A PMU Placement Scheme Ensuring Real-Time Monitoring of Critical Buses of the Network

This paper presents a phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement scheme that provides real-time monitoring of key buses of the network. High-voltage lines, substations relevant for transient and dynamic stability of the network, and buses with high connectivity are given the highest priority while placing the PMUs. Binary integer programming and “depth of unobservability” are used to find the relevant PMU placement set. The placement scheme has been tested on the IEEE 118-bus system, IEEE 300-bus system, a 283-bus model of the Central American Power Transmission System, and a complex 996-bus network describing the Northern and the Eastern power grids of India. The results indicate that the proposed technique will be useful to utilities that want to initially protect the most important buses of their system on their way to attaining complete observability.