2020 4th International Conference on Advanced Systems and Emergent Technologies (IC_ASET)

Voltage Stability Enhancement Using FACTS Devices

Asma Meddeb Hajer Jmii Nisrine Amor

Laboratory of Technologies
of Information and Communication &
Electrical Engineering (LaTICE)
ENSIT, University of Tunis, Tunisia
2020 4th International Conference on Advanced Systems and Emergent Technologies (IC_ASET) | 978-1-7281-6356-7/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IC_ASET49463.2020.9318220
Laboratory of Technologies Laboratory of Technologies
of Information and Communication & of Information and Communication &
Electrical Engineering (LaTICE) Electrical Engineering (LaTICE)
ENSIT, University of Tunis, Tunisia ENSIT, University of Tunis, Tunisia

asma.meddeb@ensit.rnu.tn hajerjmii@yahoo.com nisrine.amor@hotmail.fr

Souad Chebbi
Laboratory of Technologies
of Information and Communication &
Electrical Engineering (LaTICE)
ENSIT, University of Tunis, Tunisia
souad.chebbi@yahoo.com

Abstract— This paper presented UPFC and SVC control for
effective power system stability. The purpose of this work is to
study the contribution of FACTS devices to damp the fluctuation
of voltage under fault condition. The simulation results are
applied to the IEEE 14-bus test system, and show that including
UPFC and SVC improves the accuracy of voltage stability of
power system. The case study is performed using the well-known
software EUROSTAG.
Keywords— EUROSTAG, UPFC, SVC, voltage stability.
I. INTRODUCTION
P ower systems were generally operated under stressed
conditions, closer to their stability limits. This is due to the
increasing power demand and, at the same time, the economic
constraints imposed on the electricity production. Moreover,
the power flow transmitted by the transmission lines must be
limited for stability reasons. Therefore, in the event of an
unforeseen fault, the power flow can exceed the limits causing
system collapse [1].
Voltage stability is one of the main concerns of the
network managers and is also considered as one of the most
complex studies. It concerns the ability of the system to
maintain all its buses voltage within the permissible limits,
after being disturbed. In fact, voltage fluctuations have caused
major incidents (blackouts) that have occurred all over the
world [2]. The long interruptions of the electricity service
cause the shutdown of the communication systems, the
distribution of water, the transport, etc. In addition, even the
short-term electricity cuts, can significantly affect industrial
processes [3].
The voltage collapse is highly related to the lack of
reactive power. Therefore, it is essential to always satisfy the
demand for reactive energy. However, the reactive power
transit causes voltage drops. Thus, it is necessary to proceed
with the reactive power compensation. Conventional means as
capacitor banks can improve voltage stability, but they are
unable to provide good performance during rapid changes in
reactive power [4].
Despite proven technologies and practices for power
system security enhancement, this problem remains a sensitive
issue, and more efforts are then required to guarantee the
stability of the system. Flexible AC transmission system
(FACTS) devices are among the solutions considered for
dealing with power system stability problems. There are
various forms of FACTS devices. Based on power
electronics, the FACTS are used to increase the controllability
and the power transfer capacity of the network, they are
characterized by a very short response time and offer a better
flexibility of regulation and control [5, 6].
In [7], the authors proposed the UPFC and the IPFC
(Interline Power Flow Controller), in order to sustain the
voltage stability of power systems. In [8], they outlined the
importance of the integration of different FACTS such as
UPFC and SVC in improving power system stability.
Likewise, the UPFC as a controllable shunt compensation
provides an effective power flow control and a good voltage
control [9].
In this paper, we will specify the contingencies that create a
fault and their effect on the voltage stability of the power
system. In addition, a corrective control using Facts devices
for improving the voltage stability of a test system is
performed using the pioneering EUROSTAG software
package [10].
II. CONTRIBUTION OF FACTS DEVICES ON THE
IMPROVEMENT OF POWER SYSTEM STABILITY
FACTS devices have been employed for improving the
power system stability, flexible power flow control and
increasing transmission system reliability and availability.

978-1-7281-6356-7/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE

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 2020 4th International Conference on Advanced Systems and Emergent Technologies (IC_ASET)

Therefore, they have a stronger capability of power transfer, manner, increasing therefore the power flow control
avoiding cascading outages and damping oscillations [11, 12]. flexibility.

Vse V2
FACTS
V1
Serie
Serie Shunt Hybrid Shunt
Transformer Transformer

SSSC STATCOM IPFC

TCSC SVC UPFC

C

TCSR
TCR TSC Fig.3. Model of UPFC

Fig.1. Classification of FACTS devices

There are several types of FACTS devices. Fig.1. illustrates
the classification of Facts devices.
A. Static Var Compensator (SVC)
It is an important equipment of reactive compensation that
is compared in voltage supporting. The model of SVC is
equivalent to a shunt variable susceptance. Its reactive power
can be adjusted to maintain a specified voltage magnitude
[13].
Transformer
III. SIMULATION
A. Case Study
The IEEE 14-bus system, illustrated in Fig. 4, contains
five generators, three transformers and eleven loads. The
model of the generators is equivalent to an ideal voltage
source behind synchronous reactance. The transmission lines
are modeled only by the resistance and the reactance. The
model adopted for the loads is the constant impedance. As for
the transformer, it is modeled by the short-circuit impedance.
The simulation parameters are extracted from [16]. We
performed all simulations using software EUROSTAG. It is
characterized by its rapidity, flexibility and reliability, its
algorithm uses an integration time step that varies
continuously.

