u 2 ,., u r ; t) i = 1,2,., n (3)
X Kw
Pw
-
Extracted power Pm Speed control Where n is the order of the system and r is the
from the wind + -
-
Pref
number of inputs. If the derivatives of the state
Wind Speed
wr
variables are not explicit functions of the time,
Grid
1/2HS
equation (3) may then be reduced to:
Pe + Ppssw
x& = f(x, u) ( 4)
Pitch angle Where n is the order of the system, r is the number of
Blade pitch
angle control inputs and x, u and f denote column vectors of the
Figure 2. Wind Power Converter Model form:
 x1   u1   f1 
The proposed control is based on the ability of x  u  f 
variable speed wind turbines to perform an active  2  2  2
power control which is decoupled from reactive x= ⋅
  u= ⋅
  f =⋅ (5)
power control and from rotor mechanical speed.      
Usually, active power reference is provided by a wind  ⋅   ⋅  ⋅
turbine speed control loop, and it is used to track the  x n  u n  f n 
operation point at which maximum power is absorbed The state vector x contains the state variables of the
from the wind or to limit the blades speed during high power system; the vector u contains the system inputs
winds.
and x& encompasses the derivatives of the state
In order to dam power system oscillations, a control
variables with respect to time. The equation relating
signal proportional to the deviation of the frequency
the outputs to the inputs and the state variable can be
is added to the active power reference:
written as:
Pref = Pw (1 − k w D f ) (1) y = g(x, u) ( 6)
dω r
dt
=
1
2H
[
Pm − Pref (1 + Ppssw ) ] ( 2) The state concept may be illustrated by expressing
the swing equation of a generator in per-unit torque
as follows:
Where The WPSS gain Kw is an important factor as 2 Hd 2 δ
the damping provided by the WPSS increases in = Tm − Te − K D ∆ω r (7 )
ω o dt 2
proportion to an increase in the gain up to a certain
critical gain value, Df is the deviation of the Where H is the inertia constant at the synchronous
frequency in per unit, Ppssw is the proposed control speed ω o , t is time, δ is the rotor angle, Tm and Te are

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 121 ISSN 1790-5117

 6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

the per-unit mechanical and electrical torque, the complex eigenvalues always occur in conjugate
respectively, KD is the damping coefficient on the pairs.
rotor and ∆ωr is the per-unit speed deviation. Now, The stability of the operating point (δo, ωo), may be
expressing (7) as two-first-order differential analyzed by studying the eigenvalues. The operating
equations yields: point is stable if all the eigenvalues are on the left-
d∆ ω r 1 hand side of the imaginary axis of the complex plane;
= (Tm − Te − K D ∆ω r ) (8) otherwise it is unstable, figure 3. If any of the
dt 2H
eigenvalues appear on or to the right of this axis, the
dδ
= ω o ∆ω r (9) corresponding modes are said to be unstable, as is the
dt system. This stability is confirmed by looking at the
time dependent characteristic of the oscillatory modes
3.2 Linearization corresponding to each eigenvalues λi, given by etλi.
Small signal stability is the ability of the power The latter shows that a real eigenvalue corresponds to
system to maintain synchronism when subjected to a non-oscillatory mode. If the real eigenvalues is
small disturbances. In this context, a disturbance is negative, the mode decays over time. The magnitude
considered to be small if the equations that describe is related to the time of decay: the larger magnitude,
the resulting response of the system may be the quicker the decay. If the real eigenvalue is
linearized [8]. positive, the mode is said to have aperiodic instability
For the general state space system, the linearization [10].
of (4) and (6) about operating point x o and u o yields
the linearized state space system given by:
∆x& = A∆ x + B ∆ u (10)
∆y = C∆ x + D ∆ u (11)
Here, ∆x is the n state vector increment, ∆y is the m
output vector increment, ∆u is the r input vector
increment, A is the nxn state matrix, B is the nxr
input matrix, C is the mxn output matrix and D is the
mxr feed-forward matrix: Specifically,
∆x = x − x o , ∆y = y − y o and ∆u = u − u o . As an
Figure 3. eigenvalues and associated response
example, (8) and (9) are linearized about the
operating point (δo, ωo), yielding: For ω = 0, σ < 0 damped unidirectional response
d 1
∆ω r = (∆ Tm − K S ∆δ− K D ∆ω r ) (12) For ω ≠ 0, σ < 0 damped oscillatory response
dt 2H For ω ≠ 0, σ = 0 oscillation response of constant
d width
∆δ = ω o ∆ω r (13)
For ω ≠ 0, σ > 0 oscillatory response with the
dt
Where KS is the synchronizing torque coefficient oscillation grows without limit
3.3 Eigenvalues and Stability Analysis For ω = 0, σ > 0 unidirectional response from
Once the state space system for the power system is growing monotonous.
written in the general form given by (10) and (11), On the other hand, the conjugate-pair complex
the small-signal stability of the system can be eigenvalues (σ±jω) each correspond to an oscillatory
calculated and analyzed [9]. The analysis performed mode. A pair with a positive σ represents an unstable
follows traditional root-locus (or root-loci) methods oscillatory mode since these eigenvalues yield an
using PSS/E software package. First the eigenvalues unstable time response of the system. In contrast, a
λi are calculated for the A-matrix, which are the non- pair with a negative σ represents a desired stable
trivial solutions of the equation oscillatory mode. Eigenvalues associated with an
AΦ = λΦ (14) unstable or poorly damped oscillatory mode are also
called dominant modes since their contribution
Where Φ is an nxl vector. Rearranging (14) to solve dominates the time response of the system. It is quite
for λ yields: obvious that he desired state of the system is for all of
Det(A-λI) = 0 (15) the eigenvalues to be in the left-hand side of the
The n solutions of (15) are the eigenvalues (λ1,λ2,…, complex plane.
λn) of the nxn matrix A. These eigenvalues may be Other information that can be determined from the
real or complex and are of the form σ±jω. If A is real, eigenvalues is the oscillatory frequency and the

