Towards the Use of Sink Ancestors and Source Descendants as a Clustering Method in a Directed Acyclic Graph

Clustering techniques play an important role in analysing complex networks such as electrical power systems grids. They can help in identifying congestion bottlenecks and other planning and operation activities. This paper presents a clustering method for partitioning a power network by grouping the nodes and edges based on their reachability to or from the various sources and sinks in the system. These clusters can be discussed using familiar terminology from river networks, such as tributaries and distributaries. A goal is to concretely visualise how nodes and edges are related, and their operational dependencies within the network. The clustering results may give power system operators new insights into the system's structure, enabling situational awareness, fault/vulnerability analysis, and planning. The proposed methodology is applied to two sample grids to demonstrate the types of clusters it can identify.