A Comparative Analisys of FACTS Devices

Implemented in the Romanian Power System

D. GU, G. IORDACHE (PRESAD), I. M.
DRAGOMIR
National Dispatch Center
Transelectrica
Bucharest, Romania
daniela.gusa@transelectrica.ro
AbstractThe paper describes the dynamic behavior of
STATCOM device and a SVC device connected in the National
Grid and shows simulation results. The operation principle of the
two devices will be presented. The simulations were made using
specialized software Eurostag . Various operation scenarios were
simulated in order to show the impact on the transmission power
grid.

S. St. ILIESCU
Automatic Control and Industrial Informatics Department
University Politehnica of Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania
iliescu@shiva.pub.ro

transmission grid; therefore, the existing power grids must be

efficiently operated in order to satisfy this new demands.
The energy balance below (see Fig. 2) displays the
relationship between demand and supply as observed in 2013.

KeywordsSTATCOM, Shunt VAr Compensator, Electric

Power System, Eurostag wind power plant

I. INTRODUCTION
To maintain the power system in a normal and safe
operational state a permanent monitoring of the power system
is necessary. The unpredictable operation of equipment,
variable operation of renewable sources and the dynamic
character of the load are challenges that dispatchers have to
deal with every day.
The latest reports indicate that the installed capacity in
renewable sources was growing more and more every year and
a high percentage of the demand is provided by these sources.
According to ENTSO-E Yearly Statistics & Adequacy
Retrospect 2013 report [1] the generation in renewable energy
sources (RES), which comprise wind, solar, biomass
(including biogas for some countries), renewable hydro and
other renewables, has increased from 878 TWh in 2012 to 983
TWh in 2013 (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Generation category evolution [1]

Furthermore, the physical flows between different

countries is increasing, so more and more stress is put on the

978-1-4673-8692-0/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE

Fig. 2. Energy balance in 2013 [1]

Flexible Alternative Current Transmission System

(FACTS) devices offer the possibility to optimize the power
transmission capacity and give an almost instantaneously
response to stability problems. FACTS can improve the
usability of existing transport systems, control power flow and
compensate the reactive power leading to a safe operation of
the power systems.
FACTS devices have the capability to adjust the system
parameters: current, voltage, phase angle and line impedance.
The possibility of controlling the power flow on a
transmission line offers a large potential to increase the
capacity of existing lines and this way additional costs or
environmental impact of enlargement of the power systems
can be avoided [2].
In this paper two of such devices will be analyzed (a
STATCOM and a SVC) in order to show their capabilities to
regulate voltage, reactive power flow and dynamic response
after two events that occur in the studied network. The first
event consists of tripping a power line shifting the load onto
another line, and in the other event an increase of active and
reactive power load is simulated in the node where the FACTS
device is connected. The analysis of their response time and
stabilized parameter values was made using the Eurostag
software.

II. SVC MODEL AND CHARACTERISTIC

A Static VAr Compensator, or SVC in short, is, according
to IEEE-CIGRE, a static VAr generator whose output is varied
to exchange capacitive or inductive current so as to maintain
or control specific parameters of the electric power system,
typically bus voltages [3].
As its name implies, the SVC is basically a synchronous
condenser without any moving parts. When the voltage at the
connection point of the device is low, the SVC generates
reactive power; in opposite, when the voltage is high, the SVC
behaves like a reactor and absorbs reactive power. The
exchange of reactive power with the power grid is made
possible by switching three-phase capacitor banks and by
controlling inductor banks connected to the secondary
windings of the coupling transformer.

The linear control domain. The device has the

necessary resources to provide the required reactive
power, Q, for bus voltage control. The linear control
domain is limited by the maximum reactive power
QCmax supplied by the equivalent capacitive
susceptance BC of the capacitor banks with the reactor
blocked, and by the maximum reactive power QLmax
absorbed by the equivalent inductive susceptance
(BLmax-BC) obtained when all thyristors are in full
conduction state [5]. Thus, the voltage, V, at the
connection point can vary linear between Vmin, which
corresponds to the QCmax capacitive power delivered by
the device, and Vmax, which corresponds to the QLmax
inductive power generated by the SVC.

