2.

5 Basic power ow equation

From equation (2.7), for a n bus system,

I
1

I
2

I
n

Y
11

Y
12


Y
1n

Y
21

Y
22


Y
2n

Y
n1

Y
n2


Y
nn

V
1

V
2

V
n

(2.24)
Or,

I
i
=
n

j=1

Y
ij

V
j
(2.25)
Complex power injected at bus i is given by,

S
i
= P
i
+ jQ
i
=

V
i

i
(2.26)
Now,

V
i
= V
i
e
j
i
;

V
j
= V
j
e
j
j
;

Y
ij
= Y
ij
e
j
ij
;
Hence,

S
i
= P
i
+ jQ
i
= V
i
e
j
i
_
n

j=1
Y
ij
V
j
e
j(
j
+
ij
}
_

Or,
P
i
=
n

j=1
V
i
V
j
Y
ij
cos(
i

j

ij
} (2.27)
Q
i
=
n

j=1
V
i
V
j
Y
ij
sin(
i

j

ij
} (2.28)
Equations (2.27) and (2.28) are known as the basic load ow equations. It can be seen that for
any i
th
bus, there are two equations. Therefore, for a n-bus power system, there are altogether 2n
load-ow equations.
Now, from equations (2.27) and (2.28) it can be seen that there are four variables (V
i
,
i
, P
i
and
Q
i
) associated with the i
th
bus. Thus for the n-bus system, there are a total of 4n variables. As
there are only 2n equations available, out of these 4n variables, 2n quantities need to be specied
and remaining 2n quantities are solved from the 2n load-ow equations. As 2n variables are to
be specied in a n bus system, for each bus, two quantities need to be specied. For this purpose,
the buses in a system are classied into three categories and in each category, two dierent quantities
are specied as described below.
1. PQ Bus: At these buses loads are connected and therefore, these buses are also termed as load
buses. Generally the values of loads (real and reactive) connected at these buses are known
and hence, at these buses P
i
and Q
i
are specied (or known). Consequently, V
i
and
i
need to
be calculated for these buses.
26
2. PV Bus: Physically, these buses are the generator buses. Generally, the real power supplied
by the generator is known (as we say that the generation is supplying 100 MW) and also, the
magnitude of the terminal voltage of the generator is maintained constant at a pre-specied
value by the exciter (provided that the reactive power supplied or absorbed by the generator
is within the limits). Thus, at a PV bus, P
i
and V
i
are specied and consequently, Q
i
and
i
need to be calculatd.
3. Slack Bus: To calculate the angles
i
(as discussed above), a reference angle (
i
= 0} needs to
be specied so that all the other bus voltage angles are calculated with respect to this reference
angle. Moreover, physically, total power supplied by all the generation must be equal to the
sum of total load in the system and system power loss. However, as the system loss cannot be
computed before the load ow problem is solved, the real power output of all the generators in
the system cannot be pre-specied. There should be at least one generator in the system which
would supply the loss (plus its share of the loads) and thus for this generator, the real power
output cant be pre-specied. However, because of the exciter action, V
i
for this generator can
still be specied. Hence for this generator, V
i
and
i
(= 0} are specied and the quantities P
i
and Q
i
are calculated. This generator bus is designated as the slack bus. Usually, the largest
generator in the system is designated as the slack bus.
To summarise, the details of dierent types of buses in a n bus, m generator power system are
shown in Table 2.1. Now, please note that in a load ow problem, the quantities P
i
and Q
i
(Q
i
at
Table 2.1: Classication of buses
Type Total no. of buses Specied quantity Solution quantity
PQ n-m P
i
, Q
i
V
i
,
i
PV m-1 P
i
, V
i
Q
i
,
i
Slack 1 V
i
,
i
P
i
, Q
i
PV while P
i
and Q
i
at slack buses) are not directly solved. Only the quantities V
i
and
i
are directly
solved (V
i
for all PQ buses while
i
for all PV and PQ buses). This is because of the fact that once
V
i
and
i
at all PV and PQ buses are solved, then the voltage magnitudes and angles at all the buses
are known (V
i
,
i
at the slack bus are already specied) and subsequently, using equations (2.27)
and (2.28), P
i
and Q
i
at any bus can be calculated.
Therefore, in a n bus, m generator system, the unknown quantities are: V
i
(total n-m of
them) and
i
(total n-1 of them). Therefore, total number of unknown quantities is 2n-m-1. On
the other hand, the specied quantities are: P
i
(total n-1 of them) and Q
i
(total n-m of them).
Hence total number of specied quantities is also 2n-m-1. As the number of unknown quantities is
equal to the number of specied quantities, the load-ow problem is well-posed.
27
Equations (2.27) and (2.28) represent a set of simultaneous, non-linear, algebraic equations. As
the set of equations is non-linear, no closed form, analytical solution for these equations exist. Hence,
these equations can only be solved by using suitable numerical iterative techniques. For solving the
load ow problem, various iterative methods exist. These are:
1. Gauss-seidel method
2. Newton Raphron (polar) technique
3. Newton Raphron (rectangular) technique
4. Fast-decoupled load ow
We will discuss these methods one by one and we start with the Gauss-Seidel method.
2.6 Basic Gauss Seidel solution method
Before discussing the Gauss-Seidel load ow (GSLF) technique, let we rst review the basic Gauss-
Seidel procedure for solving a set of non-linear algebraic equations.
Let the following n equations are given for the n unknown quantities x
1
, x
2
, x
n
;
f
1
(x
1
, x
2
x
n
} = 0
f
2
(x
1
, x
2
x
n
} = 0


