i

DETERMINATION OF ATC AND SECURITY FOR POWER SYSTEM USING

AI TECHNIQUE 

AHMAD ZHAFRI BIN HAJI ABDUL GANI

A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Engineering (Electrical-Power)

Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

MAY 2011
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To my beloved mother, brothers and sister

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to Allah

S.W.T for giving me the opportunity to complete this Master’s Project. I am deeply
indebted to individuals who, directly or indirectly, are responsible for this project.

I am most grateful to the most kind heartedness supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Azhar Bin Khairuddin for his guidance in this project. Under his supervision, many
aspects of this project have been explored, and with the knowledge, idea and support
received from him, this thesis can be presented in the time frame given.

My appreciation also goes to my family who has been so tolerant and supports
me all these years. Thanks for their encouragement, love and emotional supports that
had given to me.

I also would like to dedicate my gratitude to my friends, who helped me

directly or indirectly in the completion of this project. Their encouragement and
guidance mean a lot to me. Their sharing and experience foster my belief in
overcoming every obstacle encountered in this project. I am deeply indebted to
individuals who, directly or indirectly, are responsible for this project.
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ABSTRACT

Available Transfer Capability (ATC) has recently gained the interest of power
industry and deregulated environment. To achieve efficiency and precision in utility
operation, the determination and calculation of ATC are important. There are many
technical challenges that are involved in computing ATC values. This includes the
total transfer capability calculation, transmission capability margins and probabilistic
ATC calculation. In power system deregulation, the Independent System Operator
(ISO) is responsible to control the power transactions and also to avoid overloading
of the transmission lines beyond their thermal limits. The ISO has to determine the
ATC index periodically in real time to enable market participants to reserve the
transmission service. To test the performance of the methodologies and programs for
IEEE-30 bus system, the proposed computation procedure of ATC with margins
using conventional technique has been developed . The results have been compared
with a developed fuzzy model using the data sets that are not used for training
purpose. The data set, line number and the relative error have been recorded for
analysis. The results suggest that ATC can be accurately estimated by using fuzzy
logic for various load levels.
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ABSTRAK

Jumlah keupayaan pemindahan tenaga (ATC) adalah satu konsep yang baru
dan makin mendapat tempat di dalam industri pembekalan kuasa. Dalam sistem
penghantaran kuasa pada hari ini, keupayaan pemindahan tenaga tersedia (ATC)
adalah penting untuk memastikan kecekapan system dan operasi yang kompetitif..
Pengiraannya melibatkan banyak faktor teknikal termasuk pengiraan jumlah
keupayaan penghantaran, margin penghantaran dan keberangkalian keupayaaan
penghantaran. Dalam industri kuasa, pengendali sistem bebas (ISO) adalah
bertanggungjawab untuk mengawal transaksi kuasa dan juga perlu mengelak
penghantaran kuasa melebihi had. ISO perlu mempunyai indek dalam waktu semasa
untuk membolehkan transaksi kuasa berlaku. Dalam projek ini, pengiraan keupayaan
pemindahan tenaga pada IEE-30 bus telah dijalankan. Pengiraan telah ditentukan agar
selari dengan situasi pada persekitaran keaadaan. Keputusan dan data yang diperolehi
dibandingkan dengan model fuzzy yang dibangunkan.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF SYSBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xiii

