2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)
Supercapacitor E-STATCOM for Power System
Performance Enhancement
M.R.A.Wara
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology
Dhaka, Bangladesh
ruhulwara@gmail.com
Abstract—E-STATCOMs are static compensator devices
incorporated with energy storage devices. In this paper, a
supercapacitor energy storage system (SCESS) has been
interfaced with a static compensator (STATCOM) for
transient control of a power system. While STATCOM is
known to improve the reactive power unbalance following a
contingency, a STATCOM SCESS system can affect both real
and reactive power needs. Performance of a single machine
infinite bus system has been considered as a test case. It has
been observed that a simple STATCOM SCESS can stabilize
an unstable system. Additionally, supplementary PI controllers
in both voltage magnitude and phase angle loops can provide
extra damping to the system. The controllers have been shown
to provide very good responses even when the system is
subjected to severe three-phase fault conditions.
Keywords— SMIB, STATCOM, SCESS, PI control
I. INTRODUCTION
With the fast growth of power systems, efficient
operation of the system has become a challenging job [1],
[2]. Load variations, faults in the system can introduce
oscillations affecting the voltage, frequency and the power
transfer capability of the system [1]–[4]. Oscillations may
sometimes lead to blackout of the whole power system [5].
Energy storage devices can provide extra damping to
mitigate power system oscillations [3]. Energy storage
devices such as, batteries, supercapacitors, superconducting
magnetic energy storages (SMES) are the most suitable
candidates for this purpose [6]. Research indicates the use of
energy storage systems in the conventional power systems,
the renewable energy sources, and the microgrids can ensure
the quality, stability and reliability of the systems [3], [4],
[6]–[17]. The damping capability of battery energy storage
system (BESS) has been analyzed in [3]. In [13],
supercapacitor energy storage system has been implemented
to increase the transient behavior of a system connected with
wind farms. In [14], SCESS has been deployed at the
common terminal of a grid connected with wind-solar hybrid
farm.
The flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) devices are
being used in power grids to improve the voltage regulation,
power transfer capability and also the stability [2], [18]. The
static synchronous compensator, a member of the FACTS
family, is used to enhance the steady state as well as transient
performance of the power system by providing sufficient
reactive power support [2], [19]–[22]. Various control
mechanisms have been researched and analyzed for
STATCOM for different uses [2], [4], [8], [9], [11], [15],
[16], [18], [19], [21]–[23]. In [2], a nonlinear attenuation
controller has been designed for STATCOM to enhance the
978-1-5386-8014-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
69
A.H.M.A.Rahim
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology
Dhaka, Bangladesh
ahrahim.eee@aust.edu
stability of the system. In [18], coordination between
STATCOM and the excitation system has been proposed for
stability purpose. In [23], a nonlinear control mechanism has
been implemented in STATCOM to improve the voltage
regulation of the power system. In [21] and [22], adaptive PI
controllers have been applied for voltage regulation.
Only the capability to compensate the reactive power has
restricted the application of STATCOM during severe
disturbances in a power system [4]. With the inclusion of an
energy storage system into STATCOM, a more powerful
device E-STATCOM can be obtained. E-STATCOM can
provide the support of both real and reactive power. Having a
wide spectrum of troubleshooting ability, it can deal with
severe perturbations in the power systems [4], [8], [9]. It can
also improve the transient stability margin by exchanging
real power along with reactive power [8].
The capability of E-STATCOM to handle forced
oscillations is proposed in [4]. In [9], E-STATCOM based
adaptive damping controller has been designed. In [10],
stochastic time domain analysis has been carried out to
assess the dynamic performance of E-STATCOM in the
power system. In [8], [11], STATCOM BESS has been used
to improve the dynamic performance of a multimachine
system covering both synchronous and asynchronous
generators. In [16], STATCOM SCESS has been connected
with the wind generators to ensure both active and reactive
power support. In [15], STATCOM SMES has been
implemented to enhance the power transfer capability of the
grid.
In this article, a supercapacitor energy storage system is
interfaced with a STATCOM device in a single machine
infinite bus test model. Supplementary PI controllers in the
STATCOM circuit are designed for control of reactive as
well as real power. Transient simulation is carried out to
evaluate the dynamic performance of STATCOM SCESS
with and without the additional controllers.
The remaining part of the paper is organized as follows.
Section II describes the system model including synchronous
generator, STATCOM and supercapacitor. Section III
presents the supplementary controller design. The simulation
results are shown in section IV and the conclusions are
presented in section V.
II. SYSTEM MODEL
Fig.1 shows the configuration of a single machine
infinite bus system considered in this study. The system
consists of a synchronous generator, local load, transmission
line and supercapacitor energy storage system with
 2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

