μPMU Placement Considering the Distribution of Observation Redundancy and Topology Changes in Active Distribution Networks

Placement of μPMUs in active distribution networks (ADNs) can significantly improve the system’s observability. Existing research mostly focused on how to achieve global observability with a minimum number of μPMUs, but ignored the system observability under special cases such as line faults, μPMU failures, and topology changes. To ensure ADN’s observability with a minimum number of μPMUs in both normal and special cases, this paper proposes a μPMU placement method that considers the observability of existing monitoring devices, the distribution of observation redundancy, and the nodal priority of μPMUs placement. Simulation results verify that the proposed method needs fewer μPMUs than existing methods and enhances the stability of observability for achieving the global observability of an AND. Both the economic feasibility and observability performance of the PMU placement are considered.