The operation scheme of the SVC is presented in Fig. 3

[5]. It can be seen that the components of a static VAr
compensator are:

The high voltages domain. In this case the static

compensator cannot provide enough inductive power to
maintain the voltage between Vmin and Vmax. Hence, it
will behave as an inductive susceptance, and absorb the
reactive power given by (BLmax-BC)V2.

A thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR). This provides a

continuous variable inductance between L=0 (this
corresponds to the case where the thyristors are not in
the conduction state) and the maximum value L=max
(when the thyristors are in full conduction state);

The low voltages domain. This case corresponds to

very low voltage levels at the SVCs connection point,
which forces the device to behave as a capacitive
susceptance and generate the maximum reactive power,
QCmax, to the system [5].

Several thyristor-switched capacitors (TSCs), which

can activate the capacitive compensation in order to
satisfy the needed reactive power. The TSCs and TCR
are used together in order to obtain continuous control
within the control range between maximum capacitive
and maximum inductive reactance;[5]

The applications of the SVC mainly involve the

compensation of reactive power in order to maintain the
voltage at the connection point in certain limits, as well as to
improve the active power flow on a transmission line. This is
especially useful in case of contingencies in order to
maintain the active power flow through the grid, the
compensators reactive power is modified [2]. The SVC can
also improve the performance of the power system in other
ways, such as: reduces power losses in transmission lines,
improves the transport capability of transmission lines,
contributes to power and voltage oscillations damping, and
enhances voltage and stability control.[5]

Fixed filters, used for low-order harmonics filtering

produced by the operation of the TCR. These filters
also contribute to the fundamental frequency. At the
same time, the capacitors contained in the filters also
contribute in reactive power production of the SVC
device;[5]
A voltage regulator or controller, which, based on the
voltage measurements at the connection point,
determines the reactive power output of the device [4].
HV node from the power network
V

Values
measured
from the
power
network
Controller

Filters

Vref

III. THE STATIC SYNCHRONOUS COMPENSATOR STATCOM

The Static Synchronous Compensator STATCOM is a
FACTS device able to exchange reactive power with the
electric grid in both directions, either by generating or
absorbing. The device is equivalent to an ideal synchronous
generator because it can produce an ensemble of three-phase
fundamental frequency sinusoidal voltages [5]. STATCOM,
due to the advanced power electronics it contains, is able to
provide a very fast control of the three-phase network voltages
at the connection point in both amplitude and phase angle [3].
The basic structure of a STATCOM is presented in Fig. 4
and consists of a Voltage Source Converter (VSC) connected
to the grid through a transformer and a command and control
unit.

TCR
TSC

Fig. 3. The simplified scheme of a SVC [5]

The steady-state operation of a SVC comprises three

control areas as follows:

The main component of a STATCOM is the VSC, whose

basic principle is to generate an AC voltage from a DC voltage
source (usually a capacitor) with the help of a series of valves
consisting of gate turn-off thyristors and antiparallel diodes.

The working principle of the device consists in

maintaining a capacitor charged at a DC voltage, Vdc, and
generating, with the help of a converter, an AC voltage, V0, in
phase with the network voltage V. The voltage difference
between the grid and the terminals of the VSC is applied to the
terminals of the inductive reactance XT of the connection
transformer, producing a reactive current flow. The amplitude
and polarity of the voltage drop over the XT reactance
determines the amplitude and phase shift of the reactive
current with regard to the grids voltage. Thus, STATCOM
will be seen by the electric grid as a reactive element with
variable reactive current.[5]
AC power line
V
XT
V0

GTO
Diode

V0

Vdc

Vdc

Fig. 4. The scheme of a STATCOM [5]

Fig. 5 depicts the V-I characteristic of a STATCOM. It can

be noticed that, independent on the grid voltage, STATCOM
can generate both inductive and capacitive currents. The
device can generate maximum capacitive current for any value
of the grids voltage, practically even for a zero value, which
is a significant difference compared to a SVC device where
the current drops linearly with the drop in the grids voltage.
V [p.u.]

