Modelling a Unified Power Flow Controller for the

Study of Power System Steady state and Dynamic

Characteristics

Djilani Kobibi Y.I, Hadjeri Samir, Zidi Sid Ahmed, Djehaf Mohamed
Intelligent Control and Electrical Power System Laboratory
Djillali Liabes University
Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract— The maintenance and reliability of the power With such a comprehensive control capability, the UPFC
system has become a major aspect of study. The encouragement make it possible to provide real-time control of power flows
to the construction of HV lines, the amount of power within a power system to meet some predefined operating
transmission/km on HV line and the amount of power target or optimal operation performance.
transaction as seen from economic side is much responsible for
concern towards congestion in power system. The solution is the Provided no operating limits are violated, the UPFC
use of FACTS devices especially the use of UPFC. In this paper regulates all three variables simultaneously or any combination
the study of UPFC with its various modes of operation is of them. From the operational point of view, the UPFC may act
understood. Second, the operation of control system used in its as a shunt VAR compensator or as a thyristor controlled series
converters is also studied. Finally Using the UPFC simulation compensator or as a phase-shifter controller. The versatility
model established in SIMULINK, a dynamic simulation tool in afforded by the UPFC makes it a prime contender to provide
MATLAB, take a simple power system with UPFC as an many of the control functions required to solve a wide range of
example. The simulation test has been conducted on a simple dynamic and steady-state problems encountered in electrical
system composed of synchronous generator and infinite capacity power networks [3].
bus, the steady state and transient characteristics of UPFC in this
system are researched. However, with the adoption of UPFCs in power systems
will face new challenges in modeling and solution techniques.
Keywords— FACTS, Power flow control, UPFC, dynamic So it is imperative to make further in-depth study on model of
characteristics. UPFC during steady and dynamic states [2].
Transient stability of electric power systems considers the
I. INTRODUCTION problem of loss of synchronism among synchronous generators
With the major restructuring of the electricity industry, caused by unwanted large disturbances. Therefore use of a
especially the newly development of electrical network suitable control strategy for these conditions is of particular
towards “smart strong grid”, power transmission systems are importance.
being required to increase available transfer capability and to
This paper presents the improvement of the steady state and
become a higher controllability, reliability and stability[1].
the transient stability of power systems using the most flexible
ONE of the most promising network controllers for the FACTS device, i.e., UPFC.
bulk power system is the family of power electronics-based
controllers, known as “flexible AC transmission systems” II. UNIFIED POWER FLOW CONTROLLER
(FACTS) devices. FACTS devices work by modifying power
flow in individual lines of the power grid, maintaining voltage A. Characteristics of UPFC
stability, and damping oscillations. The rapid development of
the power electronics industry has made FACTS devices Line outage, congestion, cascading line tripping, power
increasingly attractive for utility deployment due to their system stability loss are the major issues where capability and
flexibility and ability to effectively control power system utilization of FACTS are noticed. Representative of the last
dynamics. generation of FACTS devices is the Unified Power Flow
Controller (UPFC). The UPFC is a device which can control
The unified power flow controller, or UPFC, is the most simultaneously all three parameters of line power flow (line
versatile of the FACTS devices. The primary function of the impedance, voltage and phase angle). Such "new" FACTS
UPFC is to control the transmission line power flow; the device combines together the features of two "old" FACTS
secondary functions of the UPFC can be voltage control, devices: the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
transient stability improvement, and oscillation damping[2]. and the Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC). In
practice, these two devices are two Voltage Source Converters

