What is FACTS?

FACTS is defined as "a power electronic based system and other static equipment that provide
control of one or more AC transmission system parameters to enhance controllability and
increase power transfer capability.

In general, FACTS Controllers can be divided into four categories:

1. Series ControllersThe series controller could be variable impedance, such as capacitor, reactor etc.,
or a power electronics based variable source of main frequency, subsynchronous
&harmonic frequencies to serve the desired need. In principle all series controllers
inject voltage in series with the line.

2. Shunt ControllersThe shunt controllers may be variable impedance, variable source, or a

combination of these. In principle, all shunt controllers inject current in to the
systems at the point of connections.

3. Combined series-series ControllersThis could be a combination of separate series controllers, which are
controlled in a coordinated manner, in a multiline transmission system. These
controllers provide independent series reactive compensation for each line but
also transfer real power among the lines via the power link.

4. Combined series-shunt ControllersThis could be the combination of separate shunt &series controllers, which are
controlled in a coordinated manner. In principle, combined shunt &series
controllers inject current in to the system with the shunt part of the controller
&voltage in series in the line with the series part of the controllers.

Need of compensation:

To avoid transmission line congestions& thermal rating violation on transmission

network
Purpose of contingency analysis concern& non compliance with reliability criteria.
For increased interconnection with neighboring utilities, new overhead line circuit

planned
If there is wide area voltage control problem and the need for effective reactive power
compensation

Series compensation provides the following benefits:

Reduces line voltage drops

Limits load-dependent voltage drops

Influences load flow in parallel transmission lines

Increases transfer capability

Reduces transmission angle

Increases system stability

Shunt compensation performs the following tasks:

Stabilize voltage

Control dynamic reactive power

Improve transient stability

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Damp active power oscillations

Increase power transfer capability

BASIC TEST SYSTEM:

This is five bus & two generator system.
This system is used ahead in modified form, to illustrate how the various FACTS
controllers perform in network wide applications.
This power flow solution will be used as the base case against which all other
solutions will be compared.
In conventional power flow calculations, generators are set to generate a prespecified amount of active power, except the slack generator which is left free, since it
has to generate sufficient active power to meet any shortfall in system generation. It will
also generate or absorb any reactive power excess in the system.
In this example the generator connected at the North node is selected to be Slack
Generator, generating 131.12 MW and 90.81MVAr. The voltage magnitude was kept at
1.06p.u and the voltage phase angle 00.The generator connected at the South node was set
to generate 40MW and the power flow solution indicates that it absorbs 61.59 MVAr to
keep the nodal voltage magnitude at specified value of 1p.u. The remaining three nodes
contain no equipment to provide local reactive support and their nodal voltage magnitude
drop below 1p.u. However, they keep above 0.95p.u. Which is the minimum accepted
value by most electricity companies? So, the power network does not seem to be in risk
of undergoing voltage collapse at any point if an incremental load increase were to occur.
It should be noted that the maximum phase angle difference between any pair of
adjacent nodes is smaller than 50, which indicates that the power network is not over
stretched in terms of active power flows. The largest active power flow takes place in the
transmission line connecting the North and South nodes: 89.33MW leaves the sending
end transmission line and 86.64MW reach the receiving end. The largest transmission
active power loss also takes place in the transmission line, 2.49MW. From the planning
and operational point of view, this may be considered a good result. However, it should
be pointed out that no attempt was made to optimize the performance of the operation. If
an optimized solution is required where generator fuel cost and transmission power loss
are minimized then an optimal power flow algorithm (Ambriz-Perez, 1998) would be
used as opposed to a conventional power flow algorithm (Fuerte-Esquivel, 1997)
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Test network and power flow result for base

Nodal complex voltages of original network:
Voltage

North

information
|V|(p.u.)
1.06
(degrees) 0

South

Lake

Main

Elm

1
-2.06

0.987
-4.64

0.984
-4.96

0.972
-5.77

Gen
erator

parameters:
Node
South

PG(MW)
40

Qmin(MVAr)
-300

Qmax(MVAr)
300

|V|(p.u.)
1

Network connectivity &transmission line parameters:

Sending

Receiving

R(p.u.)

X(p.u.)

B(p.u.)

node
North
North

node
South
Lake

0.02
0.08

0.06
0.24

0.06
0.05
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South
South
South
Lake
Main

Lake
Main
Elm
Main
Elm

0.06
0.06
0.04
0.01
0.08

0.18
0.18
0.12
0.03
0.24

0.04
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.05

Load parameters:
Node
South
Lake
Main
Elm

Pload(MW)
20
45
40
60

Qload(MVAr)
10
15
5
10

Power flow in basic system:

Static Var Compensator(SVC):Description:

SVCs are a fast and reliable means of controlling voltage on transmission lines. When system
voltage is low, the SVC generates capacitive reactive power. When system voltage is high, the
SVC absorbs inductive reactive power.Typical rating of SVC:Increasing power demand and limitations for system extensions cause bottlenecks in power
transmission systems resulting from reactive power unbalances. Lack and surplus of reactive
power may cause severe voltage variations or even system voltage collapse after system faults
thus reducing power supply reliability. A Static Var Compensator (SVC) can provide the
necessary reactive power balance for the system.
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Modeling of SVC:The simplest model represents the SVC as a generator with Zero active power output and
reactive power limits. The draw back of SVC model based on generator principle is that it
assumes the SVC draws constant reactive power in order to keep the voltage magnitude at the
target value where as in practice, the SVC is an adjustable reactance, which is function of voltage
magnitude.

