Flexible AC Transmission Systems:

Placement, Control, and Interaction

Mariesa L. Crow
University of Missouri-Rolla

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Flexible AC Transmission Systems

Alternating current
transmission systems
incorporating power
electronics-based and other
static controllers to enhance
controllability and increase
power transfer capability

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Without fundamental research in this area, very little use

will be made with full confidence of the real opportunities
offered by FACTS devices. For the time being we only
have limited examples, entirely based on simulation,
which demonstrate that fast regulation of reactive
compensation on a transmission grid could be very
useful in the future. Because of this, there may exist an
immediate danger of uncoordinated system-wide fast
regulation via FACTS devices which could become
detrimental to system integrity under certain operating
conditions.
MarijaIlic,FundamentalengineeringproblemsandopportunitiesinoperatingpowertransmissiongridsofthefutureInt'l
JournalofElectricalPower&EnergySystems,vol.17,no.3,pp.207214,June1995.

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Constraints on Useable
Transmission Capacity
Dynamic:
Transient and dynamic stability
Subsynchronous oscillations
Dynamic overvoltages and undervoltages
Voltage collapse
Frequency collapse

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 Static:
Uneven power flow
Excess reactive power flows
Voltage capability
Thermal capability

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FACTS Controllers

Static VAR Compensator - SVC

Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator - TCSC
Thyristor Controlled Phase Angle Regulator - TCPAR
Static Synchronous Compensator - StatCom
Solid State Series Compensator - SSSC
Unified Power Flow Controller - UPFC

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SVC

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Thyristor Controlled Series

Compensator (TCSC)

TCSC

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StatCom

shunt device
lower rated components since only carry a fraction of
the line current
impacts bus voltage and reactive power support
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SSSC

series device
must have higher rated transformer and devices
impacts active power flow

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UPFC

combination of StatCom and SSSC

may control voltage, impedance, and angle
impacts active and reactive power flow in line

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UPFC Topology

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Placement and Coordination

of FACTS Devices

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Long-term Control
-Power Flow control
-FACTS scheduling
-Economics

Dynamic Control
-System oscillation damping
-Voltage stability
-FACTS ringing

Is there a
one-size-fits-all
controller?

Local Control
-Control target acquisition
-Power electronics topology
-Modulation strategies

time

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Steady-State
Power Flow Control

UPFC
SSSC
TCSC
TCPAR
These devices can affect active power flow

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Approaches
Sensitivity analysis

bij
t

t g

g ij
t

Where is the change in power transfer

capacity in response to an addition of t
compensation in line i-j with admittance
bij+j gij and b and g are sensitivity
parameters
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 Optimization (optimal power flow) with

genetic algorithms to minimize some
cost function
Generation costs
Congestion
Problem is nonlinear, non-smooth, and
non-convex
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 Max-flow (graph theory) uses forward

and backward labeling from source to
sink to dynamically determine line flows

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Issues and Challenges

Dynamic Coordination of FACTS
settings
Security
Economics
Droop

Hierarchical or local control of FACTS?

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Dynamic Control

transient stability improvement

inter-area oscillation damping
voltage collapse avoidance
subsynchronous resonance mitigation
Each control objective will (possibly)
require a different FACTS placement

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Issues
Most dynamic control development has
concentrated on SMIB or very small two-area
systems
How is control implemented in a large
nonlinear interconnected dynamic network?
FACTS-FACTS interaction
FACTS-generator interaction

Hardware/field verification limited

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Challenges to FACTS
Implementation
Unbalanced operation
Harmonics
Integration of Energy Storage (BESS,
SMES, flywheels)
Power electronic topologies
Power electronics devices
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StatCom/BESS

voltages

active power

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SSSC/BESS

voltages

active power

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Issues
Most work considers only:
Simplified topologies
UPFC = variable impedance
StatCom = PV bus
Three-phase balanced operation
No harmonics
Simulation based
Isolated performance (no interactions)
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Cascaded Converter
Advantages

Use fewer components to

achieve the same number of
levels
Has modularized circuitry which
makes packaging possible
Does not have balancing
problem when with batteries

Disadvantages

Needs separate DC sources for

active power conversion

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Diode-Clamped
Advantages
The harmonic content decreases as the
number of levels increases, thus reducing
the size of filters
Efficiency is high since devices are
switched at the fundamental frequency
It is easy to realize bi-directional active
power flow with a BESS or other energy
storage system
Disadvantages:
Requires a large number of high power
clamping diodes if the number of levels is
high
A high voltage rating is required for the
blocking diodes
There is potentially a voltage balancing
problem

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Food for thought

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Long-term Control
-Power Flow control
-FACTS scheduling
-Economics

Dynamic Control
-System oscillation damping
-Voltage stability
-FACTS ringing

Local Control
-Control target acquisition
-Power electronics topology
-Modulation strategies

time

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 Conventional eigenvalue analysis cannot

predict the high frequency self-modes of the
several FACTS devices embedded in a large
power system network.
High frequency control interactions among the
several FACTS devices must be checked
using an EMTP-type program
A promising technique is based on the use of
high frequency eigenvalue calculation using
Generalized Switching Function Models for the
different FACTS devices under consideration.

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Series controllers
low loop impedance - the series controllers
may experience a very strong interaction, and
therefore these controllers must be designed
in a coordinated way - the main linking
variable among the series controllers is the
ac current
high loop impedance - no control interactions
may be expected among series controllers
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HVDC
HVDC converters embedded in a large
network will not experience control
interactions if the transference
impedances between their commutation
busbars are high. This means that, in
this case, the dc control design of each
station can be based exclusively on the
Short-Circuit Ratio (SCR) at its ac
connection point.
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SCADA systems
Dedicated SCADA systems will have to be
developed if global control of multiple FACTS
controllers is desired.
Currently available SCADA systems have a refresh
rate of 1 second (maximum). This is sufficient for
steady-state control dispatch of FACTS controllers.
However, this is completely inadequate for dynamic
control, especially if we consider that high
frequency modes (10-100 Hz) may occur on
FACTS assisted power systems

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Discussion

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