Electrical Power Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering
Cairo University

Electrical Power Systems (2) (EPM401B)

Assignment 4

# Name Section B.N.

1 Ahmed essam abd rabou 1 17
2
3
4
5

Supervisor and Course Tutor:

Associate Professor Dr. Heba Ahmed Hassan
Teaching Assistant Engineer Abdelrahman Mahmoud

5 JUNE 2021
Table of contents:
Abstract........................................................................................................................................................ 1
Power system controls ................................................................................................................................ 1
Methods of reactive power and voltage control ....................................................................................... 2
References:................................................................................................................................................... 4
Abstract
A power generating system has the responsibility to ensure that adequate power is delivered to
the load, both reliably and economically. The quality of power supply is affected due to
continuous and random changes in load during the operation of the power system. Hence, a
power system control is required to maintain a continuous balance between power generation
and load demand.

In this report , we will illustrate one of power system control beside previewing one of reactive
power and voltage control method.

Power system controls

Power system controls are of many types including :

1)Generator excitation controls

2)Prime mover controls including fast valving
3) Generator tripping
4)Fast fault clearing
5) High-speed reclosing and single pole switching
6) Dynamic braking
7)Load tripping and modulation
8) Reactive power compensation switching or modulation (series and shunt)
9) Current injection by voltage source inverter devices (STATCOM, UPFC, SMES, battery
storage)
10)Fast phase angle control
We will discuss one of the above types.

Excitation control
Generator excitation controls are a basic stability control. Thyristor exciters with high ceiling
voltage provide powerful and economical means to ensure stability for large disturbances.
Modern automatic voltage regulators and PSSs are digital, facilitating additional capabilities
such as adaptive control and special logic.
Excitation control is almost always based on local measurements. Therefore, full effectiveness
may not be obtained for interarea stability problems where the normal local measurements are
not sufficient.
Line drop compensation is one method to increase the effectiveness (sensitivity) of excitation
control and improve coordination with static var compensators that normally control
transmission voltage with small droop.
Reactive power compensation switching or modulation.
Controlled series or shunt compensation improves stability, with series compensation generally
being the most powerful. For switched compensation, either mechanical or power electronic
switches may be used. For continuous modulation, thyristor phase control of a reactor (TCR) is
used. Mechanical switching has the advantage of lower cost. The operating times of circuit
breakers are usually adequate, especially for interarea oscillations. Mechanical switching is
generally single insertion of compensation for synchronizing support. In addition to previously

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mentioned advantages, power electronic control has advantages in sub synchronous resonance
performance.
Methods of reactive power and voltage control
Reactive power is caused entirely by energy storage components and the losses due to reactive
power may be considerable, although reactive power is not consumed by the loads.
The presence of reactive power reduces the capability of delivering the active power by the
transmission lines. And the apparent power is the combination of active and reactive power.
In order to achieve maximum active power transmission, the reactive power must be
compensated. This compensation is necessary for
• Improving the voltage regulation
• Increasing system stability
• Reducing the losses associated with the system.
• Improving the power factor
• Better utilization of machines connected to the system.
The compensation techniques of the power system supply the inductive or capacitive reactive
power (to its particular limits) in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the power
transmission system. The following we illustrate two of types of fact controller.

Thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC)

It is a capacitive reactance compensator. It consists of a series capacitor bank which connected in
parallel with a thyristor-controlled reactor that provides a smooth variable series capacitive
reactance. The total impedance of the system can be varied by changing the conduction angle of
the thyristors and hence the circuit becomes either inductive or capacitive. If the total circuit
impedance is inductive, the fault current is limited by this controller. A simple model of TCSC is
shown in figure below.

Figure 1: thyristor-controlled series capacitor

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STATCOM
TATCOM means static synchronous compensator and it has the similar characteristics to that of
synchronous condenser, but it has no inertia as it is an electronic device.
It consists of a solid-state voltage source inverter coupled with a transformer and this
arrangement is tied to a transmission line. This arrangement supplies or draws reactive power at
a faster rate compared with synchronous motor condenser.
This controller injects the current almost in quadrature with the line voltage, so that it matches a
capacitive or an inductive reactance at the point where it is connected. STATCOM can be either
voltage source or current source-based controller but mostly voltage source is preferred.

Figure 2:STATCOM

Thyristor controlled series reactor (TCSR)

It is an inductive reactance compensator which consists of a series reactor in parallel with
thyristor switched reactor. This controller provides a smooth variable inductive reactance.
When the thyristors firing angle is 1800, the reactor stops conducting and hence the uncontrolled
reactor only is in series with the line that acts as a fault current limiter. If the firing angle is
below 1800, the net (or overall) inductance decreases, thereby voltage is controlled in the
network.

Figure 3: TCSR

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References:
References
1) BEVRANI, H., 2016. ROBUST POWER SYSTEM FREQUENCY CONTROL. 2nd ed.
Northeastern University, Boston: SPRINGER.
2) Electronics Hub. 2015. Flexible AC Transmission System(FACTS). [online] Available at:
<https://www.electronicshub.org/flexible-ac-transmission-systemfacts/> [Accessed 5
June 2021].
3) Grigsby, L., 2012. Power system stability and control. 3rd ed. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC
Press, pp.13-7 to 13-17.
4) Soundarrajan, A., 2012. Voltage and frequency control in power generating system using
hybrid evolutionary algorithms - A Soundarrajan, S Sumathi, G Sivamurugan, 2012.
[online] SAGE Journals. Available at:
<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077546311404731#:~:text=A%20power%20
generating%20system%20has,load%2C%20both%20reliably%20and%20economically.&
text=Hence%2C%20a%20power%20system%20control,power%20generation%20and%2
0load%20demand.> [Accessed 5 June 2021].

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