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Project Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 6
1.3 Objectives 8
1.4 Scope of Study 8
1.5 Thesis Organization 9
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2 LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Definition of Available Transfer Capability and 10
Its Relevant Parameters
2.3 Criteria for Available Transfer Capability 11
Evaluation
2.3.1 Accuracy 12
2.3.2 Dependability 12
2.3.3 High Efficiency 13
2.4 Definition of Total Transfer Capability 13
2.4.1 Definition of Transmission Reliability 15
Margin (TRM)
2.4.2 Definition of Capacity Benefit Margin 15
(CBM)
2.5 Available Transfer Capability (ATC) 16
Computation Methodologies
2.5.1 Continuation Power Flow (CPF) 16
2.5.2 Linear Power Flow (LPF) 17
2.5.3 Optimal Power Flow (OPF) 19
2.5.4 Sensitivity Analysis 20
2.6 Power Flow Study 20
2.6.1 Gauses-Seidal Power Flow Solution 22
2.6.2 Newton-Raphson Power Flow Solution 22
2.6.3 Fast-Decoupled Power Flow Solution 23
2.7 Artificial Intelligence (AI) 23
2.7.1 Back Propagation Algorithm (BPA) 25
2.7.2 Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural 27
Network
2.7.3 Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System 29
(ANFIS)
2.8 Summary 32
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3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Project Methodology 33
3.2 IEEE 30 Bus-System 35
3.3 Fast Decoupled Power Flow Solution 39
3.4 Loadflow Using MATLAB Software 43
3.4.1 MatPower Toolbox (MPT) 44
3.4.2 Data File Program 44
3.5 Power World Simulator 45
3.6 Fuzzy Logic Controller in Matlab 48
3.7 Summary 52

4 RESULT & DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 53
4.2 Analyzing the Test System 54
4.3 Result of Simulation 55
4.4 Fuzzy Design 56
4.5 Comparison of Results 59
4.6 Summary 63

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FOR FUTURE WORK
5.1 Conclusions 64
5.2 Recommendation for Future Work 66

REFERENCES 67
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LIST OF TABLES

NO. OF TABLE TITLE PAGE

2.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of the DC

Model Approximation 18

3.1 Load Bus Data 37

3.2 Transmission Line Data 38

4.1 Result of ATC 55

4.2 Rules of Fuzzy 58

4.3 Comparison between output of Power Flow

and Fuzzy (P2 = 100 MW) 59

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LIST OF FIGURES

NO. OF FIGURE TITLE PAGE

1 Relationships of ATC and related terms in

the transmission service reservation system 6

2.1 TTC is governed by system’s thermal, voltage

And stability limits 14

2.2 Topology of a Three Layered MLP 26

2.3 Radial Basis Function Network Model 27

2.4 Triangular Membership Function of ith Input 31

3.1 Flow Chart of the Design and Methodology

of the Project 34

3.2 One Line Diagram – IEEE-30 Bus System 36

3.3 Program Key-in Line Data 45

3.4 PowerWorld Simulation 46

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3.5 Basic Components in the Power World Simulation

(a) Bus, (b) Shunt capacitor, (c) Shunt reactor,
(d) Generator and (e) Transformer 46

3.6 IEEE 30 Bus System using PowerWorld 48

3.7 FIS Editor 49

3.8 Membership Function 50

3.9 Rule Editor 51

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LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

P∆ Real power change

Q∆ Reactive power changes
V∆ Changes in the voltage magnitude
δ∆ Changes in the phase angle

ATC Available Transfer Capability

TTC Total Transfer Capability
TRM Transmission Reliability Margin
CBM Capability Benefit Margin
NERC North America Electric Reliability Council
OASIS Open Access Same-time Information System
FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
RTO Regional Transmission Organizations
LODF Load Open Distribution Factor.
PTDF Power Transfer Distribution Factor.
GSF Generation Shifting Factor.
CPF Continuation Power Flow.
OPF Optimal Power Flow.
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project Background

Electricity industry around the world is currently facing major changes and is
moving towards deregulation to create a more competitive market in trade electricity
which can pose new challenges for market participants and power system researchers.
It requires non-discriminatory open access to transmission resources for transmission
systems,

Besides that, the structure, management and operation of this industry are also
changing making it very difficult to continue using the old regulated structures. To
rise up to the challenge of the new market, a shift has to be made to the management
styles as well as decomposing the power companies in two main component namely
the Generation Company and the Transmission Company. To ensure precision and
effectiveness, the methods used in the operation must be adopted to flexible
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optimization and negotiation techniques that can handle changes in the system
conditions.

