“TRAINING ON ELECTRICAL POWER

SYSTEM STUDIES USING PSS/E”

LEARNING ABOUT PER UNIT SYSTEM

BASIC COURSE (WEEK 1 DAY 1-C)

USAID’s SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR

PAKISTAN (SEP) PROJECT
 Learning About the Per Unit System
• In this section, participants are apprised with the
know-how of per unit systems which is fundamental to
any power system analysis.
• Knowledge imparted in this section will help the
participants in understanding that per unit system is
widely used to describe voltages, currents, and
impedances in a power system.
 The Per Unit System
• In power systems, the following four base quantities
are required to define a per unit system:
➢ Power
➢ Voltage
➢ Current
➢ Impedance
 The Per Unit System
• Convenient way of representing system quantities, such as
kilovolts, amps, ohms, etc.
• Per unit (pu) = the actual value (in any unit)
base of reference value in the same unit
• Benefits
➢ Equipment ratings are similar for different devices with
respect to their own base-suspect data is easily detected
➢ Physical turns ratio of transformers can be ignored
➢ Voltage magnitude throughout the given power system is
relatively close to unity for a system operating normally –
A useful check on calculations
➢ Makes power system calculations simpler
 The Per Unit System
• How to convert to a per unit system?
➢ Choose voltage base and power base
➢ Calculate current base and impedance base
➢ Divide all actual quantities by their respective base
values to get per unit (pu) quantity, thus
actual quantity
Quantity per unit =
base value of quantity

S V I Z
S pu = , V pu = , I pu = , Z pu =
SB VB IB ZB
 The Per Unit System
• For a balanced three-phase circuit star connected system:

base power S3

base current I = Calculated using line-line
3 base voltage VLL
base voltage and 3-phase
(base voltage VLL ) 2 base power
base impedance Z =
base power S3

• Base current and impedance for a delta connection:

base current I
base current I  =
3

base impedance Z  = 3 base impedance Z

 Change of Base
• Usually if no base value is specified, the nameplate
ratings are considered to be the base values
• For example, for a generator whose impedance is 0.2
pu and whose ratings are 110 MVA and 24 kV, the base
MVA is assumed to be 110 MVA and base line to line
voltage is 24 kV
 Change of Base
• Often the base for the system is different from the
base for each particular generator or transformer,
hence it is important to be able to express the pu value
in terms of different bases. This is derived below:

2
new
S V old

Z new
pu =Z old
pu
B
old
B
new

S
B V
B 
 Transformers and Per Unit System

Rating = 2000 VA
LV = 0.2kV ZLV = j4Ω HV = 0.4kV

• The internal impedance of the transformer as seen

from the high voltage side is:
2
V 
2
 0.4 
Z HV = Z LV  2  = j 4.0    = j16.0
 V1   0.2 
 Transformers and Per Unit System
• Comparison of the bases and the per unit value on both
sides of the transformer is shown below:

Low voltage side High voltage side

Sbase 2,000 VA 2,000 VA
Vbase 200 V 400 V
Ibase Sbase/Vbase = 10A Sbase/Vbase = 5A
Zbase V2base/Sbase = 20 Ω V2base/Sbase = 80 Ω
ZHV/Zbase =
Zpu ZLV/Zbase = j4/20=j0.2 p.u
j16/80=j0.2 p.u