Multi-objective PMU placement optimization considering the placement cost including the current channel allocation and state estimation accuracy

Abstract

The optimal phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement problem in power systems has been considered and investigated by many researchers for accurate and fast state estimation by PMUs. However, the current channel cost of the PMU affects the total placement cost. This paper proposes a novel formulation in the multi-objective optimal PMU placement, which minimizes the PMU placement cost with the current channel selection and the state estimation error. The current channel selection is represented as a decision variable in the optimization. For trade-off objective functions, the Pareto approach by nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is applied in the optimization. The result of the numerical experiment in this paper demonstrates the advantage of considering the appropriate PMU current channel allocation, compared with the conventional method that ignores it, in the modified IEEE New England 39-bus test system. As a result, the proposed method obtained a better Pareto solution compared with the conventional one because of the consideration for the current channel selection. An advantage of the proposed PMU placement is that it is able to reduce the total PMU placement cost while maintaining the state estimation accuracy.