Power Network Measurement Placement Using Graph Optimization

In this paper, the minimum cost measurement placement problem guaranteeing power system observability is considered. Contrary to the mainstream studies predominately focused on phasor measurement unit (PMU) placements, this paper considers the placement with traditional units including line power flows and bus power injections. The result in this work serves as a precursor for the placement problem with PMU and traditional measurements in full generality. The placement problem in this paper is formulated as a graph connectivity problem, which is either solved exactly as a mixed integer linear program or approximately via minimum spanning tree and weighted bipartite matching calculations. A numerical case study on IEEE power system benchmarks demonstrates the solution methodologies for the placement problem.