Optimal placement of angle transducers in power systems

This paper presents an algorithm which determines the best locations for placement of GPS (Global Positioning System) based voltage angle transducers. The sites are chosen so as to maximise their sensitivity to the lightly damped inter-area modes while minimising their sensitivity to the more heavily damped local modes. Furthermore the algorithm used ensures that transducers are placed so as to give the greatest coverage of the various inter-area modes as possible giving modal estimates with a high degree of precision. A study made on a longitudinal 21 bus, 6 machine system shows that the algorithm gives good results which are reasonable insensitive to system operating point. Caution is to be exercised in the application of this algorithm to meshed systems where mode shapes may depend on system operating point.