The Network Topology Metrics Contributing to Local-Area Frequency Stability in Power System Networks

The power system network topology influences the system frequency response to power imbalance disturbances. Here, the objective is to find the network metric(s) contributing to frequency transient stability. The graph Laplacians of six 4-node network topologies are analysed using Spectral Graph Theory. For homogeneous network connections, we show that the node degree measure indicates node robustness. Based on these analytical results, the investigation expands to a 10-node network topology consisting of two clusters, which provide further insight into the spectral results. The research then involves a simulation of a power imbalance disturbance on three 20-node networks with different topologies based on node degree, where we link the node degree measure to imbalance disturbance propagation through Wave Theory. The results provide an intuitive understanding of the impact of network topology on power system frequency stability. The analytical and simulation results indicate that a node’s sensitivity to disturbances is partially due to its node degree, reactance from disturbance location, and the link it has to other higher degree nodes (hierarchical position in network topology). Testing of the analytical and simulation results takes place on the nonhomogeneous IEEE-14 bus and IEEE-39 bus networks. These results provide insights into optimal inertia placement to improve the frequency robustness of low-inertia power systems. The network topology, considering node degrees, influences the speed at which the disturbance impact propagates from the disturbance location and how fast-standing waves form. The topology thus contributes to how fast the energy in a disturbance dissipates to zero