Overvoltage
protection

Vrated

Vmax

As seen from the grid, SVC is a controllable reactance

and its reactive power output varies with the square of
the voltage from the terminals. As opposed with that,
STATCOM is capable to provide constant reactive
current in the majority of operating area and its reactive
power output is linearly dependent to the voltage at the
connection terminals;
The maximum reactive current provided by
STATCOM is constant while the SVCs one is linearly
dependent on the voltage;
The transient behavior of STATCOM is different than
that of a SVC. The static synchronous compensator can
increase, for limited periods of time, the value of the
capacitive or inductive current accordingly to the
temperature of the semiconductors junctions. For a
SVC the maximum current is determined strictly by the
value of the admittance and the AC voltage of the grid;
hence, the device is not able to have transient
characteristics higher than those it has in steady state.
Unlike an SVC, a STATCOM cannot produce
resonance phenomenon with the grid because it has no
capacitive elements connected directly to the AC
voltage.
STATCOM devices can be used in power systems for a
wide range of applications such as: fast voltage control and
maintaining voltage levels of a bus or an area, flicker
compensation, improvement of the grid's transmission
capability, improvement of static and transient stability
reserve, and oscillations damping [5].
IV. CASE STUDY
An analysis to verify the behavior of an electric grid was
made on a 110 kV grid with 45 nodes using the Eurostag 4.5
software.

Vref,max
1.0

Vmin

Inductive
domain

0.8
0.6

Capacitive
domain

0.4
0.2

IC,nom
IC,max

Minimum
voltage
protection

Vmin,serv
IL,nom
IL,max

Fig. 5. The V-I characteristic of the STATCOM [5]

Several differences arise when comparing STATCOM and

SVC. Following is a list of the main advantages STATCOM
has [3,5]:
STATCOM is faster, as the switching frequency is
higher;

Fig. 6. The studied electric grid

The grid used in simulations is a part of the 110 kV

electric grid from the Romanian power system. A wind power
plant was implemented at the node 20 and on nodes 34, 35, 36,
37 other 4 classical power plants, generators are connected.
Also, in the grid two FACTS devices, a SVC and a
STATCOM, have been implemented, by turn, in node 41.
In Eurostag software the parameters for basic power flow
and dynamic simulation are written in two different files,
allowing the loading of the two configurations, one with the
SVC and the other with the STACOM, on the same topology
to be done with great ease [6].
The SVC had a total reactive power of 100 MVAr (60
MVAr capacitive, 40 MVAr inductive), and the STATCOM
had a 100 MVAr reactive power also.
In this paper two scenarios have been simulated: Scenario
S1 a short-circuit on line Nod_38Nod_41, and Scenario S2
at t=5 seconds a load increase of 30MW and 15MVAr is
simulated in node 42.
A. Scenario S1
At t=1 s, a short-circuit appears on line Nod_38-Nod_41.
At t=1.1 s, the line is disconnected from node 38 and at t=1.11
s, is disconnected from node 41. The results are shown in the
following graphs.

Mvar

20

10

-0

-10

-20

a .

-30

-40

-50

-60

1
[S1] MACHINE : SVS

REACTIVE POWER Unit : Mvar

Mvar
-0

-20

-40

-60

b .

-80

-100

-120

-140

[S1] MACHINE : ISTATC1 REACTIVE POWER Unit : Mvar

kV
120
115

Fig. 8. Device response - event sequence (a) with SVC and (b) with
STATCOM

110
105
100

Mvar

95
90

50

85

40

a .

80
75

30

20

70

10

65

-0

a .

60
-10

55
-20

50
-30

45
-40

10

12

14

s
-50

[S1] VOLTAGE AT NODE : NOD_42 Unit : kV

-60

kV
-70

135

s
3

[S1] REACT. POWER : LINE NOD_42 -NOD_43 -1 Unit : Mvar

130
Mvar

125

140

120
120

115
110

100

105
80

100
95

60

90

b .

