Differential evolution based optimal PMU placement for fault observability of power system

In this paper, a differential evolution algorithm has been proposed for optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMU) to ensure observability under faulted conditions in power systems. The problem is to minimize the required number of PMUs and also to establish harmony between the placement of PMUs for different objectives (general observability and fault observability). Integer linear programming procedure is used for problem formulation. The resulting integer linear programming problem is solved for the optimal solution using differential evolution method on the seven bus, IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus test systems with and without the consideration of zero injection buses.