VOLTAGE STABILITY

ANALYSIS 1
By
Prof. C. Radhakrishna

CONTENTS
VOLTAGE STABILITY ANALYSIS 1
What Is Voltage Stability?
Small-Disturbance Voltage Stability
Voltage Stability
Voltage Collapse
Factors Affecting Voltage Instability and Collapse
Transient Voltage Instability
Long Term Voltage Instability
Comparison of Angle and Voltage Stability
Characteristics of reactive compensation devices
Shunt capacitors
Regulated shunt compensation
Series capacitors
Voltage collapse
Typical scenario of voltage collapse
General characterization based on actual incidents
Classification of voltage stability
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VOLTAGE STABILITY ANALYSIS 1

In the recent years, the analysis of voltage stability has

assumed importance, mainly due to several documented
incidents of voltage collapse in France, Japan, Belgium and
Florida.
Several factors contribute to voltage collapse such as
increased loading on transmission lines, reactive power
constraints, on-load tap changer (OLTC) dynamics and load
characteristics.
Voltage instability implies an uncontrolled decrease in voltage
triggered by a disturbance, leading to voltage collapse and is
primarily caused by dynamics connected with the load.

What is Voltage Stability?

Problem of low voltages in steady state conditions, should not

be confused with voltage instability.
It is possible that the voltage collapse may be precipitated even
if the initial operating voltages may be at acceptable levels.

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Voltage collapse may be fast (due to induction motor loads or

HVDC converter station) or slow (due to on-load tap changers
and generator excitation limiters).
The voltage instability generally results in monotonically (or
aperiodically) decreasing voltages. Sometimes the voltage
instability may manifest as undamped (or negatively damped)
voltage oscillations prior to voltage collapse.

Small-Disturbance Voltage Stability

A power system at a given operating state is small-disturbance

voltage stable if, following any small disturbance, voltages near
loads are identical or close to the pre-disturbance values.

Voltage Stability

A power system at a given operating state and subjected to a

given disturbance is voltage stable if voltages near loads
approach post-disturbance equilibrium values.

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Voltage Collapse

Following voltage instability, a power system undergoes

voltage collapse if the post disturbance equilibrium voltages
near load are below acceptable limits.
Voltage collapse may be total (blackout) or partial.
The voltage instability and collapse may occur in a time frame
of fraction of a second.
In this case the term transient voltage stability is used.
Sometimes, it may take up to tens of minutes in which case the
term long-term voltage stability is used.

Factors Affecting Voltage Instability and Collapse

The voltage collapse occurs invariably following a large

disturbance or large load increase in a heavily stressed power
system.
This results in an increased reactive power consumption and
voltage drop.
The voltage drop causes initial load reduction triggering
control mechanisms for load restoration. It is the dynamics of
these controls that often lead to voltage instability and
collapse.
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Transient Voltage Instability

Induction motors supplying loads with constant torques draw

constant power independent of applied voltage.
Transient voltage stability is also associated with HVDC links,
particularly inverter terminals connected to AC systems with low
short circuit capacity.

Long Term Voltage Instability

Onload tap-changing (OLTC) transformers and distribution

voltage regulators act within a time frame of tens of seconds to
tens of minutes to regulate the load voltages.
An important factor in long term voltage stability is the current
limiting at generator.

Comparison of Angle and Voltage Stability

Analysis of power system stability in the past pertained to the

power angle dynamics expressed in terms of swing equation of
synchronous generators.

On the other hand, in the analysis of voltage stability, the

major concern is the voltage collapse, although the generators
may
remain
in synchronism.
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 The simplest system for the analysis of angle stability is the

single machine infinite bus (SMIB) system.
Only the generator dynamics affect (angle) stability.
The simplest system that can be considered for the study of
voltage stability is the single machine load bus (SMLB) system.
A system enters a state of voltage instability when a disturbance,
increase in load demand, or change in system condition causes a
progressive and uncontrollable decline in voltage.
The main factor causing instability is the inability of the power
system to meet the demand for reactive power.
Characteristics of reactive compensation devices
Shunt capacitors

They can be effectively used up to a certain point to extend the

voltage stability limits by correcting the receiving end power factor.
Shunt capacitors, however, have a number of inherent limitations
from the viewpoint of voltage stability and control:
In heavily shunt capacitor compensated system, the voltage
regulation tends to be poor.
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 Beyond a certain level of compensation, stable operation is

unattainable with shunt capacitor.
The reactive power generated by a shunt capacitor is
proportional to the square of the voltage; during system conditions
of low voltage the var support drops, thus compounding the
problem.
Regulated shunt compensation
A static var system (SVS) of finite size will regulate up to its
maximum capacitive output.
There are no voltage control or instability problems within the
regulating range.
When pushed to the limit, an SVS becomes a simple capacitor.
Series capacitors
Series capacitors are self- regulating.
The reactive power supplied by series capacitors is proportional
to square of the line current and is independent of the bus voltages.
This has a favorable effect on voltage stability.
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Typical scenario of voltage collapse

When a power system is subjected to a sudden increase of reactive
power demand following a system contingency, the additional demand is
met by the reactive power reserves carried by the generators and
compensators.

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General characterization based on actual incidents:

Voltage collapse may be characterized as follows:

The initiating event may be due to a variety of causes:
The voltage collapse generally manifests itself as a slow decay of
voltage. It is the result of an accumulative process involving the
action and interactions of many devices, controls, and protective
systems.
The duration of voltage collapse dynamics in some situations
may be much shorter, being on the order of a few seconds.
The time frame of this class of voltage instability is the same as
that of rotor angle instability.
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Voltage collapse is strongly influenced by system conditions and

characteristics.
The following are the significant factors contributing to voltage
instability/collapse:
Large distance between generation and load
ULTC action during low voltage conditions
Unfavorable load characteristics
Poor coordination between various control and protective
system

The voltage collapse problem may be aggravated by

excessive use of shunt capacitor compensation.
Reactive compensation can be made most effective by the
judicious choice of a mixture of shunt capacitors, static var
systems, and possibly synchronous condensers.

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Classification of voltage stability

Classify voltage stability into two categories: large-disturbance
voltage stability and small-disturbance voltage stability.
Largedisturbance voltage stability is concerned with a systems
ability to control voltages following large disturbances such as
system faults, loss of load, or loss of generation.
Large-disturbance voltage stability may be further subdivided
into transient and long-term time frames.
Small-disturbance (or small- signal) voltage stability is
concerned with a systems ability to control voltages following small
perturbations, such as gradual change in load.
This form of stability can be effectively studied with steady-state
approaches that use linearization of the system dynamic equations
at a given operating point.
REFERENCES :
[ 1 ] K.R. Padiyar : Power System Dynamics : Stability and Control, 2nd edition, BS
Publications, 2002.
[ 2 ] Prabha Kundur : Power System Stability and control, The EPRI Power System
Engineering Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
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CONCLUSIONS

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THANK YOU
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