Investigation of the Stability of the Cameroon Northern Interconnected Grid (NIG): A Transient Analysis

Abstract

Today, the grid has become more complex, and this complexity has exposed it to several unforeseen events that can affect its stability in ways such as component outage, sudden variation in loads, connection of a new generator, and faults. One way to assess the grid’s ability to withstand substantial disturbance is the application of transient stability analysis. As Cameroon plans to integrate renewable energy systems into the grid, the addition of these generators has the potential to introduce disturbances in the network. In anticipation of the imminent changes in the grid, this study investigates the stability situation of the Cameroon Northern Interconnected Grid (NIG) through a transient stability analysis. A load flow analysis (LFA) was conducted using the Newton–Raphson method in the Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP). The study compared the generator rotor angles and the voltage profile of buses at prefault and fault conditions. The study identified a fragile grid that needed to be reinforced. The fault that was cleared at 1.5 s caused 7 generators to lose synchronism after 1 s. A fault‐clearing duration of 0.2 s was revealed to be the clearing time for the generators to regain stability. After the LFA, 10 busbars witnessed a voltage violation. The power demand was 65.818 MW, the generated active power was 68.925 MW, and the real power losses were 3.106 MW. The NIG suffers from instability. After optimal capacitor placement in the grid, the voltage profile and power factor improved, and the losses reduced from 3.106 to 2.644 MW.