Long Wavelength Coherency in Well Connected Electric Power Networks

We investigate coherent oscillations in large scale transmission power grids, where large groups of generators respond in unison to a distant disturbance. Such long wavelength coherent phenomena are known as inter-area oscillations. Their existence in networks of weakly connected areas is well captured by singular perturbation theory. However, they are also observed in strongly connected networks without time-scale separation, where applying singular perturbation theory is not justified. We show that the occurrence of these oscillations is actually generic. Applying matrix perturbation theory, we show that, because these modes have the lowest oscillation frequencies of the system, they are only moderately sensitive to increased network connectivity between well chosen, initially weakly connected areas, and that their general structure remains the same, regardless of the strength of the inter-area coupling. This is qualitatively understood by bringing together the standard singular perturbation theory and Courant's nodal domain theorem.