Series compensators: Application considerations and automated solutions for congestion management

Abstract

Existing power grid infrastructure is highly complex owed to huge interconnections of the network. Effective management of loop flows and congestion is one of the primary challenges posed to the utilities. To improve grid utilization and relieve congestion, series compensators are incorporated in transmission lines. High cost, sizing, operating region and effort in switching concerns have limited their deployment in these applications. The concept of transformation ratio based series compensation is proposed as a means to eliminate these obstructions. The series capacitors integrated across transformer of appropriate turns' ratio affords the desired power flow control on the transmission system. This materializes due to change in effective line reactance. Cost effective, automated series compensation is experimented on a 2-bus system and the proposed concept is validated.