Today, it is already possible for long distance power transfer to be made

available to remote areas through power trading activities in case of any blackout
event. For this reason, power can be considered as a business commodity. During
annual generator or transmission line maintenance, power could be bought from other
owner’s generator control areas to serve native loads instead of interrupting the loads.

Sometimes, power is bought by a certain control area from others simply

because the selling price is lower than generation costs of the current time. In general,
the deregulated structure has made power industry much more complex and
competitive than before. To operate more efficiently, many power companies have
made maximized utilization of generators and transmission lines their main aim.
However, the transmission system has set up a limit on the amount of power transfer.
The transfer capability is maximum amount of power that can be transferred from one
point to another. The system Available Transfer Capability (ATC) is calculated to
further trading activities over the committed transactions without compromise to the
system security and reliability,

Under the new regulations from the North America Electric Reliability
Council (NERC), every new transaction made and most updated ATC values must be
posted on the Open Access Same-time Information System (OASIS) by all
interconnected power companies. Therefore, the ATC calculation is a necessary
operational tool for daily routine operation. It is also very effective for interpreting
the power system’s performance besides being economical and efficient. If a system
can facilitate a large amount of multi-area transfer, the system would normally be
flexible, in good condition and more secured than a system which has limited
transfer. Transfer capability can also be used to predict improvement for future
transmission.
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A transmission expansion is easier to be justified to increase the transfer

capability instead of improving other alternatives that can bring less advantage to the
companies involved.

The transfer capability calculation of transmission system has been discovered

as early as 1970 (e.g. Landgren et. al (1972)), but the research did not receive
researcher’s interest until Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) mandated
the order 888 and 889 in 1996. The mandate required that the ATC information of the
transmission network should be calculated and posted on OASIS. They claimed that
the public utility had to open its transmission grid for use by participants of market
and. Shortly later in the same year, NERC brought the industry together to establish a
framework for ATC definition and evaluation.

ATC was defined by NERC to be the transfer capability remaining in the

physical transmission network for further commercial activity over and above already
committed uses. Determination for ATC involves a huge system database and
excessive computational time. According to NERC definition, ATC is the difference
between Total Transfer Capability (TTC) and the sum of the Transmission Reliability
Margin (TRM), Capability Benefit Margin (CBM), and the existing transmission
commitments.

The total TTC is considered as the real power transfer at the first security
violation without including the existing transmission commitments. TRM is defined
as the essential amount of the transmission transfer capability to make sure that the
interconnected network is secure under a reasonable range of uncertainties in system
conditions. CBM is the amount of transmission transfer capability reserved by load
serving entities to ensure access to generation from interconnected system to meet
generation reliability requirement. Limited transfer case is determined by gradually
adding the amount of transfer starting at the base case transfer until the first security
violation is encountered from a secure base case transfer (which includes existing
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transmission commitments). The Available Transfer Capability can also be defined

as:

ATC = TTC – TRM – CBM – Existing transmission commitments (1.1)

Furthermore, each ATC calculation may be checked by screening a short-

listed contingency, and the minimum value of all calculated ATC values is used to
exercise further trading activities with an insurance of the system security and
reliability.

The definition of TTC [1] between any two areas or across particular paths or
interfaces is direction specific. TTC is the amount of electric power that can be
transferred over the interconnected transmission network in a reliable sequence.

i) For the existing or planned system configuration and with normal (pre-
contingency) operating procedures in effect, all facility loading are
within normal ratings and all voltages are within normal limits.

ii) The electric systems are capable of absorbing the dynamic power
swings, and remaining stable, following a disturbance that results in
the loss of any single electric system element, such as a transmission
line, transformer, or generating unit.

