- 176- Power Quality Implications Associated with a Series FACTS Controller
RE. Momson S.B.Tenuakoon
Monash University
Kingdom Clayton, Victoria 3168,Australia
e an increase in power transfer in
related issues such as voltage
S y n c h o w Series Compensator (SSSC),
Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS), power flow control,
harmonic voltage distortion.
I. INTRODUCTION
The need for load flow control to improve utilisation of
power systems has long been recognised [l]. At present
power flow control may be realised by deploying phase shift
and tap changing transformers, which allow steady state
control only due to the slow response of the mechanically
operated tap changing equipment [2], [3]. The application of
dynamically controllable elements in power systems will lead
to increased power system utilisation and more reliable
operation [4]. Moreover with the deregulation of electricity
markets world wide, devices able to control power flow
dynamically, may be applied to realise power transport
contracts (e.g. contract path arrangements [SI).
A new concept, referred to as flexible AC transmission
systems (FACTS), was proposed in the early 1990s to
enhance dynamic control in power systems and to improve
system utilisation [4]. FACTS is based on the application of
high power, power electronic shunt and series devices.
Within the FACTS concept, series devices are effective
dynamic power flow controllers.
The first controllable series devices installed in transmission
systems were thyristor switched series capacitors (TSSC) and
thyristor controlled series capacitors (TCSC) [4], [6], [7], [8].
The TSSC and TCSC rely on passive elements to provide the
reactive power. However inverter b h d devices generate the
reactive power by switching, thus only a small energy storage
element may be needed on the dc side to allow power
exchange during transients.
0-7%3-64G9-6/CO/$lO. 00 2003IEEE
staf€ordshk.university
Stafford ST18 OAD, United Kingdom
A series controller using VSI technology may be considered
as part of the unified power flow controller (UPFC) [3], [6].
If the shunt inverter of the UPFC is replaced by a dc
capacitor, the series device is ]mown as a static synchronous
series compensator (SSSC) [6], [A.
The work presented considers the application of a SSSC to
increase the power transfer capacity of a meshed
transmission network. The paper discusses the effect of the
SSSC on power quality issues, such as voltage variation and
fluctuation, voltage levels and harmonic voltage distortion. It
is shown that depending on the SSSC control strategy load
voltage levels may be adjusted to some degree and the
magnitude of the voltage variation may be changed. It is also
shown, that "reflection" of voltage dips across the
transmission system is influenced by the way the SSSC is
controlled.
Another critical aspect considered in this paper is the
relationship between the level of injected voltage and the
level of harmonic voltage distortion at the load bus bars. The
SSSC may need particular control to avoid variation of
harmonic voltage distortion.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF A SSSC
The SSSC consists of a power electronic inverter connected
to an energy storage element on the dc side. Its ac terminals
are connected in series with a transmission line. With the
appropriate inverter topology the SSSC may inject a voltage
directly into the transmission system. However an injection
transformer is likely to be required not only to isolate the
inverter fiom the high voltage system, but also to adjust the
current and voltage levels to values more convenient for the
power electronic converter.
For an application in a transmission system a SSSC may
require a high power rating (> 50 MVAr). Thus high power
GTO thyristors are needed. In many high power, power
electronic inverters the major component of the operational
losses is caused by switching. Therefore the power
electronic devices are usually limited to one on-off and one
off-on transition per cycle. Consequently instead of
deploying a simple three-phase bridge inverter using pulse
width modulation (PWM) to reduce harmonic distortion, a
more complex multi-pulse inverter is considered here. Multi-
pulse inverters employ a transfomer arrangement coupling

the ac terminals of a number of basic six-pulse inverters to
cancel harmonic voltage components. Fig. 1 shows an
experimental model multi-pulse SSSC, which was used for
the investigation presented in this paper.
1:43 1:43 1:43
- 177
the response of protection systems,
power quality related issues, e.g. voltage fluctuation,
reflection of voltage variation to adjoining systems and
harmonic distortion.
This paper considers the power quality issues.

a) Reactancemode
,-, V w ,-,vsssc. 1
Current Voltage
conaol --+ controlled '

