The Impact of Unified Power Flow Controller in Power Flow Regulation

As the latest generation of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices, the unified power flow controller (UPFC) has comprehensive control capability and has played an important role in modern power systems. Research on UPFC steady-state power flow regulation capability is valuable for the design and operation of UPFC projects. To analyze the UPFC regulation capability, in this paper, the interaction between the UPFC and the external system is studied and the key factors of UPFC regulation capability are analyzed. It is demonstrated that the changes in the voltage magnitude and phase angle difference of UPFC-embedded line terminals will hinder the UPFC from regulating the power flow and decrease the UPFC regulation capability. Therefore, the UPFC power flow regulation capability is not only related to the parameters of the UPFC and its installation line, but also related to grid parameters. To analyze the UPFC active power flow regulation capability in practical power grids, the relationship between the UPFC regulation capability and grid parameters is deduced, and an estimation method is proposed to calculate the regulation range. Then, the estimation method is applied in the Chuxiong Power Grid and compared with power flow calculations. The results verify the UPFC power flow regulation characteristics given by the analysis and the effectiveness of the estimation method. Besides, it is shown that the estimation method can lower the requirements for the power flow calculation program, and reduce computation load.

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THE IMPACT OF THE UNIFIED POWER FLOW CONTROLLER ON MAXIMIZATION OF LOADABILITY OF ELECTRIC POWER GRID

Journal of Engineering Studies and Research ◽

10.29081/jesr.v26i4.231 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 14-26

Author(s):

SUNDAY ADETONA ◽

RAIFU SALAWU ◽

FRANK OKAFOR ◽

JOSEPH ADEYEMI

Keyword(s):

Power Flow ◽

Stability Index ◽

Unified Power Flow Controller ◽

Transmission Network ◽

Test Bed ◽

Control Series ◽

Bee Colony ◽

Flow Controller ◽

The Impact ◽

Power Flow Controller

The building of additional transmission network to meet the demand of the ever-increasing load is expensive, and time consuming. An alternative to constructing new lines is the incorporation of the Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS); in which a Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is a member of the ménage, which can be modelled as a combination of Static Var Compensator and Thyristor Control Series Compensator. This study determines the optimal location of the UPFC by randomly adding loads to the existing transmission network until the Fast Voltage Stability Index of one of the lines is at a critical point. This is the vital line in which UPFC components are added. The sizing of the components of the UPFC is determined using Artificial Bee Colony algorithm. The IEEE 30-bus network is exploited as the test bed. The results obtained reveal that the optimal positioning and sizing of the UPFC for the purpose of maximizing loadability of the grid when load angles are assumed to be negligible are the same as when the load angles are considered. The loadability of the test bed when UPFC is not injected in the grid is 440.376 MW, whereas, it is 837.915 MW when the UPFC is optimally located and sized; and this represents 90.27 %. The sizes of the shunt and series components of the UPFC that assist in realizing this maximization are -0.2780 pu and 0.1000 pu respectively.

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