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Diffusion model-based parameter estimation in dynamic power systems
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  • Published: 30 April 2026

Diffusion model-based parameter estimation in dynamic power systems

  • Feiqin Zhu1 na1 nAff4,
  • Dmitrii Torbunov  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0132-53442 na1,
  • Zhongjing Jiang  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0909-91503 nAff5,
  • Tianqiao Zhao1 nAff6,
  • Amirthagunaraj Yogarathnam  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3260-04921,
  • Yihui Ren  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5750-69642 &
  • …
  • Meng Yue1 

Communications Engineering (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Computer science
  • Electrical and electronic engineering

Abstract

Parameter estimation, which represents a classical inverse problem, is often ill-posed as different parameter combinations can yield identical outputs. This non-uniqueness presents a critical barrier to accurate and unique identification. Here we introduce a parameter estimation framework to address such limits: the Joint Conditional Diffusion Model-based Inverse Problem Solver. By leveraging the stochasticity of diffusion models, it produces candidate solutions that capture underlying parameter distributions conditioned on the observations. Joint conditioning on multiple observations further narrows the posterior distributions of non-identifiable parameters. For composite load model parameterization, a challenging task in dynamic power systems, the proposed method achieves a 58.6% reduction in parameter estimation error compared to the single-condition model. It also accurately replicates system’s dynamic responses under various electrical faults with root mean square errors below 4 × 10−3, exhibiting comprehensive advantages in calibration and efficiency over existing methods. Given its data-driven nature, it provides a general framework for parameter estimation while effectively mitigating the non-uniqueness problem across scientific domains.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Advanced Grid Modeling Program, Office of Electricity of the U.S. Department of Energy under Agreement 39917.

Author information

Author notes
  1. Feiqin Zhu

    Present address: School of Rail Transportation, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

  2. Zhongjing Jiang

    Present address: Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

  3. Tianqiao Zhao

    Present address: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

  4. These authors contributed equally: Feiqin Zhu, Dmitrii Torbunov.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Feiqin Zhu, Tianqiao Zhao, Amirthagunaraj Yogarathnam & Meng Yue

  2. Computing and Data Sciences Directorate, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Dmitrii Torbunov & Yihui Ren

  3. Environmental Science and Technologies Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Zhongjing Jiang

Authors
  1. Feiqin Zhu
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  2. Dmitrii Torbunov
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  3. Zhongjing Jiang
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  4. Tianqiao Zhao
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  5. Amirthagunaraj Yogarathnam
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  6. Yihui Ren
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  7. Meng Yue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yihui Ren.

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Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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Cite this article

Zhu, F., Torbunov, D., Jiang, Z. et al. Diffusion model-based parameter estimation in dynamic power systems. Commun Eng (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-026-00670-z

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  • Received: 13 May 2025

  • Accepted: 13 April 2026

  • Published: 30 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-026-00670-z

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