Singular Value Decomposition Based Approach for Voltage Stability Assessment in Power Distribution Systems

Voltage stability methods for power distribution systems need to be constantly improved as consequence of the evolution towards smart grids, considering the prevention of voltage instability expansion to the transmission system level. The article aims to present an alternative assessment technique based on singular value decomposition adapted for distribution network particularities in order to identify the singular values that describe the general vulnerability of the system and the boundary of the stable operating domain. For the validation of the proposed method, two benchmark distribution networks are analyzed. Subsequently, the method is used to indicate the critical point of voltage collapse and the maximum power capability or to identify weak areas in terms of triggering the instability mechanism, taking in consideration the influence of distributed generation.