Classification of power quality events in the transmission grid: comparative evaluation of different machine learning models

Automatic classification of electric power quality events with respect to their root causes is critical for electrical grid management. In this paper, we present comparative evaluation results of an extensive set of machine learning models for the classification of power quality events, based on their root causes. After extensive experiments using different machine learning libraries, it is observed that the best performing learning models turn out to be Cubic SVM and XGBoost. During error analysis, it is observed that the main source of performance degradation for both models is the classification of ABC faults as ABCG faults, or vice versa. Ultimately, the models achieving the best results will be integrated into the event classification module of a large-scale power quality and grid monitoring system for the Turkish electricity transmission system.