85

40

b .

80
20

75
70

-0

65
-20

60
55

-40

50
-60

45
0

10

12

14

s
3

[S1] REACT. POWER : LINE NOD_42 -NOD_43 -1 Unit : Mvar

[S1] VOLTAGE AT NODE : NOD_42 Unit : kV

Fig. 7. Voltage at Nod_42 - event sequence (a) with SVC and (b) with
STATCOM

Fig. 9. Reactive power on line Nod_42-Nod_43- event sequence (a) with

SVC and (b) with STATCOM

B. Scenario S2
At t=5 seconds a load increase of 30MW and 15MVAr is
simulated in node 42. The effect of this change can be seen in
the following graphs.

kV
0.6970

0.6965

0.6960

kV

0.6955

100.5

0.6950
100.0

0.6945

99.5

a .

99.0

0.6940
98.5

0.6935

98.0
97.5

0.6930

a .

97.0

0.6925

96.5
96.0

0.6920
0

95.5

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : R_WV

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : S_WV

95.0
94.5

10

Unit : kV
Unit : kV

kV

94.0
93.5
0

10

0.6975

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : NOD_42 Unit : kV

0.6970
kV

0.6965

100.5

0.6960

100.0

0.6955

99.5

0.6950

b .

99.0

0.6945

98.5

0.6940

98.0
97.5

0.6935

b .

97.0

0.6930

96.5

0.6925

96.0
95.5

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : R_WV

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : S_WV

95.0

10

Unit : kV
Unit : kV

94.5
94.0
93.5

10

[S2] VOLTAGE AT NODE : NOD_42 Unit : kV

Fig. 12. Voltage at the wind power plant terminal - event sequence (a) with
SVC and (b) with STATCOM

Fig. 10. Voltage at Nod_42 - event sequence (a) with SVC and (b) with
STATCOM

Mvar

Mvar

-0

-0

In this paper a dynamic analysis was made in order to

verify the behavior of an electric grid using FACTS devices.
The grid used in simulations is a part of the 110 kV electric
grid from the Romanian power system and includes a SVC
device, and a STATCOM device. All the simulations were
made using the Eurostag 4.5 software.

-2

-5

-4

-6

-10

-8

The models for the FACTS devices and also for the wind
power plant were implemented by the authors in Eurostag 4.5
software since they do not exist in the softwares library.

-10

-15

-12

V. CONCLUSIONS

-14

-20

-16

-18

-25

-20

-22

-30

-24
0

2
[S2] MACHINE : SVS

REACTIVE POWER Unit : Mvar

a.

10

10

[S2] MACHINE : ISTATC1 REACTIVE POWER Unit : Mvar

b.

Fig. 11. Device response - event sequence (a) with SVC and (b) with
STATCOM

After the simulations, it can be said that in the described

scenarios both the SVC and the STATCOM reacted towards
stabilizing the voltage close to the nominal Vref=400 kV value,
by injecting reactive power, the SVC connecting the capacitor
and the STACTOM by modifying the firing angle.
In the first scenario both SVC and STATCOM devices led
to a voltage improvement in the node where they were
installed and also in the neighboring nodes.

In the second scenario it can be seen that the devices have

a fast dynamic response time and reacted towards stabilizing
the voltage close to the nominal value, by injecting reactive
power.
The reactive power stabilizes faster in the STATCOM
scenario confirming that the device has a faster dynamic
response time. Due to their capabilities both devices are
recommended for reactive power compensation. The SVC is a
widely used device with a mature technology, while
STACOM has a faster response time, a smaller size, a better
control method but it is more expensive.
The authors propose this devices for accurate and precise
control in modern and complex power systems.

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[2]

[3]
[4]

[5]
[6]

***, ENTSO-E Yearly Statistics & Adequacy Retrospect 2013 report.

Available
online
at
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Romania, October 5th -8th, 2015 pp. 338-346
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***, Eurostag Manual, 2006