Building a dynamic electromechanical model for the pacific AC intertie using PMU measurements

In this paper we present several new results on how to construct simplified inter-area models of large power networks by using dynamic measurements available from phasor measurement units (PMUs) installed at specific points on the transmission line. Our example of study in this paper is a widely encountered realistic system, namely the Pacific AC intertie, which closely resembles a star-connected three-area power system. We derive analytical results showing how the voltage, phase angle and frequency oscillations at different buses on the transfer path of this intertie can be used to estimate the essential parameters of the three-machine equivalent model of this three-area system. We illustrate the results with actual disturbance event data from the WECC.