Algorithm SSSC

I Transduca I
b) Cumnt control mode
Fig. 2 Block diagrams of SSSC control systems

m.SYSTEM USED TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF

A SSSC ON POWER QUALITY

Fig. 3 shows the transmission system used to investigate

power quality issues. The three phase transmission lines
were modelled as n-sections with parameters given in table 1.
Transmission lines 2 and 3 have a thermal current limit of 5.0
Fig. 1: 24@e SSSC
pu whilst transmission line 1 has a current limit of 8.0 pu.
The load data are given in table 2. All pu values correspond
A series controller constructed as fig. 1, can neither provide
nor absorb active power during the steady state as the dc to a base voltage of 275 kV and a base power of 100 MVA.
The feeding transmission system has a fault level of 50 pu at
terminals are connected to a capacitor. However, by
changing the firing angle of the inverter the capacitor voltage nominal voltage. It is represented by a constant voltage of
1.085 pu connected to a reactance of 0.02 pu.
can be increased or decreased to control the amplitude and
direction of the injected voltage. Thus a SSSC is basically a
controllable reactive voltage source. R'* L' c' 11 '2 13
Rlan-1 mHlan-' plan-1 lan lan km
With an appropriate control algorithm, a SSSC can be forced 1 0.04 1.0154 0.01162 60 24 38 I
to have the same voltage versus current characteristic as a * For transmission line 1 R' = 0.03 S2 lan-1
capacitor or a reactor. Using the SSSC in so called reactance
mode (X-mode SSSC operation) reduces or increases the Table 2 Load data for the test system
reactance of the power flow path in series with the SSSC. It I I SIDU I PF I
is possible to regulate the current of a transmission line with
a SSSC to a constant level (I-mode SSSC operation) in order
I
Load 1
Load-~2
~.

Load 3
I
I

I
5.96
6.08
1.90
I
I
0.98
0.94
0.93
I1
to redistribute load flow in meshed transmission systems.
Fig. 2 shows the block diagrams of possible control systems
for a SSSC either operating to represent a reactance (fig. 2a) Transm. b a d 1
line 1
or to hold constant the current in a transmission line (fig. 2b).

As a SSSC can be controlled in a very flexible manner, it is

important, not only determine a control strategy, but also to Load 2
Transm. l i e 3 1 -",-1
I
investigate how alternative control strategies may affect
the interaction with other FACTS controllers, automatic
voltage regulators or governor systems, Fig. 3: Transmissionsystem used for power quality studies
- 178-
The transmission system without the SSSC was selected to its thermal limit. Such an operating mode may be of interest
supply loads 1 and 3 only (configuration 1, table 3). Under this in a deregulated electricity market, where power is
load condition line 3 operates at 84 % of its thermal current transferred by contract path [SI.
limit. Due to the addition of load 2 the natural load balance
is disturbed such that line 3 is over loaded and line 1 and line To allow comparison with the uncontrolled system, the
2 'are not fully utilised (table 3, configuration 2). Fluctuation of voltage levels have also been analysed for the system without
load 2 will disturb all system voltages iqcluding those in the SSSC.
adjoining transmissionand distribution systems.
The effect of the SSSC control strategy on the voltage levels
In order to prevent line 3 fiom being over loaded current is at bus-bars 1, 2 and 3 is shown in fig. 4 and fig. 5 for the
routed to line 1 by controlling the SSSC to reduce the medium and maximum load condition (c.f. table 4). Fig. 4
reactance of the current flow path of transmission line 1. The and fig. 5 indicate that the both schemes raise the voltage
harmonic distortion to the load is minimised, if the SSSC is levels and support the load and supply bus bar voltages.
located at the sending end bus bar of the transmission line
(fig- 3)- Table 4: Load conditions
Condition I Loadl ILoad2 I had3
The load flow, after deployment of the SSSC to raise the Min load Ion I off I off
current in transmission line 1 to its thermal rating, is given as Low load on Off on ~

configuration 3 in table 3. Comparison between 'Cod5guration Mediumload On on Off

2' and '-gumtion 3' in table 3 demonstrates the capability Max load on on on
of the SSSC to increase the overall power transfer capacity
and improve the utilisation of the power system. 1

Table 3: Pa"- for various system con6gurations 0.98

I Configuration 1 I Configuration2 I Contigumtion 3 a
:0.96
Loadl Ion IOn Ion >
Load2 off on on 0.94
Load3 on on On
I,;, IDU 3.6 4.99 8.0 0.92

11-1~~ 2.3 0.56 2.53 0.9

1 1 4 1 ~ ~ 4.2 7.62 5.0 Bus Bar 1 Bus Bar 2 Bus Bar 3
Vi. Iuu
* 1.032 0.966 0.977
,0.911 0.933 Fig. 4 Voltage levels at medium load (c.f. table 4)
V2lpu 0.998
1.02
V3lpu 1.005 0.909 0.928
V-lpu 0.0 0.0 0.160

