A fast power flow for real-time monitoring in smart grid environments

The new reality of smart distribution systems with increasing of remote controlled equipment and generation sources of small and medium sizes brings new challenges for the operation of these systems. The complexity and the large number of nodes in distribution systems require use of methods which can reduce the processing time of algorithms such as power flow, allowing its use in real time. This paper presents a developed methodology for calculating the three phase power flow using backward/forward sweep method, and also considering others network elements such as voltage regulators, shunt capacitors and distributed energy resources. After that, new elements are introduced that allow the parallelization of this algorithm and an adequate work distribution between the available processors. The algorithm was implemented using a multi-tiered architecture, which will be base for future smart grid applications. The processing times were measured in many network configurations and compared with the same algorithm in the serial version.