iii) After the dynamic power swings subside following a disturbance those
results in the loss, the any single electric system element as described
in 2, and after the operation of any automatic operating systems, but
before any post-contingency operator-initiated system adjustment is
implemented, all transmission facility loading are within emergency
ratings and all voltages are within emergency limits.
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iv) With reference to condition 1, when pre-contingency facility loadings

reach normal thermal ratings at a transfer level below that at which any
first contingency transfer limits are reached, the transfer capability is
defined as that transfer level at which such normal ratings are reached.

v) In some cases, individual system, power pool, sub-regional, or

regional planning criteria or guides may require consideration of
specified multiple contingency, such as the outage of transmission
circuits using common towers or right-of-way, in the determination of
transfer capability limits. If the resulting transfer limits for these
multiple contingencies are more restrictive than the single contingency
considerations described above, the more restrictive reliability criteria
or guides must be observed.

These terms, particularly the ATC, form the basis of a transmission service
reservation system that will be used for reserving transmission services, scheduling
recallable and non-recallable energy transactions and arranging emergency transfers
between areas of an interconnected power network in the competitive electricity
market. Concerning both operating horizon and planning horizon, the mathematical
definition and relationships of TTC, ATC and related terms in the transmission
service reservation system are depicted in Figure 1.1 as below
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Figure 1.1: Relationships of ATC and related terms in the transmission

service reservation system.

1.2 Problem Statement

 
 
To overcome any weaknesses in power transmission capability and increasing
demand of power need, new transmission lines could be added. Nonetheless, setting up or
expanding transmission lines need to match the different power demand profile in different
areas and accommodate a volatile fuel cost structure. In addition, environmental effect
consideration must also be taken into account before setting up new transmission lines.
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Besides that, the construction of generation facilities and transmission lines needed might be
prevented or delayed for a long time due to the cost and regulatory difficulties that are
necessary in running new projects.

As there is large investment involved in power market and environmental effects in

constructing new transmission lines, enhancing the Available Transfer Capability (ATC) of
the existing transmission lines is one the best solutions available. Hence, the best and most
reliable approach and compensation technique to cope with existing problems should be
chosen to deal with the problems.
 
It is important to accurately and efficiently calculate the available transfer capability
(ATC) of the transmission system in deregulated power system. The ATC will be evaluated
by using both the proposed quadratic sensitivity method and the AC power flow method.
Point-to-point transfer and the area-to-area transfer will also be considered when evaluating
the ATC. To define the critical lines in the systems which will be considered in the ATC
assessment, contingency screening and ranking techniques are used in the first stage. There
are many simulations that have been executed out to calculate the ATCs by considering the
voltage and line security limits as well as the voltage stability limits. Simulation results were
analyzed based on the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed quadratic sensitivity and
the AC power flow methods.
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1.3 Objectives

The objectives of this project are:

1. To develop the Available Transfer Capability computational technique

using power flow method for power system
2. To implement the methodology using MATLAB and PowerWorld
software.
3. To test the methodology using AI technique which is Fuzzy Logic and
benchmark with computational technique using power flow method.

1.4 Scope of Study

The scopes of the study are:

• To find information in identifying the Available Transfer Capability (ATC)

calculation methodologies are essential in order to proceed to the next stage.

• For the purpose of this project, the IEEE test system chosen to analyse the
ATC is the 30 bus. For medium scale, the 11 bus IEEE test system is chosen
for analysis. While for the large scale system, the IEEE test system chosen to
be analysed are the 26 bus and 30 bus test system. All the analysis includes
calculations of the ATC value without any contingency at the system.
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• For the load flow of the IEEE test system for this project, the fast decoupled
method is used as it is fast in solution, and could decouple between
mismatches of real power and reactive power.

• AI implementation in ATC and potential AI applications to power system

operations will be explored. The result obtained using AI would compare to
the calculation method..

1.5 Thesis Organization

This thesis is divided into five chapters as follows:

Chapter 2 presents the literature review on the determination and calculation

of the Available Transfer Capability (ATC).