14
13
12
11
10

6
C 9
G1 8
7
C L 1 C
5
4

Filter TSC TCR

Fig.2. Model of SVC
B. Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC)
UPFC is the most powerful and versatile device [14, 15],
illustrated as a block diagram in Fig. 3. It can realize power
flow control through adjusting line impedance, phase angle,
and bus voltage. The shunt converter must generate or absorb
active power from the system as much as the active power
amount absorbed or produced by the series converter, due to
the small energy storing capacity of the DC link. The reactive
power of the two converters is controlled in an independent
2
G2
3
C
Fig.4. Single line diagram of IEEE 14-bus system
B. Contribution of FACTS on the system stability
To evaluate the impact of the implantation of UPFC and
SVC on voltage stability of test network, we will cause
oscillations by revealing two types of fault: a bolted three-

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 2020 4th International Conference on Advanced Systems and Emergent Technologies (IC_ASET)

phase fault at bus 14 and the total even load increase by 25%,
without any modification to the network configuration. We
will connect SVC at bus 9 and UPFC between the two buses 1
and 2. Power dimension of SVC is ± 60 MVAR. UPFC sized
to ± 200 MVAR.
Here are the results characterizing the evolution of
electrical network during transient state with and without the
addition of FACTS.
1) First Scenario: Three-phase fault at bus 14:
Consider the disturbance with a bolted three-phase fault
during 100ms at bus 14. A direct short circuit in the system
may cause the voltage drop that can continue until reaching
the minimum permissible. On fault clearance, voltage returns
to its initial value after a few well damped oscillations. Fig. 5
depicts the temporal evolution of voltage at bus 2. Despite the
presence of SVC, the voltage at bus 2 has a slight
improvement which is due to its location. However, with
UPFC the evolution of voltage magnitude is well damped.

Fig.6. Temporal evolution of power generated by machine G1 with and

without FACTS

Fig.5. Voltage magnitude at bus 2 with and without FACTS.

In the same fault scenario, we followed the temporal
evolution of the power generated by two machines G1 and
G2. The peak of electrical power for G1 and G2 is
respectively about 0.5pu and 0.9pu following fault clearance.
The integration of UPFC has highly enhanced the damping
of power oscillation compared to the action of SVC. Fig. 6
and Fig. 7 illustrate this improvement in power oscillations.
Fig.7. Temporal evolution of power generated by machine G2 with and
without FACTS
This scenario may also confirm the inefficiency of SVC
action to improving the voltage profile at bus 14. With UPFC,
the system exhibits an improvement for the evolution of
voltage. Thus, a desired stable voltage profile was obtained
compared to the action of SVC. Fig. 8 displays the voltage at
bus 14 where we applied short circuit.
Therefore, these simulation results show that an effective
damping of oscillations was achieved with the presence of
UPFC.

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 2020 4th International Conference on Advanced Systems and Emergent Technologies (IC_ASET)
Fig.8. Voltage magnitude at bus 14 with and without FACTS
2) Second Scenario: 25%-Load increase on the system:
Based on the results obtained from the short circuit at bus 14,
we simulate the 25% even increase. Fig. 9 illustrates the
temporal evolution of voltages at bus 1 with and without
FACTS. When the load increases, a considerable voltage drop
took place at different buses. For instance, the voltage at node
9 will drop from 0. 04pu and regain a value of 0.935pu
without the presence of FACTS. The system presents the same
voltage profile even with the presence of SVC. According to
the integration of UPFC, the voltage reaches the value of
0.98pu with good damping of the oscillations. Furthermore, it
is difficult to improve network stability in the presence of a
single SVC. It has been observed that the system with UPFC
is the better. The UPFC, independently, controls the voltage,
the real and reactive power of the network.
Finally, we note that when the fault is cleared, SVC action
is not very significant for stability improvement and
oscillations damping. Nevertheless, the UPFC achieves an
effective damping.
Fig.9. Voltage magnitude at bus 1 with and without FACTS
IV. CONCLUSION
A voltage stability improvement using FACTS devices
such as the UPFC and SVC has been proposed in this paper.
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The behaviour of IEEE 14-bus system during different
disturbances is analyzed. A comparative study that focuses on
the merits and demerits, of the devices, to assess their
contribution is performed. The simulation results have
revealed an inefficient action of SVC to maintaining voltage
stability. Therefore, we confirmed that UPFC device provides
a better and robust solution for rapidly enhancing the
reliability of power system. The proposed method is suitable
for a high-dimensional and practical power system.
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