2/28/2025
Power System Dynamics and
Stability
EEE 6214 Power Systems
Dynamics (Credit 3.0)
• Lecture: 3 hours / week
• Dynamic properties of electric generators, conventional as well as high
capacity wind turbine generators, power system networks, loads and
interconnected /multi-area systems. Models suitable for analyzing the
dynamic performance of generators, control of generators, load and
frequency control, transient models, electro-mechanical dynamics -
small and large disturbances, behavior of generators in case of
disturbances, transient stability, equal area criteria, frequency stability
and control, voltage stability, stability enhancements.
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Basic Concepts and Definitions
• Power System Stability
It is the property of a dynamical system or its ability to
remain in state of operating equilibrium under normal
operating conditions and to regain an acceptable state of
equilibrium after being subjected to a disturbance.
Basic Concepts and Definitions
Power System Instability
Angle instability Voltage instability
Mid and Long Term Instability
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Basic Concepts and Definitions
• Angle stability occurs due to torque imbalance of
generators.
• There are two types torques considered in
generators.
– Synchrononizing torque
– Damping torque
• Angle stability can be classified into two:
– Transient Stability
– Small Signal Stability
Basic Concepts and Definitions
• Small signal stability can be further classified into
two:
– Oscillatory instability
– Non-oscillatory instability
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Basic Concepts and Definitions
• Voltage instability occurs due to reactive power
imbalance
– Due to small disturbance
– Due to large disturbance
• The later voltage instability problem occurs due to
large disturbance, switching events, dynamics of
ULTC (under load tap changers) and coordination
of protection and control.
• The former occurs mostly due to the steady-state
P/Q –V relations and stability margins.
Basic Concepts and Definitions
• The Mid-term and long-term instability problems
are relatively new in the literature of power system
stability.
• These problems are associated with the dynamic
response of power systems to severe upsets or
disturbances.
• The severe upsets result in large excursions of
voltage, frequency, and power flows that thereby
invoke the actions of slow processes, controls, and
protections.
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Power System Stability
Angular Stability Voltage Stability
Mid-term Long-term
Transient Stability Large-Disturbance
Voltage Stability
Small-Signal Stability Small-Disturbance
Voltage Stability
Non-oscillatory Oscillatory
Instability Instability
Local Plant Interarea Control Torsional
Mode Mode Mode Mode 9
Angle Instability
• Angle stability is defined as the ability of the
power system remain synchronism when subjected
to a disturbance.
• It is mainly concerned with maintaining real
power requirement in the system.
• The stability involves study of electromechanical
oscillations inherent in power systems.
• Angle instability can be further divided into two
– Transient stability (first swing stability)
– Small signal stability
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Transient Stability
• Transient stability refers to the large disturbances
in the system.
can be defined as the ability of the system and its
generating units to remain in synchronism following a
large (severe) and sudden disturbance.
• Examples of large disturbance
– Faults in the transmission systems
– Sudden change of bulk load
– Loss of operating units,
– Line switching
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Transient Stability
• The post operating equilibrium point is different
from the pre disturbance equilibrium point in case
of such disturbances.
• Since the sever disturbances involve large
deviation in rotor angles, non-linear dynamical
model of the system is considered for the transient
stability studies.
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Small Signal Stability
• Small signal stability refers to ability of the system
to maintain synchronism under small and sudden
disturbances.
• Small disturbances occur continuously in the
system due to small variation in loads and
generations.
– Oscillatory (due to insufficient damping torque)
– Non-oscillatory (due to insufficient synchronous
torque)
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Small Signal Stability
• Small signal stability depends on several factors
– Initial operating point
– Transmission system strength
– Generator excitation
– Other controls in the system.
• The oscillatory type of small signal instability can
be further divided into:
– Local modes
– Inter-area modes
– Control modes
– Torsional modes
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Voltage Stability
• Voltage stability also called as “load stability”
Refers to the ability of the system to maintain load bus
voltages within acceptable limit, following some
disturbance or change in power demand.