STATCOM. The storage devices are connected at the STATCOM output current. The model is written as follows
midpoint of the transmission line. The model for the [16] [17] [23],
component systems are given in the following.

dVDC
CDC
dt
( )
= −m isd cos (ϕ + ψ ) + isq sin (ϕ + ψ ) − I SC (5)

disd  ω 
Ls = ω0  − Rs isd + Ls isq + mVDC cos (ϕ + ψ ) − Vd  (6)
dt  ω0 
disq  ω 
Ls = ω0  − Rs isq − Ls isd + mVDC sin (ϕ + ψ ) − Vq  (7)
dt  ω0 

Here, Rs and Ls indicate the resistance and inductance

Fig. 1. Single machine infinite bus system with E-STATCOM.
A. Synchronous Generator Model
A synchronous generator is modeled in terms of four
ordinary differential equations. The electro-mechanical
dynamics is expressed by the second order swing equation.
The other equations come from the internal voltage dynamics
of the generator and a first order exciter model. The 4 state
equations are expressed as [16],
of the transformer connected between the STATCOM and
the line, Vd and Vq are the d-q axis components of the
voltage at the connecting point; VDC and CDC are the
voltage and capacitance of the dc link capacitor. ISC is the
current contributed by the supercapacitor.
C. SCESS Model
The SCESS model is expressed in terms of
supercapacitor current and voltage ( VSC ) and is written as
[16],

dδ dESC
= ω0 (ω − ω0 ) (1) I SC = CSC (8)
dt dt
VSC = ESC + RSC I SC (9)
dω
2H = ( Pmech − Pelec ) (2)
dt where, RSC and CSC are the resistance and capacitance of
dEq' the supercapacitor, respectively.
Td' 0
dt
( )
= EFD − Eq' − xd − xd' id (3)
III. SUPPLEMENTARY CONTROLLER DESIGN
dEFD A supplementary PI controller has been designed to
TE = k E (Vt 0 − Vt ) − ( EFD − EFD 0 ) (4)
dt control the modulation index m and phase angle ψ . Speed
error has been considered as the input for the controller. The
Quantities δ , ω , Eq' , EFD are the rotor angle, angular output of the PI controller is summed with the initial value to
get the desired modulation index. The gain parameters of the
frequency, quadrature axis component of generator internal
controllers are selected by adopting trial and error technique.
voltage and generator field voltage, respectively; ω0 is the The block diagram for the m and ψ controllers are given in
base speed; Pelec and Pmech are the electrical power and the
Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. The quantities Δm and Δψ are
mechanical power of the generator, respectively. The terms
generated by solving the differential equations,
xd and xd' are the direct axis synchronous and transient
y1 = K im Δω
reactances of the generator, respectively; id is the direct (10)
axis component of stator current; H represents the inertia y 2 = K iψ Δω
constant; Td' 0 is the open circuit field time constant; k E and Then,
TE represent the exciter gain and time constant; Vt and Vt 0 Δm = K pm Δω + y1
(11)
are the instantaneous and steady values of the terminal Δψ = K pψ Δω + y2
voltage, respectively.
k
B. STATCOM Model ω0 k pm + im Δm
s
The terminal voltage of STATCOM can be stated as, −
Vs = mVDC ∠ϕ + ψ , where m is the modulation index and +
ψ is the phase angle of the voltage, ϕ is the angle of the
voltage at the connecting point of the STATCOM. The ω
STATCOM model consists of three differential equations
containing the voltage across the dc-link capacitor and the
direct and quadrature axis (d-q axis) components of Fig. 2. Modulation index controller block diagram.

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 2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

kiψ 1.8
ω0 k pψ + Δψ No control

− s 1.6 SCESS without supplementary control

Generator Terminal Voltage (p.u.)

