Dynamic stability enhancement of East-central system in Saudi Arabia via PSS tuning

This paper presents a practical case study on the dynamic stability of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) power system and its effect on increasing the power transfer limit of the interconnection between Eastern Operating Area (SEC-EOA) and Central Operating Area (SEC-COA). The problem of optimal tuning of the power system stabilizer parameters was converted into an optimization problem with eigenvalue-based objective functions, which was then solved by genetic algorithms. In this regard, two eigenvalue-based objective functions were considered and the problem is solved using real-coded genetic algorithms (RCGA). The effectiveness of the suggested technique to enhance the power system dynamic stability and to extend the power transfer capability limit of the SEC-EOA and the SEC-EOA power system was verified through a comprehensive eigenvalue analysis and time-domain nonlinear simulation. The results also indicated that the proposed tuning schemes of the existing stabilizers in the system have led to an improvement in the system damping compared with the existing stabilizer settings. In addition to the generally improved results realized using the suggested technique, an important issue has emerged which is the availability of a systematic procedure for tuning the power system stabilizers. In the future, when new plants are added to the system or new machines are equipped with stabilizers, the procedure will prove invaluable.