Distributed Power and FACTS

Static Series Compensators: GCSC, TCSC and SSSC

Impedance compensation with a series connected device

Shunt compensation can provide a degree of power control,
however, the power flow is ultimately limited by the impedance of
the transmission line. Series compensation is far more effective at
providing control of the transmitted power. On long transmission
lines it is well established that improved power transfer can be
accomplished by compensating the transmission impedance with
series capacitors. The optimum location is in the centre of a
transmission line but often this is inaccessible so a series capacitor
at each line end or in each substation is employed as depicted in
Figure 1. For capacitors at each end typical values of 35% of the
line inductances are used reducing the total line impedance to 30%
of the line inductance. Series capacitors are popular for long lines of
the order of 150 km particularly in the higher latitudes where they
reduce the effects of geomagnetic storms.

The transmission system will have a total reactance X
T
given by

(1 )
T l c l
X X X k X = =
(1)

and the power flow is then given by
2 2
sin sin
(1 )
T l
V V
P
X k X
o o = =

(2)

The phasor diagram for the arrangement given in figure 1a can be
given by Figure 2. From this it can be seen that the line current is
given by

2
sin
(1 ) 2
l
V
I
k X
o
=

(3)
and hence the reactive power provided by each series capacitor is
given by

2
2
2
(1 cos )
2
(1 )
c
c
l
X V k
Q I
X k
o = =

(4)
The relationship between the real and reactive power and load angle
is shown in figure 3 for the uncompensated case and the
compensated case k=0.7.

Figure 1. Two popular arrangements for series capacitors
installed on long lines























Figure 2. Phasor diagram for the system given in figure 1a






a)
X
c
/2=35%X
l
X
c
/2=35%X
l
X
l
X
l
/2 X
l
/2
X
c
=50%X
l
b)
Imaginary
V
S
jX
l
I

I

/2
/2
V
R
Real
= /2
V
M
jX
c
/2 I

jX
c
/2 I

P uncompensated
P compensated
Q


Figure 3 Real and reactive power characteristics for the
compensated line impedance given in figure 1a compared
with the uncompensated real power

As the series compensation reduces the line impedance it will
naturally lead to improved voltage stability (see figures 3 an 4 in
Opportunities of Flexible AC Transmission Systems FACTS lecture).
The improved electrical power flow on the transmission line will also
improve the power stability margin. Switching the series
compensation can also provide power oscillation damping as shown
in figure 5. However, the series capacitance can lead to
subsynchronous power oscillations due to resonance with the line
inductance that can damage large generators as the resonace
frequency is
1
1
2
c
res
l
X
f LC f
X
t
= =
(5)

undamped
damped
A
n
g
l
e
0
1
2
time
Q

c
o
m
p
e
n
s
a
t
o
r
undamped
damped
time
P
o
w
e
r



Figure 5 Control of the series capacitance to reduce power
oscillations







GTO Thyristor-Controlled Series Capacitor (GCSC)

Full control of the series capacitance can be provided by the GTO
Thyristor-Controlled Series Capacitor arrangement shown in
figure 6. This arrangement is comparable to the TCR. The effective
reactance is a function of turn-off delay angel given by
1 2 1
( ) 1 sin(2 )
c
X
C

e t t
| |
=
|
\ .
(6)
But the harmonic voltages induced are given by
2
4 sin cos( ) cos sin( )
( )
( 1)
n
I n n n
V
C
n n

e t


=
`

)
(7)

These characteristics can be seen in figure 7. Note that 3
rd
and 9
th

harmonics are absent in three phase balanced connections (star or
delta) and a 12 puls arrangement eliminates 5
th
and 7
th
harmonics.




Figure 6 Fundamental element of GTO thyristor controlled
series capacitor (GCSC).














0 20 40 60 80 100
0.05
0.1
0.15
3rd
5th
7th
9th
11th
13th
Fundamental/10
Delay angle (deg)
p
u


Figure 7 Amplitude of the harmonic voltages drawn by a
GCSC against GTO turn-off delay angle.


From figure 7 it can be seen that the relative current harmonics can
be quiet high and as the system impedance usually increases with
frequency (inductive) then the higher harmonics may create
significant system voltage distortion. Filters can be added if
necessary but this will increase the losses.

The fundamental Voltage produced by a GCSC is limited by the
maximum GCSC impedance (=0) so that the V-I operating region is
as given in Figure 8.





Figure 8 Operating region for a GCSC

Another possible arrangement is a Thyristor-controlled series
capacitor which is very similar to the FC-TCR but for a series
element.

Switched converter type series compensators

A series compensator arrangement which can inject reactive power
is known as a static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) and
the usual arrangement capacitive sourced convertors is as shown in
Figure 9.

















Figure 9 Realisation of a static synchronous series
compensator (SSSC) using a voltage sourced converter
V
GCSC
I
GCSC
X
cmax
controller
settings
V
comp
Voltage
sourced
converter 2
Series transformer

Converter 2 can provide V
comp
fully controlled in phase angle and
amplitude and is limited by the converter VA rating and the VA
rating of the series transformer. This arrangement has is very
controllable with good harmonic performance and rapid response.
The VI characteristics are then as given in figure 10.




Figure 10 Operating region for a SSSC

V
SSSC
I
SSSC
V
max
I
max