Comparative analysis of two static var compensator models in voltage control of transmission network

Abstract

The static var compensator (SVC) is a member of the family of flexible alternating current transmission systems controllers used in power system engineering to manage specific transmission network characteristics to enhance the performance of the transmission networks and thus increase the networks’ reliability. Power system engineers typically find it difficult to choose which SVC model to implement for simulations. This research aims to address this issue by conducting a comparative examination of two key SVC models on a transmission network. The two models of SVC variable shunt susceptance and firing angle were mathematically modeled and methodically included into the Newton-Raphson power flow algorithm for the network power flow solution. The IEEE 30-bus network was adopted as the test case, and the method was implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The network performance metric utilized was the voltage profile of the network. The two SVC models were successful in enhancing the network's performance; however, the variable shunt susceptance model was computationally faster than the firing angle model, as revealed by the simulation results. Therefore, among the two SVC models, the variable shunt susceptance model may be taken into account for simulation to enhance the performance of the transmission networks.