Dynamic Simulation of Large-Scale Power Systems Using a Parallel Schur-Complement-Based Decomposition Method

Power system dynamic simulations are crucial for the operation of electric power systems as they provide important information on the dynamic evolution of the system after an occurring disturbance. This paper proposes a robust, accurate and efficient parallel algorithm based on the Schur complement domain decomposition method. The algorithm provides numerical and computational acceleration of the procedure. Based on the shared-memory parallel programming model, a parallel implementation of the proposed algorithm is presented. The implementation is general, portable and scalable on inexpensive, shared-memory, multi-core machines. Two realistic test systems, a medium-scale and a large-scale, are used for performance evaluation of the proposed method.

1. Introduction

Dynamic simulations are frequently used in industry and academia to check the response of electric power systems to disturbances. Over the last decades, they have become indispensable to anyone involved in the planning, design, operation and security of power systems. Power system operation companies depend on fast and accurate dynamic simulations to train operators, analyze large sets of scenarios, assess the dynamic security of the network in real-time or schedule the day ahead operation. On the other hand, people designing future power systems depend on dynamic simulations to evaluate the proposed changes, whether these involve adding new transmission lines, increasing renewable energy sources, implementing new control schemes or decommissioning old power plants [1].