SCESS with supplementary control
+ 1.4

1.2

ω 1

0.8
Fig. 3. Phase angle controller block diagram..
0.6

0.4
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
0.2
The single machine infinite bus system with the E-
STATCOM given in Fig. 1 was simulated for two different 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
disturbance scenarios. These are: a single three-phase fault at Time (sec)
the grid bus, and sequential faults. The system parameters are
given in the appendix. Fig. 4. Generator terminal voltage following 3-phase fault at the grid bus for
250ms duration
The synchronous generator terminal voltage, speed, and
the terminal voltage, etc. following the various disturbances 1.025
are shown in Figs. 4 through Fig. 9. A 3-phase, 250ms short No control

circuit fault is applied at the grid bus first. In the absence of 1.02 SCESS without supplementary control
SCESS with supplementary control
SCESS, the generator voltage drops to very small values 1.015
(Fig. 4) causing the generator to speed up (Fig. 5). The

Speed Deviation (p.u.)

1.01
generator speeds up and voltages are heavily depressed. The
output power of the generator decreases significantly during 1.005

fault shown in Fig. 6. Because of the fast transients in the 1

output voltage, the power output also swings with large
amplitude. The large variations in electrical power leads the 0.995

generator to accelerate more. The terminal voltage of the 0.99

generator and the line mid-point voltage are very low (Fig. 4 0.985
and Fig. 7). The generator continues to accelerate even after
the fault is removed, eventually rendering the system to 0.98
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
instability. Time (sec)

The SCESS along with STATCOM is able to absorb or Fig. 5. Speed deviation following 3-phase fault at the grid bus for 250ms
deliver real and reactive power. The supercapacitor absorbs duration.
active power through STATCOM during fault. The
absorption of real power impedes the generator to accelerate.
The supercapacitor continuously exchanges power until the
system is stable. The speed, the voltages and the generator 2.5

power output continues to oscillate with a very low 2

No control
SCESS without supplementary control
frequency and large amplitude. The power variation of the SCESS with supplementary control
SCESS system for the no control and controlled cases are 1.5
Generator Power (p.u.)

shown in Fig. 8. The SCESS along with the supplementary 1

PI controller can provide sufficient damping to the
oscillations. As can be observed, the system transients are 0.5

stabilized in less than 2s. 0

In the second disturbance scenario, two severe three -0.5

phase faults have been applied consecutively. The first one is
-1
applied at t=0 and the second one is initiated at t=3s. As can
be seen in Fig. 9, without SCESS supplementary control, the -1.5

speed is oscillatory following the first disturbance and 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
worsens to unstable condition when the second disturbance Time (sec)
comes in. The SCESS with supplementary control can damp
the oscillations quickly and keep the system stable. Fig. 6. Generator power output following 3-phase fault at the grid bus for
250ms duration.

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 2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

STATCOM control improves both the real and reactive

2
No control power imbalances resulting in improvement of both
Mid-point Voltage of the Line (p.u.) 1.8 SCESS without supplementary control
SCESS with supplementary control
damping and transient voltage profiles. Additional controls
1.6 in the voltage magnitude and phase loop provide extremely
1.4 good transient response even under severe multiple
1.2
disturbance contingencies. The control design was carried
out considering detailed modeling of the synchronous
1
generator, STATCOM system and the supercapacitor energy
0.8 storage device. It was observed that the energy requirement
0.6 of the supercapcacitor is not excessive in comparison to
0.4
system ratings.
0.2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Time (sec) The authors wish to acknowledge the facilities provided
towards this research by the Ahsanullah University of
Science & Technology, Dhaka.
Fig. 7. The voltage at the mid-point of the line following 3-phase fault at
the grid bus for 250ms duration.
APPENDIX
STATCOM and supercapacitor parameters:
3
No control Rs = 0.02 p.u. Ls = 0.15 p.u. CDC = 0.01 p.u.
2.5 SCESS without supplementary control

2
SCESS with supplementary control Rsc = 0.1 p.u. Csc = 3500 p.u.
Supercapcitor Power (p.u.)

1.5
Power system parameters:
1
H=3sec Td' 0 = 6.3 sec kE = 1 TE = 0.01 sec
0.5

0
Load admittance = 0.12 − j *0.16 p.u.
-0.5

-1
Operating conditions:
Pmech = 0.9 p.u. Vt 0 = 1.02 p.u. Pf = 0.9 lag m0 = 0.5
-1.5

-2
ψ0 = 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Time (sec)

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