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 122 ISSN 1790-5117

 6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

damping factor. The damped frequency of the

oscillation in Hertz is given by: At the final step, an eigenvalue λ = 0.225+j4.8593 is
ω located in the right half plane (this oscillatory mode
f= (16) also has a complex conjugate eigenvalue at
2π
And the damping factor (or damping ratio) is given λ = 0.2255 − j 4.8593 ). This unstable mode
by: indicates oscillatory instability at 0.7733 Hz. The
−σ objective of operator action is to suppress oscillation
ξ= (17) by stabilizing this unstable mode. Starting from the
σ2 + ω2 unstable case, three ways to control and damp are
4 Controlling by changing parameters analyzed.
In case of a sustained oscillation, there is typically a 4.1.1 Control by redispatch
power system equilibrium nearby that is oscillatory In order to study the effect of the generation on the
unstable. The objective is to stabilize this equilibrium eigenvalues, the generation has been modified at the
by modifying the power system linearization at the three conventional plants. It has been found that
equilibrium, which is now a stable operating point. decreasing generation at bus 2 and/or bus 3 will move
This is a likely outcome, but other transient behaviors the unstable eigenvalue to the left, but decreasing
are possible. These work methods seek to stabilize generation at bus 2 is more effective. Figures: 6, 7
the equilibrium to obtain an operating point that is and 8.
Redispatch varying Generator 2 "PG2"
sufficiently small signal stable and do not attempt to

10,0
make more extensive changes to the system dynamics
[11].

5,0
Imaginary Part

4.1 Producing an unstable case

The first task is to modify the base case for the 9 bus

0,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

system including a Wind Park, and then compute the

eigenvalues of the modified 9-bus power System,

-5,0
represented in figure 1. These eigenvalues are shown
in figure 4. On the other hand, it must fulfill the

-10,0
Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Real Part
Spanish requirements and regulations such as: a wind
Figure 6. Redispatch varying Active Power of Generator 2
park power should not exceed 0.05 times the short
circuit power in the point of common coupling. Redispatch Varying Generator 3 "Pg3"

10,0
Eigenvalues
10,0

5,0
Imaginary Part

5,0
Imaginary Part

0,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

0,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0
Real Part
-5,0

-5,0
-10,0

-10,0 Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Final Step
Real Part Original Model Including Wind Park at bus 5

Figure 4. 9-bus base case including Wind Park Figure 7. Redispatch varying Active Power of Generator 3

Redispatch Varying Wind Park WP5

10,0

In order to produce an unstable case that has

oscillations, parameter variations were implemented
simultaneously and the eigenvalues computed at each
5,0
Imaginary Part

step, figure 5.
Eigenvalues
0,0

10,0 -50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0
-5,0

5,0
Imaginary Part

0,0
-10,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

Real Part Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Final Step
-5,0

Figure 78 Redispatch varying Active Power of Wind Park

-10,0

Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Final Step
4.1.2 Control by adding reactive load
Figure 5. 9-bus Unstable Case including Wind Park

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 123 ISSN 1790-5117

 6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

The selection of reactive compensation controls to In practice, the voltage at a generator bus would be
damp an oscillation is shown in the figures 9, 10, 11 changed by changing the voltage reference and the
and 12. It shows that adding reactive load at bus 2 voltage at a load bus could be changed if a device as
and/or at bus 8 will move the unstable eigenvalue to Static Var Compensator or Static Synchronous
the left but adding reactive load at bus 2 is more Compensator were installed.
effective. It shows that increasing the voltage at generator bus 2
Varying the Reactive Load at bus 2
will move the unstable eigenvalue to the left. Figures:

10,0
13, 14 and 15.
Varying voltage at Bus 1 (Generator 1)

10,0
5,0
Imaginary Part

5,0
Imaginary Part
0,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

0,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0
-5,0

-5,0
-10,0

Real Part Initial Stepl Step 1 Step 2

-10,0
Figure 9. Varying Q at bus 2 Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Final Step

Varying Reactive Load at bus 5 Figure 13. Varying V at bus 1

10,0

Varying voltage at Bus 2 (Generator 2)