f
n
(x
1
, x
2
x
n
} = 0

(2.29)
It is to be noted that in equation (2.29), the function f
1
, f
2
, f
n
are all non-linear in nature
and no particular form of these equations is assumed. Now, with some algebraic manipulation, from
the rst equation of equation set (2.29), the variable x
1
can be represented in terms of the other
variables. Similarly from the second equation, the variable x
2
can be represented in terms of the
other variables. Proceeding in the same way, from the n
th
equation, the variable x
n
can be expressed
in terms of the other variables. Therefore, let,
x
1
= g
1
(x
2
, x
3
x
n
}
x
2
= g
2
(x
1
, x
3
x
n
}

x
k
= g
k
(x
1
, x
2
x
k1
, x
k+1
x
n
}

x
n
= g
n
(x
1
, x
2
x
n1
}

(2.30)
To compute the variables x
1
, x
2
, x
n
from these equations g
1
, g
2
, g
n
, the rst step is to
assume the initial values of these solution variables (x
(0)
1
, x
(0)
2
x
(0)
n
}. With these initially assumed
28
values, various steps of the basic Gauss-Seidel algorithm are as follows.
Basic Gauss-Seidel procedure
Step 1: Set iteration count k = 1
Step 2: Update the variables ;
x
(k)
1
= g
1
(x
(k1)
2
, x
(k1)
3
, x
(k1)
n
};
x
(k)
2
= g
2
(x
(k)
1
, x
(k1)
3
, x
(k1)
n
};

x
(k)
p
= g
p
(x
(k)
1
, x
(k)
2
, x
(k)
p1
, x
(k1)
p+1
, x
(k1)
n
};

