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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

Design of STATCOM for reactive power control using

multilevel inverter

Amal Lazar1 and Ashwani Kumar Chandel2

1
National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, 177005, Himachal Pradesh, India
2
Electrical Engineering Faculty, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, 177005, Himachal
Pradesh, India

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. STATCOM a power electronic based device is widely used for reactive power
compensation. In the present work, a STATCOM is realized by employing a 3-level neutral
point clamped inverter which is controlled by space vector pulse width modulation technique.
Switching sequence for STATCOM is designed by minimizing the deviation in neutral voltage.
Subsequently, the STATCOM is connected to the load side of a power network and by varying
source voltage, reactive power control is accomplished resulting in voltage control of load side
and improving the power quality of the network. The present work will be useful to the utilities
dealing with reactive power and voltage control of AC transmission networks.

Keywords. Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), Neutral Point Clamped (NPC),

Multilevel Inverters, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

1. INTRODUCTION
Voltage control and reactive power compensation of a power system network are essential for
maintaining the power quality. A good voltage profile, power factor and stability can be achieved by
reactive power compensation. STATCOM is one of the shunt connected FACTS devices which is used
for reactive power absorption or injection and network voltage control. Compared to series connected
SSSC (Static Synchronous Series Compensator), STATCOM has following advantages like fast
response and small size. Basically STATCOM comprises of voltage source converter where IGBT
(Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor) or GCT (Gate-Commutated Thyristor) are used for switching.
Whenever, a STATCOM is connected to a bus, it either absorbs or injects reactive power according to
the need and thus voltage of the bus is regulated. When voltage generated (E) by STATCOM and bus
voltage (V) are equal, it will not inject or absorb reactive power. If E>V, STATCOM act as capacitor
and for E<V, STATCOM act as an inductor. As a result STATCOM draws capacitive or inductive
reactive current and thus generates or absorbs reactive power respectively [1].
STATCOM can be realised in different ways. As multi pulse converters have several disadvantages
namely lack of control in generated voltage, need of additional transformer and complicated control due
to magnetics. So as its alternative, a multilevel converter can be used to overcome

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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

Figure 1. Configuration of 3-level NPC

the disadvantages of multi pulse inverters[2]. Multilevel inverters are combination of semiconductor
switches, capacitors and diodes which result in stepped voltage as output. As number of levels increase,
number of steps in output also increase which result in low harmonic distortion. However, this leads to
complex control of the inverter [3].
Three basic configurations in multilevel converters widely used are, Diode clamped, Capacitor
clamped and Cascaded converters. Amongst these three configurations, diode clamped configuration is
widely used for high power applications [3]. Neutral Point Clamped(NPC) is a special case of diode
clamped converter. NPC consists of clamping diodes and capacitors to produce AC voltage having
multiple levels. Figure 1 shows the basic configuration of the three-level NPC.
DC voltage applied to the input side of the inverter is divided into three levels by using series
connected capacitors. The DC bus capacitor is divided into two which forms neutral point. DC voltage
applied in the dc side is equally shared between these capacitors. Midpoint of capacitors Z, shown in
Figure 1 is the neutral point. The 3 levels of output of inverter are VDC 2 ,  VDC 2 and 0. [4]. As the
output has three levels, it is known to be three level inverter. It is realised as STATCOM as both have
same outputs.
Comparing with the conventional two level converter, realisation of STATCOM as multilevel
voltage source converter has various advantages such as reduction of THD values and switching
frequency [4,5]. Basic operational states of single leg of three-level NPC are shown in Table 1. The
switching pulses can be provided by using carrier based, space vector or selective harmonics PWM.
Carrier based technique has problem in controlling neutral point voltage. So space vector technique will
be perfect for the control multilevel inverters [5-10]

Table 1. Operational States of Single Leg of 3-Level NPC

Switching Output
S1 S2 S3 S4
State Voltage
P On On Off Off V
O Off On On Off 0
N Off Off On On -V

In [5] without any control circuit, balance of capacitor voltage is discussed. In [6] design and
hardware implementation of 3-level NPC is presented. In [7] space vector PWM technique is applied to
three-level NPC for balancing DC capacitor voltage. In [7] a simplified algorithm is proposed for
reducing computational efforts in space vector PWM. However in [5]-[8], subdivision of regions in
each sectors is not done which result in reduction of neutral voltage deviation. The present work focuses
on the design of inverter and its realisation as STATCOM using space PWM technique and reduction of

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

neutral voltage deviation of the inverter. The work is applicable for proper control of reactive power
and voltage of grid.
The present paper is summarized as follows. In to section 2, brief details about space vector PWM is
discussed. In section 3, working of device and the problem is formulated. Complete inverter design is
given in section 3. In section 4 simulation results with inverter incorporated power system network are
provided. Finally conclusions are shown in section 5.