10,0
5,0
Imaginary Part

5,0
Imaginary Part
0,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

0,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0
-5,0

-5,0
-10,0
-10,0

Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Final Step

Real Part Valorinicial Pasa Paso 2

Figure 10. Varying Q at bus 5 Figure 14. Varying V at bus 2

Varying the Reactive Load at bus 6
10,0

Varying voltage at Bus 3 (Generator 3)

10,0
5,0

5,0
Imaginary Part

Imaginary Part
0,0

0,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0 -50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0
-5,0
-5,0

-10,0
-10,0

Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Final Step

Real Part
Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2
Figure 15. Varying V at bus 3
Figure 11. Varying Q at bus 6
4.1.4 Control by varying Simultaneously various
Varying the Reactive Load at bus 8 parameters
It has been shown that adding reactive load,
10,0

decreasing generation and increasing voltage at bus 2

are more effective, because changes to these
5,0
Imaginary Part

parameters values have moved the unstable

eigenvalue to the left. In order to study the effect of
0,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

the change of each of these two parameters on the

eigenvalues, generation, reactive load and voltage at
-5,0

bus 2 have been modified, simultaneously.

It has been found that decreasing generation and
-10,0

Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 increasing reactive load at bus 2 will move the
Figure 12. Varying Q at bus 8 eigenvalue to the left, but decreasing generation and
increasing voltage at bus 2 is more effective;
4.1.3 Control by changing bus voltage decreasing generation is smaller when varying two

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 124 ISSN 1790-5117

 6th WSEAS International Conference on APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETICS, WIRELESS and
OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS (ELECTROSCIENCE '08), Trondheim, Norway, July 2-4, 2008

parameters simultaneously, due to the increment of park, because generation has been modified and it has
either voltage or reactive load help to stabilize the effect on the eigenvalues
system. Figures: 16, 17 and 18.
Varying Active and Reactive Load at bus 2
References:

1 0 ,0
[1] P.M. Anderson, A.A. Fouad, Power System
Control and Stability, Iowa State University Press,

5 ,0
Im ag in a ry P a rt

Ames Iowa, 1977

[2] IEEE Power Engineering Society System

0 ,0
-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

Oscillations working group, inter-area

Oscillations in Power Systems, IEEE Publication
-5 ,0

95 TP 101, October 1994

[3] P.M. Anderson, A.A. Fouad, Power System
-1 0 ,0

Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Final Step

Control and Stability, Iowa State Univesrity Press,
Figure 16. Varying P and Q at bus 2
Ames Iowa, 1977.
Varying Active Power and Voltage at bus 2
[4] P.W. Sauer, M.A. Pai, Power System Dynamics
1 0 ,0

and Stability, Pretince-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ,

1988.
[5] J.G. Slootweg, S.W.H. de Haan, H. Polinder,
5 ,0
Im a g in a r y P a r t

W.L. Kling, Aggregated modelling of wind parks

with variable-speed wind turbines in power
0 ,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

system dynamic simulations, 14th Power Systems

Computation Conference, Sevilla, 24-28 June
-5 ,0

2002.
[6] LEDESMA, P.;CARLOS FABIAN GALLARDO
-1 0 ,0

Real Part Initial Step Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Final Step

QUINGATUÑA, Voltage dip model in PSS/E, 5th
Figure 17. Varying P and V at bus 2 WSEAS/IASME International Conference on
Varying Voltage and Reactive Load at bus 2 Electrical Power Systems, High Voltages and
Electric Machines, SANTA CRUZ DE
1 0 ,0

TENERIFE, ESPAÑA 2005.

[7] P. Kundur, Power System Stability and Control,
5 ,0
Im a g in a r y P a r t

McGraw-Hill, NY, 1993

[8] IEEE Power Engineering Society Systems
0 ,0

-50,0 -45,0 -40,0 -35,0 -30,0 -25,0 -20,0 -15,0 -10,0 -5,0 0,0 5,0 10,0

oscillations working group, Inter-area Oscillations

in Power Systems, IEEE Publication 95TP 101,
-5 ,0

October 1994.
-1 0 ,0

Real Part Initial Step Final Step

[9] I.J. Perez-Arriaga, G.C Verghese and F.C.
Figure 18. Varying Q and V at bus 2
Schweppe, Selective modal analysis with
applications to electric power systems, Part I and
II, IEEE transactions on power Apparatus and
6 Conclusion Systems, vol. PAS 101, no 9, 1982, pp. 3117-
It is apparent that loads have parameters that have 3134.
much greater effect on the eigenvalue damping, if the [10] IEEE Power System engineering committees
load parameter is a limiting factor in ensuring power Eigenanalysis and frequency domain methods for
system stability, studies should be spent in order to system dynamic performance, IEEE Publication
more accurately determine parameters. 90TH0292-3-PWR, 1989.
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simultaneously.
The analysis of the 9-bus test system from the text of
Sauer is similar with low energy yield of the wind
park, and different with high energy yield of the wind

ISBN: 978-960-6766-79-4 125 ISSN 1790-5117