x
(k)
n
= g
n
(x
(k)
1
, x
(k)
2
, x
(k)
n1
};
Step 3: Compute e
(k)
i
= |x
(k)
i
x
(k1)
i
| for all i = 1, 2, n;
Step 4: Compute e
r
= max(e
(k)
1
, e
(k)
2
, e
(k)
n
} ;
Step 5: If e
r
(tolerance limit), stop and print the solution. Else set k = k +1 and go to step
2.
It is to be noted that in step 2, for updating the variable x
p
, the most updated values of
x
1
, x
2
, x
p1
(which are before x
p
in the sequence of the solution variables) are used while for the
variables x
p+1
, x
p+2
, x
n
(which are after x
p
in the sequence of the solution variables), the values
pertaining to previous iteration are used (as these variables have not been updated yet). Subse-
quently, in steps 3 and 4, the maximum absolute error between the solutions of the current iteration
and previous iteration is calculated. If this maximum absolute error is less then a pre-specied
tolerance value, then the algorithm is considered to be converged. Otherwise, the solution variables
are again updated.
With this background of basic Gauss-Seidel method, we are now in a position of discussing GSLF,
which we will do next.
2.7 Gauss Seidel Load Flow technique
Let us now proceed for discussing GSLF. From equation (2.25),

I
i
=
n

k =1

Y
ik

V
k
=

Y
ii

V
i
+
n

k =1
i

Y
ik

V
k
. Hence,

V
i
=
1

Y
ii

I
i

k =1
i

Y
ik

V
k

. Now, from the relation

29
P
i
+ jQ
i
=

V
i

i
we get,

I
i
=
P
i
jQ
i

V

i
. Thus,

V
i
=
1

Y
ii

P
i
jQ
i

V

i

k =1
i

Y
ik

V
k

(2.31)
Equation (2.31) is the basic equation for performing GSLF. It is to be noted that without loss
of generality, it is assumed that the m generators are connected to the rst m buses (bus 1
being the slack bus) and remaining (n-m) buses are load buses. Now, initially to understand the
basic GSLF procedure, let us assume that m = 1, i.e., there is only one generator (which is also the
slack bus) and the rest (n-1) buses are all load buses. To perform load-ow computation, initial
guesses of the bus voltages are necessary. As any power system is generally expected to operate at
the normal steady-state operating condition (with the bus voltage magnitudes maintained between
0.95 - 1.05 p.u.), all the unknown bus voltage are initialized to 1.00
o
p.u (i.e.

V
(0)
j
= 1.00
o
for
j = 2, 3, n). This process of initializing all bus voltage to 1.00
o
is called at start. With these
initial bus voltages, the complete procedure for GSLF (having no PV bus) is as follows.
GSLF without PV bus
Step 1: Set iteration count k = 1.
Step 2: Update the bus voltages as;

V
(k)
2
=
1

Y
22

P
2
jQ
2
|

V
(k1)
2
|

j =1
2

Y
2j

V
(k1)
j

V
(k)
p
=
1

Y
pp

P
p
jQ
p
|

V
(k1)
p
|

p1

j=1

Y
pj

V
(k)
j

n

j=p+1

Y
pj

V
(k1)
j

V
(k)
n
=
1

Y
nn

P
n
jQ
n
|

V
(k1)
n
|

n1

j=1

Y
nj

V
(k)
j

Step 3: Compute e
(k)
i
= |

V
(k)
i


V
(k1)
i
| for all i = 2, n;
Step 4: Compute e
(k)
= max(e
(k)
2
, e
(k)
3
, e
(k)
n
} ;
Step 5: If e
(k)
(tolerance limit), stop and print the solution. Else set k = k+1 and go to step 2.
With the above understanding of the basic GSLF, we are now in a position to discuss the GSLF
procedure for a system having multiple generators. Before we discuss the GSLF procedure, let
us look into the procedure of initialisation of bus voltages (which is little dierent than assuming
a at start for all the bus volatges). For a system having multiple generators, the bus voltage
30
initialisation is carried out in a two step procedure; i) the load buses are initialised with at start
(i.e.

V
(0)
j
= 1.00
o
for j = (m+ 1}, (m+ 2}, n) and ii) the magnitudes of the voltages of the
PV buses are initialised with the corresponding specied voltage magnitudes while initialising all
these voltage angles to 0
o
(i.e.

