Development of Electromagnetic Transient Simulation Models for Power Quality Analysis of Distribution Systems

Abstract

SUMMARYDue to the rapid spread of renewable energy power sources in recent years, voltage rise problems in distribution systems caused by reverse power flow from these renewable energy power sources especially from photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems are of great concern. To cope with this kind of problems, conventional voltage regulation devices such as load‐ratio transformers in the substation and step voltage regulators (SVRs) on the distribution line are basically used. If their voltage regulation capability is not sufficient, the power conditioning systems of PV power generation systems may be modified so as to supply reactive power and a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) may be applied to the distribution system. Therefore, the coordination of these conventional and new voltage regulation devices is necessary for the design of smarter distribution systems, and electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations of distribution systems with these devices have to be carried out to assess power quality. To this end, the authors have developed EMT simulation models of distribution substations, SVRs and distribution STATCOMs, and they are routinely used for power quality assessment studies. This paper presents these simulation models and a simulation example.