A novel algorithm for defining secondary voltage regulation control areas

As renewable energy sources become more prevalent in power systems, their operation becomes increasingly complex and tools are needed to manage this additional complexity. Clustering is a concept very useful in this framework and clustering algorithms have become essential tools for analyzing modern power systems. An electric power system can be modeled as a graph, a mathematical structure consisting of nodes and edges. In this context, nodes correspond to buses, and edges represent the branches between them. Edges can be weighted to indicate the strength of the connections. This paper introduces a novel algorithm for the definition of secondary voltage regulation control areas within a power system conceptualized as a graph. The algorithm aims at defining areas that are as independent of the operation point as much as possible, exhibit weak reciprocal interactions, and remain stable over time. To demonstrate the algorithm's effectiveness, several topologies of the complete high voltage Italian transmission network have been analyzed.