Evaluation Technique for Critical Nodes Identification in an Electrical Power Grid

Abstract

Electrical power grid is one of the most complex man made infrastructures of contemporary day and consequently, identification of critical nodes in such a network is still an open issue and a great concern. In this paper, to identify critical nodes in a power system, an alternative technique of closeness centrality measure based on network structural properties of a power system is suggested. The proposed closeness centrality measure (PCCM) is derived based on the admittance matrix of the network. The vertex that has the highest value of PCCM is considered as the critical node of the system. A comparative analysis of the PCCM with other traditional methods such as Conventional Closeness Centrality Measure (CCCM) and the L-Index is carried out. The usefulness of all the methodologies presented is tested on both IEEE 14 bus and the IEEE 5-bus power systems. Simulation results obtained show that the PCCM could serve as valuable tool for fast real time voltage stability assessment in a power system.