IV. EVALUATION OF THE VOLTAGE LEVELS AND 0.98

VAFUATIONS 3
50.96
>
In order to evaluate the impact of the control mode on 0.94

voltage quality, load flow calculations have been carried out. 0.92
The term voltage quality refers in this section to the effect of
the SSSC on voltage levels and on voltage variation 0.9
following load changes. Bus Bar 1 Bus Bar 2 Bus Bar 3
Fig. 5: Voltage levels at maximum load (c.6 table 4)
Two modes of operation of the SSSC have been considered.
In scheme 1 the SSSC operates in reactance mode @-mode) Variations in load and disturbances due to switching and
where the gain between SSSC voltage and SSSC current is faults in one part of a transmission system may result in
19.78 lo-' pu. This gain causes the current in transmission reflected voltage variation in other parts of the transmission
line 1 to be maintained at the thermal limit with the highest network. The ability of the SSSC to reduce voltage variation
load considered (configuration 3 in table 3). has been analysed.

The second scheme considers the SSSC operating in current The results given in fig. 6, fig. 7 and fig. 8 indicate that the
regulation mode (I-mode) such that the current in line 1 is at distribution systems connected to bus bars 2 and 3 are
subjected to lower voltage variation when the SSSC is
present. Comparison between fig. 6, fig. 7 and fig. 8 also
shows, that when the magnitude of the load changes
increases the I-mode scheme provides a lower voltage
variation at bus-bars 2 and 3 than the %-mode scheme.
However systems connected upstream to bus bar 1 are
subjected to an increased voltage variation if the I-mode
control scheme is applied. Moreover fig. 6, fig. 7 and fig. 8
reveal that the reflection of a voltage dip to the supply
transmission system upstream of bus bar 1 is minimised,
when the SSSC operates in reactance mode. Clearly the
SSSC has a role to play in reduction of voltage fluctuation if
the dynamic control is arranged to be sufficiently fast.
14
no SSSC Xc mode I mode
12
\ I / The results given in fig. 9 to fig. 11 show the harmonic
V. ASSESSMENT OF HARMONIC DISTORTION
An SSSC will always generate some harmonic voltage
distortion. In order to analyse the distortion a three phase
model of the system was implemented on a hardware
simulator. This device uses gapped inductors to represent
system inductance and capacitors to model line capacitance.
The SSSC has been implemented as model 24-pulse inverter
(fig. 1) and controlled by a digital signal processor in current
regulation mode. Bus bar voltage waveforms have been
measured under the load conditions given in table 4 and the
magnitude of each harmonic voltage component has been
derived.
voltage spectra as a percentage of the fundamental frequency
component for the SSSC operating in current control mode
only. The I-mode system gives a more pessimistic scenario
than reactance mode.

Of particular interest is the harmonic voltage distortion

introduced by the 24-pulse SSSC; its voltage spectrum is
shown in fig. 9. The small components in the vicinity of the
Bus Bar 1 Bus Bar 2 Bus Bar 3
12* and 36" harmonics could be eliminated, by using three
Fig. 6 Variation at change 6um max load to medium load (c.f. table 4) phase summing transformers at zig-zag connection at some
cost [9].
14
.no SSSC Xc mode p I mode

12 \ I ,
/ 4
g 3.5
. 3
5 2.5
>
P 2 1.5
1
0.5
0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Order N
Fig. 9: Harmonic spectrum of the SSSC voltage as a percentage of the
Bus Bar 1 Bus Bar 2 Bus Bar 3 fundamentalcomponent
Fig. 7: Variation at change 6um max load to low load (c.f. table 4)
Fig. 10 presents the harmonic voltage spectra at bus bar 2 and
bus bar 3 with the system operating under medium load and
14 ~nosssc ~Xcmode ilmode
maximum load (table 4). Although the voltage of the SSSC
12 I operating in current control mode increases from 0.160 pu to
0.181 pu when load 3 is disconnected, the voltage
magnitudes for most of the harmonic components are
reduced (fig. 10).

Fig. 11 illustrates the harmonic voltage spectra at bus-bars 2

and 3, under low load and maximum load. Compared with
fig. 10, the results shown in fig. 11, indicate a significant
reduction in the voltage magnitudes of the harmonic
Bus Bar 1 Bus Bar 2 Bus Bar 3 components in spite of the increase in the SSSC voltage fiom
0.160 pu for maximum load to 0.239 pu for the low load
Fig. 8: Variation at change h m max load to min load (c.f. table 4)
condition.
- 180 -
The reason for the reduction in voltage distortion with an

‘1 apparent injected voltage increase lies in the transfer

characteristic of the transmission system, which changes with
load. The results given in fig. 10 and fig. 11 reveal that the
harmonic voltages of the SSSC may be magnified between
the point of injection and the load. It is important to
investigate, whether a certain load condition could raise
harmonic voltages.