2. SPACE VECTOR PWM

Space vector PWM technique is one of the PWM techniques used in multilevel inverters for obtaining
switching pulses. For a m-level, n-phase inverter, number of states available will be mn. So a 3-level,
3-phase inverter has 27 states. All these states have corresponding space voltage vectors. These
vectors can be divided to zero, small, medium and large vectors. As zero vectors are redundant, total
number of vectors reduces to 19, since there are 9 zero vectors. Among these vectors zero and large
vectors don’t play any role in neutral point voltage deviation. This deviation is totally dependent on
small and medium vectors.

Space vector PWM technique is based on volt-second balance principle discussed in [8]. Basically
Vref vector need to be determined correctly. This reference vector is the resultant of three nearest
vectors depending on which region, reference vector belongs to and it is shown in (1). Suppose
reference vector belongs to region 2 of first sector where, Ta , Tb , Tc are corresponding dwell times of
vectors V 1 , V 7 , V 2 , and Ts the sampling period. Then we get,

V 1Ta  V 7Tb  V 2Tc  VrefTs

(1)
Ta  Tb  Tc  Ts
By substituting voltage magnitude and corresponding angles of each vector in (1), dwell times
related to vectors of the region are determined. Similarly dwell times for possible combinations in each
region of each sector are found out.

3. PROBLEM FORMULATION
STATCOM connected in a power system is shown in Figure 2. Since the power system networks are
interconnected and heavily loaded, fluctuations in voltage occurs due to the variations in load. This
voltage variations result in poor power quality as well. Using the variable voltage source, here voltage
can be varied as a part of problem formulation. This will result in large variation of load side voltage.
STATCOM is connected to network through transformer. Whenever voltage variations occur,
STATCOM starts compensating either by injecting or absorbing reactive power. The system parameters
used in the present work related to the concerned network and inverter are as provided in Table 2.

Figure 2. STATCOM connected in a Power System.

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

3.1. Inverter Design

In the present work, inverter is fully controlled by space vector PWM. The three phase supply
voltage has been given to space vector algorithm for generating gate pulses for inverter. Figure 3 shows
the space vector diagram of three-level inverter [9]. This vector diagram is divided in to 6 sectors and
each sectors are subdivided to four regions. Division of regions are illustrated by dotted lines. To
minimize neutral voltage deviation, two regions of each sector are again divided into two as-1a, 1b and
2a, 2b. After this division, one of the small vector can be considered as dominant vector
Table 2. System and Inverter Parameters
Parameters Values
Network Voltage 440V(ph-ph)
Frequency 50Hz
Sampling Frequency 5kHz
Line Inductance 1.5mH
Filter Inductance 1mH
Inverter DC Input 400V
Number of switches in
12
inverter
Number of diodes in
14
inverter
Number of capacitors in
2
inverter

Figure. 3. Space vector diagram of 3-level NPC

from the selected three vectors for the calculation of Vref . For example, considering region 1a of sector
1, the three vectors used for calculation of Vref are V 0 , V 1 and V 2 . As region 1a comes near to V 1 ,
V 1 is then considered as dominant vector.
Using Clarke’s transformation, three phase supply components are converted to α-β domain. By
taking resultant of new components, Vref is found using (2). The corresponding angle is also calculated
to determine in which sector Vref belongs to [11,12]. For simplicity all calculations have been done in
first sector after finding out the exact location of Vref . Modulation index, which is involved as a major

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

parameter for the calculation of dwell times is determined using (3). As the input varies, corresponding
modulation index also varies. So, once the input is given, after Clarke’s transformation Vref and angle
corresponding to it are found out. Using this angle, sector and region of Vref are calculated and
subsequently, dwell time is determined. Finally, on-time is calculated and with the help of this, PWM
signal is obtained.

Vref  V  jV (2)

3Vref
m (3)
VDC
The switching sequence is designed according to the conditions which result in minimization of
neutral point voltage deviation. One of the major condition to be satisfied is the involvement of
maximum two switches during the transition of state from one to another. On the basis of conditions to
be satisfied for minimization, following sequences are designed as 7-segment switching so that
symmetry is obtained as shown in Table 3. Sequence can also be written for even order harmonic
elimination. Considering Vref in region 1a of first sector, sequence for even order harmonic
elimination is given as

P00 – 000 – 00N – 0NN – 00N – 000 – P00

where P, O, and N are as defined in Table 1. Similarly the sequence can be written for remaining sectors
by satisfying the conditions.