IEEE definitions
VOLTAGE STABILITY
IS THE ABILITY OF A SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN VOLTAGE SO THAT
WHEN LOAD ADMITTANCE WILL INCREASE BOTH VOLTAGE
AND POWER ARE CONTROLLABLE 15
Voltage Stability (IEEE definition)
• VOLTAGE COLLAPSE
IS THE PROCESS IN WHICH INSTABILITY LEADS TO VERY LOW
VOLTAGE PROFILE IN A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE SYSTEM
• VOLTAGE SECURITY
IS THE ABILITY OF A SYSTEM NOT ONLY TO OPERATE STABLY,
BUT ALSO TO REMAIN STABLE (AS FAR AS THE MAINTENANCE
OF SYSTEM VOLTAGE IS CONCERNED) FOLLOWING ANY
REASONABLE CREDIBLE CONTINGENCY OR ADVERSE SYSTEM
CHANGE
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Voltage Stability
• CIGRE definitions
VOLTAGE STABILITY
A POWER SYSTEM, AT A GIVEN OPERATING STATE
AND SUBJECT TO A GIVEN DISTURBANCE, IS
VOLTAGE STABLE IF VOLTAGES NEAR LOADS
APPROACH POST-DISTURBANCE EQUILIBRIUM
VALUES. THE DISTURBED STATE IS WITHIN THE
REGION OF ATTRACTION OF STABLE POST-
DISTURBANCE EQUILIBRIUM
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Voltage Stability
VOLTAGE INSTABILITY
VOLTAGE INSTABILITY IS THE ABSENCE OF
VOLTAGE STABILITY, AND RESULTS IN PROGRESSIVE
VOLTAGE DECREASE (OR INCREASE).
DESTABILIZING CONTROLS REACHING LIMITS OR
OTHER CONTROL ACTIONS (E.G. LOAD
CONNECTION), HOWEVER, MAY ESTABLISH GLOBAL
STABILITY.
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Voltage Stability
VOLTAGE COLLAPSE
FOLLOWING VOLTAGE INSTABILITY, A POWER
SYSTEM UNDERGOES VOLTAGE COLLAPSE IF
THE POST-DISTURBANCE EQUILIBRIUM
VOLTAGES NEAR LOADS ARE BELOW
ACCEPTABLE LIMITS. VOLTAGE COLLAPSE IN
THE SYSTEM MAY BE EITHER TOTAL (BLACKOUT)
OR PARTIAL.
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Voltage Stability
• Voltage instability has been observed in the
stressed systems due to deficit of reactive power to
support the voltages.
• Factors affecting the voltage stability
o Reactive power transmission,
o Certain controls, such as generator excitation control
Reaching limit
o Reverse action of transformer on load tap changer
(OLTC)
o Self recovering type of loads
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Long and Mid Term Instability
• Long-term stability analysis assumes that inter-
machine synchronizing power oscillation have
damped out, the result being uniform frequency.
• Here, the focus is on slower and longer-duration
phenomena that accompany large-scale system
upsets, which result in large and sustained
mismatch in generator and other compensation
devices.
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Long and Mid Term Instability
• Some examples of slow and long-duration
phenomena:
– Boiler dynamics
– Penstock and conduit dynamics
– Automatic generation control
– Power plant and transmission system
protection/controls
– Transformer saturation,
– Off-nominal frequency effects on loads and the network
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Long and Mid Term Instability
• The mid-term stability analysis deals with the
transient between short term and long-term
responses.
• These studies focus on synchronous power
oscillation between machines, including the
effects of some of the slower phenomena, and
possibly large voltage and frequency excursions.
• The distinction between mid-term and long-term
stability is primarily based on the phenomena
being analyzed and the system representation used
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Long and Mid Term Instability
• Generally, the long-term and mid-term stability
problems are associated with inadequacies in
equipment responses, poor coordination of control
and protection equipment, or insufficient
active/reactive power reserve.
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