Distributed Power and FACTS

Static Shunt Compensators: SVC and STATCOM

Voltage compensation with a shunt connected device

Consider a lossless transmission system with a shunt connected
compensator at the centre of the transmission line, as shown in
Figure 1. Without compensation we have the following relationships
for the real and reactive power at the receiving and sending line
terminations R and S. Given the ideal situation where the terminals
are at rated voltage

S R
V = = V V
Then
2
sin( )
S R
V
P P
X
o = = (1)
( )
2
1 cos( )
S R
V
Q Q
X
o = = (2)

SM MR
= = I I I (3)









Figure 1 Lossless transmission line with shunt compensation
providing voltage V
M
and current I
M
at the centre


The phasor diagram for the non-compensated transmission line is
as given in Figure 2 .











I
SM
V
M
V
S
jX/2
I
MR
V
R
jX/2
I
M
Imaginary
V
S
jXI

I

/2
/2
V
R
Real
= /2
V
M
Figure 2 Phasor diagram for non-compensated lossless
transmission line
For shunt compensation at the centre of the lossless transmission
line so that centre is at rated voltage. We have a phasor diagram as
given in Figure 3.














Figure 3. Phasor diagram for a compensated lossless
transmission line where the centre and terminals of the
transmission line is at rated voltage


For the compensated transmission line the phasor diagram depicted
in Figure 3. represents the transmission line split into two sections
of impedance jX/2 and wqe have the following relationships

S R M
V = = = V V V
and from (1) and (2)

( )
2
2
sin
2
SM MR
V
P P
X
o
= = (4)

( ) ( )
2
2
1 cos
2
MS MR
V
Q Q
X
o
= = (5)

From Kirchhoffs current law we have

M SM MR
= I I I (6)

The compensator current I
M
is depicted in Figure 3. Notice that the
compensator current is in quadrature with the compensator voltage
(I
M
, V
m
) so that no real power is injected on the system but from
(5) the total reactive power provided by the compensator is
( ) ( )
2
4
1 cos
2
MS MR
V
Q Q Q
X
o
= + = (7)

Imaginary
V
S
jXI
SM
/2

I
MR
/2
/2
V
R
Real
V
M
I
SM
I
M
jXI
MR
/2

Equation (7) can be used to define the MVA rating required for the
compensator. The variation of power transfer with load angle for
the compensated and uncompensated case is given in Figure. 4. By
improving the voltage level at the midpoint of the transmission
system we have also allowed an increase in the transfer of real
power.

P uncompensated
P compensated
Q


Figure 4 variation of real power transferred and compensator
reactive power demand with load angle

If we assume that the total MVA on the transmission line can not
exceed rated MVA (|S|=1) and the terminal voltages are all at rated
voltage (V=1) then

2 2
1
S
P Q + = (8)

2sin( )
2
P
X
o
= (9)

( )
2 1 cos( )
2
S R
Q Q
X
o

= = (10)
Therefore, by combining equations(9) and (10)

2 2
4
2 1 1
4
comp S R S
P X
Q Q Q Q
X
| |
|
= + = =
|
\ .
(11)
Equations (8) and (11) then give

2 2
(1 ) 2
1 1
4
S
S
Q X
Q
X
| |

|
=
|
\ .
(12)
Therefore this gives

4
S
X
Q = (13)
From (11) the rated per unit value of the shunt compensator must then be


2
comp
X
Q = (14)
/2 load angle
4V
2
/X




2V
2
/X


V
2
/X

The above analysis is only valid for transmission between two points
that each have voltage support as can be found on transmission
systems or distribution systems with distributed generation. If the
system is radial with one end terminated with a passive load then
the best location for the shunt compensation is at the load end
rather than the centre where load voltage support can be provided.
Figure 5 shows the ideal arrangement for a radial system.

In order to ensure rated voltage at the load end the compensator
must compensate the load reactive power Q
L
and provide the
transmission reactive power Q
T
as indicated in Figure 5. From
equations (1) and (2) we can write that for rated load voltage (V=1)

( )
2
1
1 1 ( )
S R
Q Q PX
X
= = (8)

Figure 6 shows the relationship between transmitted real power and
transmission reactive power Q
T
necessary for voltage support for
rated voltage. It can be seen that in general the reactive power is a
lot less than the real power so that the shunt controller VA will not
be relatively that large. For transmission lines the thermal limit will
be a lot less than the maximum power of V
2
/X.


