A new method is presented for calculating the nose curves and critical loading conditions of power systems. The nose curve (PV curve), which donates the relationship between total load and system voltages, is calculated by a new approach based on the homotopy continuation method. The critical loading condition, which might be called the bifurcation point, is also calculated precisely as the final point of the nose curve. This method does not require an exhausting cut-and-try process or a rough-approximation process. It is based on the conventional Newton-Raphson load flow calculation, but it overcomes the numerical difficulties associated with the singularity of the Jacobian matrix. The results of applying the proposed method to the IEEE 118-bus system and to other large practical systems (e.g., a 496-bus system) verify its robustness and feasibility. >