3.2. Symmetrical PWM Generation

The switching sequence can be plotted graphically for calculating on-time. For example, sequence
for region 1a of first sector is drawn graphically and on-time is found out as shown in Figure 4. Ta , Tb
and Tc are corresponding time of vectors V 0 , V 1 and V 2 respectively. As two of the selected vectors
belong to small vectors and V 1 dominates, the time is to be divided equally between V 1N and V 1P . On-
time of lower level switches will be compliment of that of upper level switches.
Once on-time calculation is done, it is then compared with a ramp of Ts time period and the
resulting pulse is given to switches to obtain the desired output. On-time calculation of first sector is
shown in Table 4.
Table 3. Switching Sequence for Sector I
1a 1b 2a 2b 3 4
0NN 00N 0NN 00N 0NN 00N
00N 000 00N P0N PNN P0N
000 P00 P0N P00 P0N PPN
P00 PP0 P00 PP0 P00 PP0
000 P00 P0N P00 P0N PPN
00N 000 00N P0N PNN P0N
0NN 00N 0NN 00N 0NN 00N

By using the calculated time shown in Table 4, pulses can be generated for every sectors.
Designed inverter is then connected to power system network through filter. Reactive power exchange

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

is done by device according to the need. Modulation index can be kept either fixed or variable. As
input to space vector PWM varies, switching sequences will be generated according to those variations
and so the proper pulses will be generated subsequently [12-15].

Figure 4. On-time calculation of 1a region of sector

Table 4. On-Time Calculated for Sector I

Region 1 2
Time 3 4
1a 1b 2a 2b
S1a Ta/4 Ta/2+Tc/4 Tb/2+Ta/4 Ts/2-Tc/4 Ts/2-Ta/4 Ts/2-Tc/4
S2a Ts/2 Ts/2 Ts/2 Ts/2 Ts/2 Ts/2
S1b 0 Tc/4 0 Tc/4 0 Ta/2+Tc/4
S2b Ts/2-Ta/4 Ts/2 Ts/2-Ta/4 Ts/2 Tb/2+Ta/4 Ts/2
S1c 0 0 0 0 0 0
S2c Ta/4+Tb/2 Ts/2-Tc/4 Ta/4 Ta/2+Tc/4 Ta/4 Tc/4

4. SIMULATIONS AND RESULTS

To illustrate the effectiveness of the designed multilevel inverter based STATCOM, it is installed
in a power system which is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink. The simulink model of the inverter is as
shown in Figure 5

Figure 9 shows the voltage on load side once device is connected indicating an improvement in the
voltage profile.

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

Figure 5. Inverter model designed in SIMULINK

The line-line output voltage waveforms of 3-level NPC are as shown in Figure 6. Frequency of the
system can be verified through waveform and it is coming to be 50Hz in this test system.
The designed inverter is then installed in a small power system network whose Simulink model is as
Figure 7. Loading conditions are then varied to check the effectiveness of the inverter in maintaining a
constant voltage profile.Using the three-phase variable source, voltage is varied. For a certain time
period, voltage is decresead from 1p.u to 0.8p.u. And for other time period voltage is increased from
1.0p.u to 1.2p.u. which result in distortion.Three-phase supply is then connected to space vector control
block. Whenever supply varies, output of STATCOM also changes.
Figure 8 shows the variation in voltage with power system which has a programmable source. This
time inverter is not connected to network. Once device is connected, it starts compensation and results
in the voltage control.

Figure 6. Line-line output voltage waveform of 3-level NPC

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

Figure 7. Simulink model of network coonected to inverter.

Figure 10 shows the active power-reactive power plot of load side without connecting the inverter
to power system network. Figure 11 shows the compensation done by STATCOM when it is
connected to load side. From these observations, it can be noted that device is been injecting and
absorbing reactive power which results in better voltage profile and improves power quality of
network.

Figure 8. Variation of voltage in load side without connecting STATCOM.

Figure 9. Load voltage after connecting STATCOM.

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First International Conference on Advances in Physical Sciences and Materials IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1706 (2020) 012111 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012111

Figure 10. Active and reactive power variation in load side without connecting STATCOM.

Figure 11. Reactive power compensation by STATCOM.

5. Conclusion

The design of three-level NPC inverter and subsidiary control circuit of the network has been
simulated. Detailed designing of the inverter has been accomplished so as to do the reactive power
control. Space vector control of inverter has been obtained. Minimization of neutral point voltage
deviation has been done by subdivision of space vector diagram. Subsequently, the device is connected
to a small network and proper reactive power compensation has been achieved. As a result of this,
enhancement of voltage profile and power quality has been obtained. Thus, realisation of STATCOM
as 3-level NPC inverter which is controlled by space vector PWM is achieved and operation of
STATCOM is verified in MATLAB/Simulink.

Acknowledgements

I am heartily offering my regards to my family for their endless support.

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