A new method for optimal placement of phasor measurement units to maintain full network observability under various contingencies

The application of phasor measurement units (PMUs) in power systems is increasing because of their advantages such as the capability for online state estimation and improvements in the speed of control, and protection systems. In this paper, we propose a new method using binary integer linear programming for the optimal placement of PMUs to guarantee full observability of a power system as well as maximizing the measurement redundancy. Moreover, the problem of the optimal placement of these units in the case of a single PMU loss or single line outage is investigated. A practical limitation is also considered on the maximum number of PMU channels, in the proposed formulation. In all of the investigations, the effect of zero-injection buses in the power system was considered. The efficiency of the proposed method was demonstrated in different conditions. The method was applied to several IEEE standard test systems, i.e., the 14-, 30-, 39-, 57-, and 118-bus systems, and in two very large-scale systems, i.e., 2383- and 2746-bus systems. The simulation results verified the acceptable performance of the proposed method.

► We propose a new method using binary integer linear programming for optimal placement of PMUs.
► The optimal placement of these units in the case of a single PMU loss or single line outage is investigated.
► A practical limitation is considered on the maximum number of PMU channels, in the proposed formulation.
► The efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated in different conditions.
► The method is applied to several IEEE standard test systems.