Optimal Reactive Power Compensation in Electric Transmission Line using STATCOM

Abstract

The increased electric power consumption causes transmission lines to be driven close to or even beyond their transfer capacities resulting in overloaded lines and congestions. FACTS devices provide an opportunity to resolve congestions by controlling active and reactive power flows as well as voltages. FACTS devices can be connected to a transmission line in various ways, such as in series, shunt, or a combination of series and shunt. Shunt FACTS devices are used for controlling transmission voltages, power flow, reducing reactive losses, and damping of power system oscillations for high power transfer levels. The SVC and STATCOM are two important shunt FACTS devices. In this paper the optimal location of STATCOM for reactive power compensation in electric transmission line to control power flows is investigated. The reactive power compensation of the STATCOM is studied with three different locations in the transmission line. The STATCOM is located at the receiving end, middle and at 2/3 distance from the sending end of the transmission line. The MATLAB simulation results show the relative performance. Keywords - electric transmission line, FACTS devices, reactive power compensation, static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), shunt FACTS devices.