The continuation power flow: a tool for steady state voltage stability analysis

A method of finding a continuum of power flow solutions starting at some base load and leading to a steady-state voltage stability limit (critical point) of a system is presented. A salient feature of the so-called continuation power flow is that it remains well conditioned at and around the critical point. As a consequence, divergence due to ill-conditioning is not encountered at the critical point, even when single-precision computation is used. Intermediate results of the process are used to develop a voltage stability index and identify areas of the system most prone to voltage collapse. Examples are given wherein the voltage stability of a system is analyzed using several different scenarios of load increase.<>