E V
I
A
Q
T Q
L
S
A
Source
Load
A B
Z
Figure 5 Shunt compensation on a radial distribution
system
Var
Comp
.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Real Power
R
e
a
c
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r



Figure 6 Relationship between real and reactive transmission
power for good load voltage support for a system impedance
j0.5 pu.
Improved Stability from shunt controllers

Because the shunt controllers improve the systems power
transmission capability this naturally leads to improved voltage and
power stability. Voltage stability is improved because the load
power factor can be improved. The improvement of Power stability
can be seen by considering the improvement in the transient
stability margin shown in figure 7.



P uncompensated
P compensated



Figure 7 Equal are criterion to illustrate improvement of
stability margin for compensated power transmission

Power oscillations can also be damped by controlling the
compensator output. In under-damped power systems minor
disturbances can cause generators to swing around the operating
point (P
m
=P
E
) power. Since the electrical power output from the
machine is affected by the degree of shunt compensation and
2
2
( )
m E
d
f P P
dt
o
= then the shunt controller can be controlled to dampen
the generator swing and hence reduce power swings. Figure 8
illustrates power the application of compensator control to reduce
power swings.




A
1
A
2
A
2
Stability margin
compensated

Stability margin
uncompensated

Load angle
Power


undamped
damped
A
n
g
l
e
time
Q

c
o
m
p
e
n
s
a
t
o
r
undamped
damped
time
P
o
w
e
r



Figure 8 Damping of power swings through compensator
control






FACTS shunt controllers

Shunt controllers are required to maintain synchronous operation
with the ac system under all operating conditions, regulate the bus
voltage and dampen power swings. In the past shunt compensation
has been mainly achieved with shunt reactors comprising capacitor
banks and inductors. In the past 30 years control of these reactors
has either been achieved through simple circuit breaker operation
(switching devices online or off line) or by gate turn-off thyristors.
These devices are collectively known as static var generators (SVG).

Flexible reactive power generation can be achieved through
thyristor switching and the common form of shunt devices is as
depicted in Figure 9.

Figure 7 Conventional Facts controller designs. a) Thyristor controlled reactor
(TCR) b) Thyristor switched capacitor (TSC) c) Fixed capacitor thyristor
controlled reactor (FC-TCR).

The use of thyristor switching gives more flexibility but at the
expense of increased injected harmonics. The capacitor can only be
switched at voltage zeros to limit the current. Both the shunt
inductor and capacitor reactive power is also related to the line
voltage and therefore not completely controllable.

For a bidirectional thyristor valve controlled reactor of inductance L
the fundamental current I
1
is related to the thyristor gate switching
angel and is given by


1
2 1
( ) 1 sin(2 )
V
I
L
o o o
e t t
| |
=
|
\ .
(9)

a) b) c)
which implies the fundamental admittance Y
1
is


1
1 2 1
( ) 1 sin(2 ) Y
L
o o o
e t t
| |
=
|
\ .
(10)
The harmonic currents drawn are given by

2
4 sin cos( ) cos sin( )
( )
( 1)
n
V n n n
I
L n n
o o o o
o
e t


=
`

)
(11)

These characteristics can be seen in figure 8. Note that 3
rd
and 9
th

harmonics are absent in three phase balanced connections (star or
delta) and a 12 puls arrangement eliminates 5
th
and 7
th
harmonics.
0 20 40 60 80 100
0.05
0.1
0.15
3rd
5th
7th
9th
11th
13th
Fundamental/10
Delay angle (deg)
p
u


Figure 8 Amplitude of the harmonic currents drawn by a TCR
against thyristor delay angle.


From figure 8 it can be seen that the relative current harmonics can
be quiet high and as the system impedance usually increases with
frequency (inductive) then the higher harmonics may create
significant system voltage distortion. Filters can be added if
necessary but this will increase the losses.

