Optimal PMU Placement Using Nonlinear Programming

Abstract: Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are essential measuring devices for monitoring, control and protection of power systems. The objective of the optimal PMU placement (OPP) problem is to minimize the number of PMUs and select the bus locations to make a power system completely observable. In this paper, the OPP problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem and a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method is used for its solution. Simulations are carried out on IEEE standard test systems, using MATLAB. The numerical results are compared to those obtained by a binary integer programming (BIP) model, also implemented in MATLAB. The comparative study shows that the proposed formulation yields the same number of PMUs as the BIP model. The fundamental contribution of this paper lies in investigating the feasibility of using NLP for the solution of the OPP problem and the ability of the proposed methodology to provide multiple solutions in contrast to the binary integer programming model. The System Observability Redundancy Index is adopted to further rank the multiple solutions.