Stability Analysis of Interconnected Power Systems Coupled with Market Dynamics

The use of market mechanisms to determine generation dispatch, and the natural tendency to seek improved economic efficiency through rapid market updates, raises a critical issue. As the frequency of market-based dispatch updates increases, there will inevitably be interaction between the dynamics of markets determining the generator dispatch commands and the physical response of generators and network interconnections. This paper examines questions of stability in such coupled systems by means of numeric tests using various market update models (including detailed generator/turbine/governor dynamics) for the New England 39 bus test system. The results highlight the nature of potential instabilities and show the interaction modes between physical and market quantities through eigen-analysis. Understanding of potential modes of instability in such coupled systems is crucial both for designing suitable rules for power markets and for designing physical generator controls that are compatible with market-based dispatch.