A Theory of Solvability for Lossless Power Flow Equations—Part I: Fixed-Point Power Flow

This two-part paper details a theory of solvability for the power flow equations in lossless power networks. In Part I, we derive a new formulation of the lossless power flow equations, which we call the fixed-point power flow. The model is stated for both meshed and radial networks and is parameterized by several graph-theoretic matrices—the power network stiffness matrices—which quantify the internal coupling strength of the network. The model leads immediately to an explicit approximation of the high-voltage power flow solution. For standard test cases, we find that iterates of the fixed-point power flow converge rapidly to the high-voltage power flow solution, with the approximate solution yielding accurate predictions near base-case loading. In Part II, we leverage the fixed-point power flow to study power flow solvability. For radial networks, we derive conditions guaranteeing the existence and uniqueness of a high-voltage power flow solution. These conditions properly generalize the textbook two-bus system results, and imply exponential convergence of the fixed-point power flow iteration.