| In large-scale power systems, numerous generating plants provide energy to hundreds of thousands of power hungry consumers through exceedingly flexible and dynamic networks of transmission lines. The delivered energy is maintained in high quality and kept within acceptable limits by the utilization of thousands of control devices scattered in key locations over the power grid. Thus, one of the most important problem facing power utilities is to somehow coordinate the reactive power compensation devices to maintain acceptable bus voltage profiles while keeping operational cost minimum and assuring system's stability to small disturbances. Large-scale power systems are experiencing continuous variation in the major operational blocks of generation, transmission, and consumption. In practice, the dispatcher makes the decision on the location, the switching sequence, and the amount of compensation needed of the control devices. To aid with this overwhelming decision-making task, that is traditionally done by trained human experts, an intelligent knowledge-based contingency analysis for steady-state stability and voltage control is developed using graphical user interface and data visualization. Moreover, the developed expert system rely on the sensitivity of the load bus voltage profile due to differential change in the compensating devices to infer a solution to alleviate the voltage problem. Thus, a novel vectorized approach for power systems models and the corresponding sensitivity matrices are also introduced through theorems along with their proofs.;Computer application in power systems analysis is unavoidable. Voltage profile, as an example, can only be determined by a numerical approach. Both operation and planning use computers extensively to analyze and simulate power systems. Computers are also used to monitor, analyze, and control power systems both on-line and off-line. The designed Power Systems Analysis Toolbox (PSAT) is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) Object-Oriented MATLAB-based developmental software which is primarily used for education, operator training, simulation and control using contingency analysis, data visualization, and Knowledge-Based Systems paradigms. |