A simple and efficient way to model SVC in a Newton-Raphson power

flow algorithm is described in this section. It is based on use of the variable susceptance concept,
which it is adjusted automatically in order to achieve specified voltage magnitude. The shunt
susceptance represents the total SVC susceptance necessary to maintain voltage magnitude at
specified value.Its implementation in a Newton-Raphson power flow algorithm requires
introduction of an additional type of load, namely PVB (where P relates to active power, Q
relates reactive power and B to susceptance ). it is a controlled node where voltage magnitude
and the nodal active and reactive powers are specified while the SVCs variable susceptance BSVC
is handled as a state variable. If BSVC

is within limits the specified voltage is attend and

controlled node remains PVB type. However if BSVC goes out of limit, BSVC is fixed at violated
limits and the node becomes PQ type in the absence of any other regulating equipments
connected to the node and capable of achieving voltage control.
The active and reactive powers drawn by a variable shunt compensator connected
at node l are: Pl=0 , Ql=-|Vl|2 BSVC

SVC at bus Main:

SVC at LAKE
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SVC at North:

10

SVC at South:

SVC at ELM:

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Observed Results:

Conclusion:
Above table shows the five cases where SVC is connected to different buses so the active power
flow changes with respect to position of SVC.when SVC is at bus LAKE the following
conclusion we can see.The power flow result indicates that the SVC generates 20.5 MVAr in
order to keep the voltage magnitude at 1p.u. voltage magnitude at Lake Node. The SVC
installation results in an improved network voltage profile except in ELM, which is too far away
from Lake Node to benefit from the SVC influence. The Slack generator reduces its reactive
power generation by almost 6% compared to the base case and the reactive power exported from
North to Lake reduces by more than 30%. The largest reactive power flow takes place in the

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transmission line connecting North and South, where 74.1 MVAr leaves North and 74 MVAr
arrives at south. In general, more reactive power is available in the network than in the base case
and the generator connected at south increases .its share of reactive power absorption compared
to the base case. As expected, active power flows are only marginally affected by the SVC
installation. the best location to insert SVC is at bus ELM as at that bus active power flow
increased and reactive power flow is decreased.

Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation (TCSC):It is possible to control the current and thus the load flow in parallel transmission lines, which
simultaneously improves system stability. Power oscillation damping and mitigation of subsynchronous resonance can be realized.

Description:
Series capacitors installations can also be controlled by thyristors. The Thyrister
Controlled Series Compensation (TCSC) offers several advantages over conventional
fixed series capacitor installations.

Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation TCSC:These advantages include:

Continuous control of desired compensation level

Direct smooth control of power flow within the network

Improved capacitor bank protection

Local mitigation of subsynchronous resonance (SSR). This permits higher levels of

compensation in networks where interactions with turbine-generator torsional
vibrations or with other control or measuring systems are of concern.

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Damping of electromechanical (0.5-2 Hz) power oscillations which often arise between
areas in a large interconnected power network. These oscillations are due to the dynamics
of interarea power tranfer and often exhibit poor damping when the aggregate power
tranfer over a corridor is high relative to the transmission strength.
A typical single line diagram of a TCSC is shown in the figure below. Whereas in a
TPSC the thyristor valve is self-cooled (by the surrounding air), the thyristor valve of a
TCSC needs to be cooled by a closed-loop water cooling system

A well established method to increase the transmission line capability is to install series
compensation in order to reduce the transmission lines net series impedance. The TCSC enables
the effective active power flow regulation in the compensated transmission line. For the purpose
of fundamental frequency from power flow studies, a variable series reactance provides a simple
and very efficient way to model the TCSC. The changing reactance adjusts automatically to
constraint the power flow across the branch to a specified value. The amount of reactance is
determined efficiently by means of Newtons algorithm. The changing reactance X TCSC
represents the total equivalent reactance of all the TCSC modules connected in series.
TCSC POWER FLOW MODELING:
For inductive operation the TCSC power equations at node l are:

For capacitive operation the signs of equations are reversed. Also for power equation
corresponding to node l the subscripts l and m are changed.
The static variable Xtcsc of the series controller is updated at the end of iteration(r) using
the following equation:
Xtcsc(r+1)= Xtcsc(r)+ Xtcsc(r)

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TCSC between lake &main

TCSC between bus lake &north

TCSC between north &south:

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TCSC between bus south &lake:

TCSC between bus south &main:

16

TCSC between south and Elm:

17

TCSC between bus main & elm:

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Conclusion:
The above table shows the results when TCSC is connected in each transmission line connecting
two buses, so we can observe that active and reactive power flow is changed through each line
with respect to position of TCSC.
From the observation table we can conclude that TCSC connected between South &Main gives
maximum active power &minimum reactive power. So it is the best power flow solution .

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Conclusion:
Power flow in the network and improvement in this power flow after adding
FACTS devices was studied.
With the evaluation of different cases we could find out the node at which
compensation is done so that we have maximum active and minimum reactive
power is obtained.

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