The fundamental current drawn by a TCR is limited by the
maximum TCR admittance (=0) so that the V-I operating region is
as given in Figure 9.





Figure 9 Operating region for a TCR

Thyristor switched reactors are often used for shunt capacitances
however they are not as flexible as Fixed capacitor thyristor
controlled reactor (FC-TCR) which has more controllability and the
capacitor can be replaced by a harmonic filter with the fundamental
reactance. The operating region for a FC-TCR is as shown in
figure 10.



V
tcr
I
tcr
Y
max

Figure 10 Operating region for a FC-TCR

Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)

Static var compensators (SVC) can only be adjusted via adjustment
of their admittance in a step like manner. By using modern
convertor technology a synchronous shunt device can be used with
far more controllability. The usual static synchronous compensator
arrangement is for a voltage sourced converter to feed a step down
transformer as depicted in Figure 8. By arranging the converter
voltage to be in phase with the line voltage reactive power can be
controlled by adjusting the converter voltage amplitude to be either
greater of less than the line voltage as reflected at the transformer
secondary terminals. From considering the pu phasor diagrams
given in Figure 9 it can be seen that if the converter voltage is
greater than the line voltage (as is reflected on the transformer
secondary circuit) then the compensator acts as a reactive power
source (capacitor) and if the converter voltage is less than the line
voltage (as is reflected on the secondary circuit of the step down
transformer) then the compensator acts as a reactive power load
(inductor) as.
L
jX

=
0
V V
I (12)

V
I
C
I
L
Y
Lmax
Y
Cmax


Figure 11 Typical STATCOM arrangement using a voltage
sourced convertor



Figure 12. pu phasor diagrams for different STATCOM
conditions. a) converter voltage and line voltage identical
giving no injected current b) converter voltage greater than
line voltage creating a leading current c) converter voltage
less than the line voltage creating a lagging current.


STATCOM is a far more flexible device and the operating region is
limited only by its maximum VA. The operating region of a
controller Voltage
sourced
converter
settings
busbar
Step down transformer
with leakage reactance X
L
potential
transformer
I V
V
0
V
V
0
V = V
0
, I = 0
a)
V
V
0
jX
L
I
I
Leading I capacitor
b)
V
V
0
jX
L
I
Lagging I inductor
c)
I
STATCOM is as shown in figure 13. These devices are very fast
acting with negligible delay.





Figure 10 Operating region for a STATCOM



Because the STATCOM can provide rated current I
0
for all voltage
levels as apposed to SVC which are limited by maximum reactance
Y
max
the STATCOM of comparable rating will provide an increased
stability margin for power swings. This can be seen by comparing
the transmitted power verses load angle of the STATCOM and SVC
located at the midpoint of a transmission line as shown in Figure 1.
Up until the rated current of the devices is exceeded both devices
will behave ideally. For the STATCOM the maximum current will be
limited to I
0
thus by considering the real and reactive power into the
mid point gives

( )
2
cos
2
2
2
m s m
m o
V V V
V I
jQ
X
o

= = (13)
Then

( )
0
cos
2
4
s
m
V
V I
X X
o
= + (14)

Hence
( )
( )
( )
2
0
2 sin sin
sin
2 2
2
S m S
S
V V I V
V
P
X X
o o
o
= = + (15)

V
I
C
I
L
Y
Lmax
Y
Cmax
For the SVC the maximum admittance will be limited to Y
max
thus by
considering the real and reactive power into the mid point gives

( )
2
2
max
cos
2
2
2
m s m
m
V V V
V Y
jQ
X
o

= = (16)
Then

( )
max
cos
2
1
4
s
m
V
V
Y X
o
=

(17)

Hence
( )
( )
2
max
2 sin
sin
2
1
4
S m
S
V V
V
P
Y X X
X
o
o
= =
(

(

(18)


The performance of STACOM and SVC shunt compensators of 1 pu
rating are compared in figure 11.

P uncompensated
P compensated
P STATCOM
P SVC


Figure 11 variation of real power transferred for SVC and
STATCOM compensators of 1 pu rating with load angle



2V
2
/X





V
2
/X



/2 load angle