An Efficient Backward/Forward Sweep Algorithm for Power Flow Analysis through a Novel Tree-Like Structure for Unbalanced Distribution Networks

Stefanos Petridis, Orestis Blanas, Dimitrios Rakopoulos, Fotis Stergiopoulos, Nikos Nikolopoulos and Spyros Voutetakis
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Stefanos Petridis: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Orestis Blanas: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Dimitrios Rakopoulos: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Fotis Stergiopoulos: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Nikos Nikolopoulos: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece
Spyros Voutetakis: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Road, GR-57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: The increase of distributed energy resources (DERs) in low voltage (LV) distribution networks requires the ability to perform an accurate power flow analysis (PFA) in unbalanced systems. The characteristics of a well performing power flow algorithm are the production of accurate results, robustness and quick convergence. The current study proposes an improvement to an already used backward-forward sweep (BFS) power flow algorithm for unbalanced three-phase distribution networks. The proposed power flow algorithm can be implemented in large systems producing accurate results in a small amount of time using as little computational resources as possible. In this version of the algorithm, the network is represented in a tree-like structure, instead of an incidence matrix, avoiding the use of redundant computations and the storing of unnecessary data. An implementation of the method was developed in Python programming language and tested for 3 IEEE feeder test cases (the 4 bus feeder, the 13 bus feeder and the European Low Voltage test feeder), ranging from a low (4) to a very high (907) buses number, while including a wide variety of components witnessed in LV distribution networks.

Keywords: power flow algorithm; data structures; breadth first search; tree-like structure; backward/forward sweep; runtime; distribution network; radial network (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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