Effectiveness of FACTS Devices for Power System

Stability Enhancement
Sanjiv Kumar Dr. Narendra Kumar

Research Scholar, Electrical Department Prof. and Head, Electrical Department
Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]


Abstract The development of the modern power system has
led to an increasing complexity in the study of power systems,
and also presents new challenges to power system stability, and
in particular, to the aspects of transient stability and small-signal
stability. Transient stability control plays a significant role in
ensuring the stable operation of power systems in the event of
large disturbances and faults, and is thus a significant area of
research. This paper investigates the improvement of transient
stability of a two-area power system, using TCSC which is an
effective FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission System) device.
Simulations are carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment for
the two-area power system model with TCSC to analyze the
effects of TCSC on transient stability performance of the system.
The performance of TCSC is compared with other FACTS
devices such as Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC),
and Static Var Compensator (SVC). The simulation results
demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed
TCSC on transient stability improvement of the system.

Keywords FACTS, Matlab/Simulink, SSSC, SVC, TCSC,
Transient stability, Two-area power system
1. INTRODUCTION
Modern power system is a complex network comprising of
numerous generators, transmission lines, variety of loads and
transformers. As a consequence of increasing power
demand,some transmission lines are more loaded than was
planned when they were built. With the increased loading of
long transmission lines, the problem of transient stability after
a major fault can become a transmission limiting factor [1].
Now power engineers are much more concerned about
transient stability problem due to blackout in northeast United
States, Scandinavia, England and Italy. Transient stability
refers to the capability of a system to maintain synchronous
operation in the event of large disturbances such as multi-
phase short-circuit faults or switching of lines [2]. The
resulting system response involves large excursions of
generator rotor angles and is influenced by the nonlinear
power angle relationship. Stability depends upon both the
initial operating conditions of the system and the severity of
the disturbance. Recent development of power electronics
introduces the use of flexible ac transmission system (FACTS)
controllers in power systems. FACTS controllers are capable
of controlling the network condition in a very fast manner and
this feature of FACTS can be exploited to improve the voltage
stability, and steady state and transient stabilities of a complex
power system [3]-[8]. This allows increased utilization of
existing network closer to its thermal loading capacity, and
thus avoiding the need to construct new transmission lines.
Static VAR Compensator (SVC) is a first generation FACTS
device that can control voltage at the required bus
thereby improving the voltage profile of the system. The
primary task of an SVC is to maintain the voltage at a
particular bus by means of reactive power compensation
(obtained by varying the firing angle of the thyristors) [9].
SVCs have been used for high performance steady state and
transient voltage control compared with classical shunt
compensation. SVCs are also used to dampen power swings,
improve transient stability, and reduce system losses by
optimized reactive power control [10]-[11].
Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) is one of the
important members of FACTS family that is increasingly
applied with long transmission lines by the utilities in modern
power systems. It can have various roles in the operation and
control of power systems, such as scheduling power flow,
decreasing unsymmetrical components, reducing net loss,
providing voltage support, limiting short circuit currents,
mitigating subsynchronous resonance (SSR), damping the
power oscillation, and enhancing transient stability [12]-[14].
A Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) is a
member of FACTS family which is connected in series with a
power system. It consists of a solid state voltage source
converter which generates a controllable alternating current
voltage at fundamental frequency. When the injected voltage
is kept in quadrature with the line current, it can emulate as
inductive or capacitive reactance so as to influence the power
flow through the transmission line [15]. While the primary
purpose of a SSSC is to control power flow in steady state, it
can also improve transient stability of a power system.
Among the available FACTS devices, the SVC and TCSC is
the most versatile one that can be used to improve steady state
stability, dynamic stability and transient stability [16]. These
devices offer an alternative mean to mitigate power system
oscillations. It has been reported in many papers that TCSC
and UPFC can improve stability of single machine infinite bus
(SMIB) system and multimachine system [17]-[18]. The inter-
area power system has special characteristic of stability
behaviour [19]. This paper investigates the improvement of
transient stability of a two-area power system with a TCSC. A
Matlab/Simulink model is developed for a two-area power
system with a TCSC. The performance of TCSC is compared
with other FACTS devices such as SVCand SSSC. From the
simulation results, it is inferred that TCSC is an effective
FACTS device for transient stability improvement.
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2. FACTS CONTROLLERS

FACTS controllers may be based on thyristor devices with no
gate turn-off or power devices with gate turn-off capability.
FACTS controllers are used for the dynamic control of
voltage,impedance and phase angle of high voltage AC
transmission lines. The basic principles of the following
FACTS controllers,which are used in the two-area power
system under study, are discussed briefly.
The FACTS devices are installed on electric power (high
voltage AC) transmission lines to stabilize and regulate power
flow for the dynamic control of voltage impedance and phase
angle. Power lines protected by FACTS devices can support
greater current because anomalies frequency excursions,
voltage drop, phase mismatch, malformed wave shape, power
spikes, etc. A FACTS device can also limit the amount of
current that flows on a line by effectively increasing the lines
impedance. This enables a much greater degree of flow
control than provided by a switch or breaker. In particular,
when current applied to a FACTS-protected line is greater
than the device will allow, the power merely flows elsewhere
rather than tripping a breaker, and power continues to flow on
the protected line.

