ABSTRACT
Voltage stability challenge in power systems remains one of the major concerns in system planning and operation. The ability of a power system to maintain acceptable voltage levels at all buses in the system under normal operating conditions and during contingencies pose a major headache for power system researchers and practitioners. As power systems become more complex, coupled with environmental concerns, land scarcity and huge capital requirements in doing of new power lines and substations, voltage instability becomes an increasingly serious challenge that requires out of the box solutions. FACTS devices is a group of highly flexible and versatile controllers that regulate active and reactive power flows in real time to enhance system controllability and increase the power transfer capability. The UPFC is one of the most complex and versatile FACTS devices that shall be used in the research.
Proper knowledge of how close the actual system’s operating voltages are from the voltage stability limits is crucial for the optimal placement of FACTS devices. This research uses static methods, namely the Voltage Stability indices for optimal placement of the FACTS devices for security-constrained voltage stability improvement. The research shall be done by the use of Power System Analysis Toolbox (PSAT) software that runs on MATLAB’s environment on the IEEE 39-Bus 10-Generator test system.
