Continuation Three-Phase Power Flow: A Tool for Voltage Stability Analysis of Unbalanced Three-Phase Power Systems

In this paper, a continuation three-phase power flow (CTPFlow) approach in polar coordinates, which can be used to analyze voltage stability of unbalanced three-phase power systems, is proposed. Using CTPFlow, the PV curves of unbalanced three-phase power systems can be obtained. It is found that the patterns of the PV Curves of unbalanced three-phase power systems are quite different from that of balanced three-phase power systems or positive-sequence power systems. The investigations indicate that a CTPFlow is needed where there are unbalanced network or loads existing in a system. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the approach.