The ratios Vfl,,,, and V,N,,, have been evaluated directly

10 20 30 40 50 from the model (fig. 12) over a fi-equencyrange covering the
Order N iirst 50 harmonic orders and for the load conditions shown in
a) V,, medium load @right) and max. load (dark), c.f. table 4 table 4. The load has been modelled by R-L-circuitS (fig.
12). This method of modelling the loads minimises the effect
of the reactive power component of the load.

10 20 30 40 50
Order N

b) V,, medium load (bright) and max.load (dark),c.f. table 4 resonant analysis (cf. fig. 3)
Fig. 10: Harmonic voltage specr” at bus bar 2 and 3
Fig. 13 shows the results of the transfer ratio analysis. It can
be seen that there are two regions, where harmonic voltage
components at the load bus bars exceed the level at the SSSC
terminal. Each load condition is marked in fig. 13 by:
o = m a x i ” load, + = medium load, x = low load
The harmonic voltages in the vicinity of the 24* order are
increased, when loads 1,2 and 3 are connected. The second
highest magnification of the SSSC harmonic voltages close
to the 24* order is caused by the configuration with load 3
switched off and load 1 and 2 switched on. It is clear that
10 20 30 40 50
amplification due to resonauce occurs and that the resonant
Order N
frequency is dependent on load.
a) V,, low load (bright) and max. load (dark), c.f. table 4
Standard harmonic penetration studies consider distortion
sources to be parallel current loads where the link between
harmonic current and system voltage is the self and transfer
admittance values. When a system has a resonant
characteristic the self and transfer nodal admittance values
are dependent on the load but to a lessor degree than the
voltage transfer ratios measures here. It is thus important to
model the loads correctly when considering distortion from
series compensators and the simple representation used here
may not be accurate in all circumstances.

Fig. 13 also reveals, that the SSSC harmonic voltages in the

Order N
vicinity of the 12th order are magnified by a factor larger
b) V,, low load (bright) and max. load (dark),c.f. table 4 than 2. Based on this resonant characteristic the use of a 12
Fig. 11: Hamonic voltage spectrum at bus bar 2 and 3
 - 181.
pulse SSSC inverter is likely to lead to a need for harmonic VII. REFERENCES
filters.
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Transactions on Power Delivery,Vol. PWRD 9, No. 3, July 1994,
pp. 1678-1684.
Gyugyi, L.: ‘Dynamic compensation of ac transmission lines by
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Power Deliwry, Vol. 9, No.2, April 1994, pp.904-911.
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2- InternationalConference on AC and DC Power Tnurrmission, 17-
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1 e*+
> c VIII. BIOGRAPHZES
Karl-Heinz Kuypers was born in Kerkcn,
Germany, in 1969. He received the Diplom-
Ingenieur (FH) degree in Eleci~icalEngineering
finm the Fachhochschule Koblenr, Germany, in
1996 and his PhD d ew fium Staf€ordsbire
40 la io is m
Old.rN
U ;o 3. 2a University in 2000. He worked at StatTordshire
Uni-ty as a Research Student and Research
b)V3 1vss.x (bus bar 3) Associate from 1995. In 1999 Karl-Heinz joined
Fig. 1 3 Frequency charactaistic of the power system given in fig. 3 AEA Technology in London as a Systems
Engineer.
VI. CONCLUSION
Professor Bob Morrison was bom in Stoke on
Trent, United Kingdom, in 1951. He received his
The studies described in this paper demonstrate the SSSC as BSc degree and PhD degree fium Staffordshire
a device capable of increasing the power transfer capacity of University, United Kingdom, in 1973 and 1981
a meshed transmission network by redistributing power flow rcspcCtivcly. Professor Morrision worked in
ALSTOM (UK) h m 1973 to 1983 and at
to paths not fully utilised. Staffordshire University fium 1983 to 1997.
Professor Morrison joined Monash University,
Harmonic analyses of voltage waveforms have demonstrated Victoria,Australia, in 1997.
that the harmonic voltage distortion introduced by the SSSC
S. B. Tennakoon (M 1987) was born in Maho, Sri
depends not only on the level of the injected voltage, but also Lanka, on January 18, 1953. He obtained his
on the load connected to the system. As particular load Bachelor, MSc and PhD degrees fium University
configurations may cause a magnification of some harmonic of Sri Lanka, University of Aston and Lancashire
components, it is concluded, that the voltage transfer University respedvely. His research interests are
FACTS, power quality, HVM: and circuit
characteristic of the transmission system should be analysed breakers. Dr Tennakoon is currently Reader in
carefully and that the loads should be correctly modelled. Electrical Engineering at StaEordshireUniversity,
United Kingdom.
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