ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses one computational simulation, the power flow problem. Power flow analysis provides the starting point for most other analyses. Power flow analysis is fundamental to the study of power systems; in fact, power flow forms the core of power system analysis. A power flow study is valuable for many reasons. Power flow analysis and many of its extensions is an essential ingredient of the studies performed in power system operations. In the solution of the power flow problem, the network element values are almost always taken to be in per-unit. Likewise, the calculations within the power flow analysis are typically in per-unit. Considerable insight into the power flow problem and its properties and characteristics can be obtained by consideration of a simple example before proceeding to a general formulation of the problem. Direct simulation was used extensively for many years; however, essentially all power flow analyses today are performed using iterative techniques on digital computers.
