Use of Frequency Oscillations to Improve Event Location Estimation in Power Systems

Disturbance location information in power system is critical information to power system operator. Fast and accurate event location estimation may help operators respond promptly to restore the system to a normal operating condition. With the help of the Internet based real-time, GPS synchronized, wide-area frequency monitoring network (FNET) , Virginia Tech has patented and implemented the event location estimation approach based on the previous study of the electromechanical wave propagation in power systems. This paper addresses the problem from another prospective-using the oscillations that occur during the frequency perturbation to improve the event location estimation. Generally, we found that the frequency measurements taken in close proximity to the event will have a more severe swing compared with measurements that are more distant from the event. This information can be used to improve the accuracy of the event location estimation.