V
(0)
j
= V
sp
j
0
o
for j = 2, 3, m, where V
sp
j
is the specied bus
voltage magnitude of the j
th
generator). Now, as discussed earlier, the reactive power supplied or
absorbed by a generator (Q
G
} is calculated by the load ow procedure. However any generator has
a maximum and minimum limit on Q
G
. If the Q
G
from the generator is within these limits, then the
generator excitation system is able to maintain the terminal voltage at the specied value. On the
other hand, if the generator reaches its limit on Q
G
(either maximum or minimum), then because
of the insucient amount of reactive power (either supplied or absorbed), the generator excitation
system would not be able to maintain the terminal voltage magnitude at the specied value. In that
case the generator bus would behave as a PQ bus (P being already specied for the generator and
Q is set at either maximum or minimum limiting value of Q
G
). In power system terminology, this
phenomenon (where the generator is behaving like a PQ bus) is termed as PV to PQ switching
which should also be accounted for in any load-ow solution methodology.
This is incorporated in GSLF by the following procedure. At the beginning of each iteration, Q
G
injection by each generator is calculated. If this calculated Q
G
is found to be within the correspond-
ing limits then this generator continues to behave as a PV bus. Hence |

V
i
| of this bus (at which the
generator is connected ) is still maintained at the corresponding specied value and only the angle
of this bus voltage is calculated in the present iteration. On the other hand if Q
G
is found to exceed
any limit (either maximum or minimum), then it is xed at that limit and the bus is considered
to act like a PQ bus. Thus, both the magnitude and angle of the bus voltage are calculated in
the present iteration. With this background, the complete algorithm of GSLF involving multiple
generator buses is as follows.
Complete GSLF algorithm
Step 1: Initialise

V
(0)
j
= V
sp
j
0
o
for j = 2, 3, m and

V
(0)
j
= 1.00
o
for j = (m+ 1}, (m+
2}, n. Set iteration count k = 1.
Step 2: For i = 2, 3, m, carry out the following operations.
a) Calculate,
Q
(k)
i
=
n

j=1
V
(k1)
i
V
(k1)
j
Y
ij
sin{
(k1)
i

(k1)
j

ij
)
b) If, Q
min
i
Q
(k)
i
Q
max
i
; then assign |

V
(k)
i
| = V
sp
i
and
(k)
i
= {A
(k)
i
). The quantity A
(k)
i
is given by,
A
(k)
i
=
1

Y
ii

P
i
jQ
(k)
i
|

V
(k1)
i
|

i1

j=1

Y
ij

V
(k)
j

n

j=i+1

Y
ij

V
(k1)
j

31
c) If Q
(k)
i
Q
max
i
, then calculate

V
(k)
i
=
1

Y
ii

P
i
jQ
max
i
|

V
(k1)
i
|

i1

j=1

Y
ij

V
(k)
j

n

j=i+1

Y
ij

V
(k1)
j

d) If Q
(k)
i
Q
min
i
, then calculate

V
(k)
i
=
1

Y
ii

P
i
jQ
min
i
|

V
(k1)
i
|

i1

j=1

Y
ij

V
(k)
j

n

j=i+1

Y
ij

V
(k1)
j

Step 3: For i = (m+ 1}, n, calculate

V
(k)
i
=
1

Y
ii

P
i
jQ
(k)
i
|

V
(k1)
i
|

i1

j=1

Y
ij

V
(k)
j

n

j=i+1

Y
ij

V
(k1)
j

Step 4: Compute e
(k)
i
= |

V
(k)
i


V
(k1)
i
| for all i = 2, n;
Step 5: Compute e
(k)
= max(e
(k)
2
, e
(k)
3
, e
(k)
n
} ;
Step 6: If e
(k)
, stop and print the solution. Else set k = k + 1 and go to step 2.
We will illustrate the GSLF algorithm with an example in the next lecture.
32