Creating Power System Network Layouts: A Fast Parallel Algorithm

Abstract

When analyzing power systems, it is often desirable to visualize the network of buses and branches. Here, a new algorithm for producing 2-D network layouts is proposed. The method consists of two steps: first, a matrix of desired distances between all bus-pairs is computed based on base voltages and branch reactances and, second, coordinates that minimize the errors between desired and actual distances are found. The parallelization used in the latter step is particularly beneficial for interpreted languages; it is shown that layouts for relatively large systems (a few thousand buses) can be produced within seconds on a standard laptop computer using Python or Matlab. Predefined coordinates for selected buses can optionally be given as input. This can be useful, e.g., when one wants to retain some geographical aspects of the system or wish to compare a full and reduced network model. Although the focus here is on power systems, the algorithm can also be used for other types of networks.