Power flow solution with controls and limits represented by non linear programming techniques

The growing increase in the power systems complexity leads to difficulties in power flow solution. More powerful and robust tools are necessary to solve power flow difficult cases in an effective and efficient way. The innovation proposed here consists in updating the control variables through an optimization problem that considers the interactions (and eventual conflicts) existing among controls. The adjustments of controls and checking of limits are considered after each power flow iteration. After the power flow convergence, a feasible operating point is obtained, being as close as possible to the actual operation. The reactive powers and voltage magnitudes of generation buses are kept within their respective ranges, without the need of switching bus type classification (PV to PQ and vice versa).