COMPARISION OF VARIOUS FACTS DEVICES: A REVIEW

Heena Manhas1, Ramanpreet kaur2, Mamta Thakur3

M-Tech student1, DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab
M-Tech student2, DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab
M-Tech student3, DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab

ABSTRACT: Presently power system

is operatedwith high stress level conditions
unforeseen at the moment they were
designed. These operating conditions have
negatively
impacted
reliability,
controllability and security margins. Facts
devices have emerged as solutions to help
power systems to increase the stability
margins. Facts devices mainly used for
controlling the active and reactive power
flows in a transmission line. Flexible
Devices are used to control the phase
angle, voltage and impedance of high
voltage ac lines. By using facts devices
maximum benefits of transmission system
can be managed .This paper presents
review of comparisons of different facts
devices i.e STATCOM,TCSC,UPFC in
power system and their benefits for
transmission in electrical power system.

KEYWORDS:

Flexible
AC
transmissionsystem(FACTS),
Thyristor
controlled series capacitors (TCSC),
STATCOM,
Unified
power
flow
controller(UPFC).

I.
INTRODUCTION
In the last two decades, power demand has
increased substantially while the expansion
of power generation and transmission has
been severely limited due to limited
resources and environmental restrictions.
As a consequence, some transmission lines
are heavily loaded andthe system stability
becomes a power transfer-limiting factor.
The development of the modern power
system has led to an increasing complexity
in the study of power systems, and also
presents new challenges to power system
stability, and in particular, to the aspects of
transient stability and small-signal
stability. Transient stability control plays a
significant role in ensuring the stable
operation of power systems in the event of
large disturbances and faults, and is thus a
significant area of research
Now, more advanced technology is used
for reliable andoperation of transmission
and
distribution
in
power
system[1].Improved utilization of the
existing power system is provided through
the application of advanced control
technologies.Power
electronics
has
developed the flexible AC transmission
system (FACTS) devices. FACTS devices

are effective and capable of increasing the

power transfer capability of a line and
support the power system to work with
comfortable margins of stability[2]-[4].
According to IEEE the definition of these
devices is defined as alternating current
transmission system and other power
electronics controllers to improve the
control and increase the capacity of power
transfer.
. The static Compensator (STATCOM) is a
shunt connected device that is able to
provide reactive power support at a
network location far away from the
generators. Through this reactive power
injection, the STATCOM can regulate the
voltage at theconnection node.
Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor
(TCSC) is one of the important members
of FACTS family that is increasingly
applied with long transmission lines by the
utilities in modern power systems. It can
have various roles in the operation and
control of power systems, such as
scheduling power flow; decreasing
unsymmetrical components; reducing net
loss; providing voltage support; limiting
short-circuit
currents;
mitigating
subsynchronous
resonance
(SSR);
damping the power oscillation;and
enhancing transient stability[5]-[7].
Among the available FACTS devices, the
Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is
the most versatile one that canbe used to
improve steady state stability, dynamic
stability and transient stability .The UPFC
can
independently
control
many
parameters since it is the combination of
Static
Synchronous
Compensator
(STATCOM) and SSSC. These devices
offer an alternative mean to mitigate power
system oscillations. It has been reported in
many
papers
that
UPFC

canimprovestability of single machine

infinite bus (SMIB) system and
multimachinesystem[8]-[9].
II.

COMPARISON OF
FACTS DEVICES

A. Static Synchronous
(STATCOM)

VARIOUS

Compensator

STATCOMs are GTO (gate turn-off type

thyristor) based SVCs(in Static Var
Compensators).STATCOM is a shunt
connected device, which controls the
voltage at the connected bus to the
reference value by adjusting voltage and
angle
of
internalvoltage
source.
STATCOM is a static synchronous
generator operated as a static VAR
compensator which can inject lagging or
leading Var into the system. STATCOM
have several advantages. It has no rotating
parts, very fast in response, requires less
space as bulky passive components are
eliminated, inherently modular and
relocate-able, less maintenance and no
problem as loss of synchronism [10].
A static synchronous compensator
(STATCOM) is a variable device used on
alternating current electricity transmission
networks. It is made on a power
electronics voltage-source converter and
can fit as either a source or sink of reactive
AC power to an electricity network. If
related to a source of power it can also
deliver active AC power. Usually a
STATCOM is connected to support
electricity networks that have a poor power
factor and often poor voltage regulation.
There are however, other uses, the most
common use is for voltage stability.

B.Thyristor
Controlled
Compensators (TCSC)

Series

A TCSC is a capacitive reactance

compensator, which comprises of a series
capacitor bank shunted by a thyristor
controlled reactor in order to deliver a
smoothly
variable
seriescapacitive
reactance. TCSC is the type of series
compensator. TCSC is an extension of
conventional series capacitors but only
accumulation
of
thyristor-controlled
reactor with it .Connecting a reactance in
parallel with a series capacitor enables a
continuous and rapidly variable series
compensation system.
The principle of TCSC is to compensate
the transmission line in order to regulate
the line impedance, increase load ability,
and prevent the voltage collapse.The
characteristic of the TCSC depends on the
relative reactance of the capacitor bank
and thyristor branch.

converter. The shunt converter of

the UPFC controls the UPFC bus
voltage/shunt reactive power and
the dc-link voltage. The series
converterof the UPFC controls the
transmission-line
real/reactive
power flow by injecting a series
voltage
controllable
both
in
magnitude and phase angle. The
interaction between the seriesinjected
voltage
and
the
transmission-line current leads to
real
and
reactive
power
exchangebetween
the
series
converter
and
the
power
system[11].
The
parallel
converter provides the amount of
real power required by the series
converter plus the losses of the
UPFC conversionsystem.

C. Unified power flow controller

Table

The unified power-flow controller

(UPFC) is the most inclusive
multivariableflexible
ac
transmission (FACTS) device. It is
able to control, simultaneously or
selectively, all of the parameters
distressing power flow in the
transmission line (i.e., voltage,
impedance, and phase angle).
Alternatively, it can autonomously
control both real and reactive
power flow in the transmission
line. A UPFC comprises of two
voltage-source integrated (VSI)
converters, which are connected
back to back through a dc link.
One serves as a series converter
and the other serves as a shunt

FACTS Devices for Power System

Comparison

between

Stability Enhancement [12]

FACT DEVICES
Power
system

STATCOM
stability YES

enhancement
Load flow control
Voltage control
Transient stability
Dynamic stability

+
+++
++
++

Where: - Good +, Better ++, Best +++

III.

CONCLUSION

The essential features of FACTS

controllers and their potential to improve
system stability is the prime concern for
effective & economic operation of the
power system. From table1 itis found that
the performance of the UPFC is higher for
power system stability improvement is
compared with the otherFACTS devices
such as STATCOM and TCSC
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