Robust and Efficient Power Flow Convergence with G-min Stepping Homotopy Method

Abstract

Recent advances have shown that the circuit simulation algorithms that allow for solving highly nonlinear circuits of over one billion variables can be applicable to power system simulation and optimization problems through the use of an equivalent circuit formulation. It was demonstrated that large-scale (80k+ buses) power flow simulations can be robustly solved, independent of the initial starting point. In this paper, we extend the electronic circuit-based G-min stepping homotopy method to power flow simulations. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed algorithm results in significantly better simulation runtime performance when compared to existing homotopy methods. Index Terms-equivalent circuit formulation, G-min stepping, homotopy method, Tx-stepping, robust power flow analysis.Recent advances [15]-[21] in power system simulation and optimization problems have demonstrated that modeling the steady-state response of a power system in terms of current, voltage and admittance state variables allows for more robust and scalable convergence properties, governed by the application of circuit simulation techniques. For instance, the recently introduced Tx-stepping homotopy method [17] was shown to eliminate low voltage