AbstractThe Transient Energy Function (TEF) method has been intensely investigated over the last decade as a reliable and accurate tool for transient stability assessment of multimachine power systems. In this paper we propose the Potential Energy Boundary Surface (PEBS) based method for direct analysis of transient stability. The critical value of transient energy and the Critical Clearing Time (TCCT) are evaluated without the need for successive calculation and memorization of the system kinetic and potential energy values along the sustained fault trajectory. The method is used for determination of output features in the training phase of the neural‐net based transient security assessment. The proposed approach is tested on the well‐known ten‐generator New England test system demonstrating the validity and accuracy of obtained results.