Chapter 3 describes in detail about the methods are used to calculate ATC
and design fuzzy model in this project. This chapter also describes the step-by-step
methods to obtain ATC and other related parameters.

In Chapter 4, the results of this project were discussed. It also describes the
details of the IEEE test system besides including all the important data. The analyses
of the test system include all the scale of power system.

Chapter 5 of this thesis provides space for conclusions and a few

recommendations that might serve as the contributions of the author.
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REFERENCES

1. North American Electric Reliability Council, “Available Transfer Capability

Definitions and Determination”, June 1996

2. V. Ajjarapu and C. Christy, “The Continuation Power Flow: A Tool for

Steady-State Voltage Stability Analysis,” IEEE Transactions on Power
Systems, Vol. 7, Feb 1992

3. Hamoud G., (2000), “Assessment of Available Transfer Capability of

Transmission Systems, IEEE Trans”, Power Syst., vol. 15, pp. 27-32.

4. A. M. Leite da Silva and J. G. C. Costa, “A Probabilistic Approach for

Determining the Optimal Amount of Transmission System Usage”, IEEE
Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2006.

5. Mark H. Gravener and Chika Nwankpa. (May 1999), “ATC and First Order
Sensitivity”, IEEE Trans. on PS, vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 512-518

6. Xi-Fan Wang, Yonghua Song and Malcolm Irving, “M o d e r n

P o w e r S y s t e m s Analysis”, Springer, pp. 196 – 198

7. C. K. Babulal and P. S. Kannan, “A Novel Approach for ATC Computation in

Deregulated Environment”, Journal of Electrical Systems. 2-3 (2006): 146-
161
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8. M. P. Selvan and K. S. Swarup, “Development of Power Flow Software Using

Design Patterns”, IEEE Transactions On Power Systems, Vol. 21, No. 2, May
2006

9. Hadi Saadat, “Power System Analysis”, McGraw-Hill Primis Custom, Second

Edition, pp. 189-240

10. D. M.Vinod Kumar, G. Narayan Reddy and Ch.Venkaiah, “Available

Transfer Capability (ATC) Determination Using Intelligent Techniques”,
Power India Conference, June 2006.

11. Srinivasan, D. Chang, C.S. Liew, A.C. Leong, K.C, “Power System Security
Assessment and Enhancement using Artificial Neural Network”, Energy
Management and Power Delivery International Conference, Mar 1998.

12. Y.Li，B.B.Wang, Y.L.Wei, Q.L.Wan, “Risk based Optimal Strategy to Split

Commercial Components of Available Transfer Capability by Particle Swarm

Optimization Method”, DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

13. Maryam Ramezani, Mahmood-Reza Haghifam, Chanan Singh,Hossein Seifi,

and Mohsen Parsa Moghaddam, “Determination of Capacity Benefit Margin
in Multiarea Power Systems Using Particle Swarm Optimization” IEEE
Transactions On Power Systems, Vol. 24, No. 2, May 2009.

14. K Glamocanin, D. Andonov, D. Trajanov, B. Stojkovska,”Optimal Power

System Var Planning By Ai Algorithm”, Electrotechnical Conference, May
1998

15. Azhar B. Khairuddin, S. Shahnawaz Ahmed, M. Wazir Mustafa, Abdullah A.

Mohd. Zin, and Hussein Ahmad, “A Novel Method for ATC Computations in
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a Large-Scale Power System", IEEE Transactions On Power Systems, Vol.

19, No. 2, May 2004.

16. Yan Ou and Chanan Singh, “Assessment of Available Transfer Capability and
Margins”, IEEE Transactions On Power Systems, Vol. 17, No. 2, May 2002.

17. M. Rashidinejad, H. Farahmand, M. Fotuhi-Firuzabad, A.A. Gharaveisi,

“ATC enhancement using TCSC via artificial intelligent techniques”, Electric
Power Systems Research 78 (2008).