2.1 STATIC VAR COMPENSATOR (SVC)

Static var systems are applied by utilities in transmission
applications for several purposes. The primary purpose is
usually for rapid control of voltage at weak points in a
network.Installations may be at the midpoint of transmission
interconnections or at the line ends. Static Var Compensators
are shunt connected static generators / absorbers whose
outputs are varied so as to control voltage of the electric
power systems. In its simple form, SVC is connected as Fixed
Capacitor-Thyristor Controlled Reactor (FC-TCR)
configuration as shown in Fig.1.The SVC is connected to a
coupling transformer that is connected directly to the ac bus
whose voltage is to be regulated. The effective reactance of
the FC-TCR is varied by firing angle control of the
antiparallel thyristors. The firing angle can be controlled
through a PI (Proportional + Integral) controller in such a way
that the voltage of the bus, where the SVC is connected, is
maintained at the reference value

Fig. 1 Configuration of SVC

2.2 THYRISTOR CONTROLLED SERIES CAPACITOR
(TCSC)
TCSC is one of the most important and best known FACTS
devices, which has been in use for many years to increase the
power transfer as well as to enhance system stability. The
main circuit of a TCSC is shown in Fig.2. The TCSC consists
of three main components: capacitor bank C, bypass inductor
L and bidirectional thyristors SCR1 and SCR2. The firing
angles of the thyristors are controlled to adjust the TCSC
reactance in accordance with a system control algorithm,
normally in response to some system parameter variations.
According to the variation of the thyristor firing angle or
conduction angle, this process can be modeled as a fast switch
between corresponding reactances offered to the power
system.


Fig. 2 Configuration of a TCSC

2.3 STATIC SYNCHRONOUS SERIES
COMPENSATOR (SSSC)

The SSSC is one of the most recent FACTS devices for power
transmission series compensation. It can be considered as a
synchronous voltage source as it can inject an almost
sinusoidal voltage of variable and controllable amplitude and
phase angle, in series with a transmission line. The injected
voltage is almost in quadrature with the line current. A small
part of the injected voltage that is in phase with the line
current provides the losses in the inverter. Most of the injected
voltage, which is in quadrature with the line current, provides
the effect of inserting an inductive or capacitive reactance in
series with the transmission line. The variable reactance
influences the electric power flow in the transmission line.
The basic configuration of a SSSC is shown in Fig.3.


Fig. 3 Simplified diagram of a SSSC

3. TWO AREA POWER SYSTEM MODEL

Consider a two-area power system (Area-1 & Area-2) with
series and shunt FACTS devices, connected by a single circuit
long transmission line as shown in Fig.4 and Fig.5. Here, the
series FACTS devices such as UPFC (combination of
STATCOM and SSSC), SSSC, and TCSC are equipped
between bus-2 and bus-3 and the shunt FACTS device such as
SVC is equipped at bus-2.The direction of real power flow is
from Area-1 to Area-2. In the two-area power system model,
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the Area-1 consists of Generator 1 (G1) and Generator 2 (G2)
and the Area-2 consists of Generator 3 (G3) and Generator 4
(G4). The system data are given in [21].


Fig.4 Two-area power system with series FACTS device


Fig.5 Two-area power system with shunt FACTS device

4.1 TWO-AREA POWER SYSTEM WITH SVC
The two-area system shown in Fig.5 is considered in this
study.The system has a SVC installed at bus-2. A 3-phase
symmetrical short-circuit fault of 300 milli-seconds duration
occurs nearer to bus-2. The system is simulated in
Matlab/Simulink environment and the variation of bus-2
voltage is given in Fig.6. From the Fig.6, it is clear that the
voltage stability of the system is improved with SVC.

Fig.6. Variation of bus-2 voltage of two area power system with SVC

4.2 TWO-AREA POWER SYSTEM WITH TCSC
The two-area system shown in Fig.4 is considered in this
study. The system has a TCSC installed between bus-2 and
bus-3. A 3-phase symmetrical short-circuit fault of 300 ms
duration occurs at bus-3. The system is simulated in
Matlab/Simulink environment and the variation of line power
transmitted is shown in Fig.7. From the Fig.7, it is clear that
the power system stability of the system is improved with
TCSC.

Fig.7. Variation of line power of two-area power system with TCSC

4.3 TWO-AREA POWER SYSTEM WITH SSSC
The two-area system shown in Fig.4 is considered in this
study. The system has a SSSC installed between bus-2 and
bus-3. A 3- phase symmetrical short-circuit fault of 300 ms
duration occurs at bus-3. The system is simulated in
Matlab/Simulink environment and the variation of line power
transmitted is shown in Fig.8. From the Fig.8, it is inferred
that the stability of the power system is improved with SSSC.
To show the settling time for line power, the time scale starts
from 6 seconds.

Fig. 11 Variation of line power of two-area power system with SSSC

4.5 COMPARISON BETWEEN SVC, TCSC,and SSSC FOR
POWER SYSTEM STABILITY ENHANCEMENT
From the simulation results shown in Figs. 7-11, a
comparison is made between the above FACTS devices for
stability enhancement of two-area power system under study
as shown in Table-1. From the Table-1, it is investigated that
the UPFC is the effective FACTS device for stability
enhancement of inter-area power system.
Table 1: Comparison between FACTS Devices for Power System Stability
Enhancement
Two-area Power
System with

Power System
Stability
Enhancement
Settling time in post
fault period (in sec.)
SVC

YES 7
TCSC

YES 1.5
SSSC

YES 11

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5. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the power system stability enhancement of a
two-area power system by various series and shunt FACTS
devices is presented and discussed. The dynamics of the
system is compared with and without the presence of series
and shunt FACTS device. Then the performance of the TCSC
for power system stability improvement is compared with the
other FACTS devices such as SVC and SSSC respectively. It
is clear from the simulation results that there is a considerable
improvement in the system performance with the presence of
TCSC for which the settling time in post fault period is found
to be around 1.5 second.

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