A Distributed Transmission-Distribution-Coupled Static Voltage Stability Assessment Method Considering Distributed Generation

Abstract

The recent rapid development of distributed generation (DG) necessitates the consideration of transmission–distribution interactions in voltage stability assessment (VSA), and how to perform a transmission–distribution-coupled static VSA (TDVSA) has become a pressing problem. To resolve this urgent issue, this paper first theoretically analyzes the impacts of the voltage-maintaining capacity and low-voltage tripping of DG units on the static voltage stability of an integrated transmission–distribution system and then proposes a distributed TDVSA method that fully considers these impacts when assessing the voltage stability of the integrated system. As the core of the method, a distributed continuation power flow algorithm is designed that includes a distribution-equivalencing-based predictor, a distributed transmission–distribution corrector, and a step-length regulator and requires only a limited amount of data to be exchanged between the transmission system operator (TSO) and the distribution system operator (DSO). Numerical simulations show that even in the case of low DG penetration, a cascading low-voltage tripping event can significantly degrade an integrated system's voltage stability, and only the proposed distributed TDVSA method can produce an accurate assessment. In addition, the number of iterations between the TSO and DSO is shown to be limited, indicating the potential of applying the proposed method to future grids.