An Electrical Structure-Based Approach to PMU Placement in the Electric Power Grid

Abstract: The phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement problem is revisited by taking into account a stronger characterization of the electrical connectedness between various buses in the grid. To facilitate this study, the placement problem is approached from the perspective of the \emph{electrical structure} which, unlike previous work on PMU placement, accounts for the sensitivity between power injections and nodal phase angle differences between various buses in the power network. The problem is formulated as a binary integer program with the objective to minimize the number of PMUs for complete network observability in the absence of zero injection measurements. The implication of the proposed approach on static state estimation and fault detection algorithms incorporating PMU measurements is analyzed. Results show a significant improvement in the performance of estimation and detection schemes by employing the electrical structure-based PMU placement compared to its topological counterpart. In light of recent advances in the electrical structure of the grid, our study provides a more realistic perspective of PMU placement in the electric power grid.