978-1-4673-5814-9/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

(VSC’s) connected respectively in shunt with the transmission remaining capacity of the shunt converter can be used to
line through a shunt transformer and in series with the exchange reactive power with the line so to provide a voltage
transmission line through a series transformer, connected to regulation at the connection point. The two VSC’s can work
each other by a common dc link including a storage capacitor. independently of each other by separating the dc side. So in
The shunt inverter is used for voltage regulation at the point of that case, the shunt converter is operating as a STATCOM
connection injecting an opportune reactive power flow into the (Static Synchronous Compensators) that generates or absorbs
line and to balance the real power flow exchanged between the reactive power to regulate the voltage magnitude at the
series converter and the transmission line. The series converter connection point. Instead, the series converter is operating as
can be used to control the real and reactive line power flow SSSC (Static Synchronous series compensators) that generates
inserting an opportune voltage with controllable magnitude and or absorbs reactive power to regulate the current flow, and
phase in series with the transmission line. Thereby, the UPFC hence the power flows on the transmission line.
can fulfill functions of reactive shunt compensation, active and
reactive series compensation and phase shifting. Besides, the C. Operation of UPFC
UPFC allows a secondary but important function such as
The UPFC has many possible operating modes. In
stability control to suppress power system oscillations
particular, the shunt inverter is operating in such a way to inject
improving the transient stability of power system. As the need
for flexible and fast power flow controllers, such as the UPFC, a controllable current, into the transmission line. This current
is expected to grow in the future due to the changes in the consists of two components with respect to the line voltage: the
electricity markets, there is a corresponding need for reliable real or direct component, which is in phase or in opposite phase
and realistic models of these controllers to investigate the with the line voltage, and the reactive or quadrature
impact of them on the performance of the power system component, which is in quadrature. The direct component is
[11][12][13]. automatically determined by the requirement to balance the
real power of the series inverter. The quadrature component,
B. Operation of UPFC instead, can be independently set to any desired reference level
The basic operation principle diagram of the UPFC is (inductive or capacitive) within the capability of the inverter, to
shown in Fig. 1 which is already described in open literature absorb or generate respectively reactive power from the line.
[4]-[ 5]. The shunt inverter can be controlled in two different modes:

The basic components of the UPFC are two voltage source 1) VAR Control mode : The reference input is an inductive
converters (VSCs) sharing a common dc storage capacitor [6], or capacitive VAR request. The shunt inverter control
and connected to the power system through coupling
translates the Var reference into a corresponding shunt current
transformers. One VSI is connected to in shunt to the
transmission system via a shunt transformer, while the other request and adjusts gating of the inverter to establish the
one is connected in series through a series transformer. desired current. For this mode of control a feedback signal
representing the dc bus voltage, Vdc, is also required.
2) Automatic Voltage Control Mode: The shunt inverter
reactive current is automatically regulated to maintain the
transmission line voltage at the point of connection to a
reference value. For this mode of control, voltage feedback
signals are obtained from the sending end bus feeding the
shunt coupling transformer. The series inverter controls the
magnitude and angle of the voltage injected in series with the
line to influence the power flow on the line. The actual value
of the injected voltage can be obtained in several ways.
3) Direct Voltage Injection Mode: The reference inputs
are directly the magnitude and phase angle of the series
Fig 1. UPFC model voltage.
4) Phase Angle Shifter Emulation mode: The reference
The series converter is controlled to inject a symmetrical input is phase displacement between the sending end voltage
three phase voltage system (Vse), of controllable magnitude and and the receiving end voltage.
phase angle in series with the line to control active and reactive 5) Line Impedance Emulation mode: The reference input
power flows on the transmission line. So, this converter will
is an impedance value to insert in series with the line
exchange active and reactive power with the line. The reactive
power is electronically provided by the series converter, and impedance.
the active power is transmitted to the DC terminals. The shunt 6) Automatic Power Flow Control Mode: The reference
converter is operated in such a way as to demand this DC inputs are values of P and Q to maintain on the transmission
terminal power (positive or negative) from the line keeping the line despite system changes.
voltage across the storage capacitor Vdc constant. So, the net
real power absorbed from the line by the UPFC is equal only to
the losses of the converters and their transformers. The
 III. UPFC CONTROL SYSTEM power are compared with reference values to produce P and Q
In order to understand the UPFC Control System the phasor errors. The P error and the Q error are used by two PI
diagram is given in the figure 2and Figure3 below. regulators to compute respectively the Vq and Vd components
of voltage to be synthesized by the VSC. (Vq in quadrature
with V1controls active power and Vd in phase with V1 controls
reactive power).

Fig 2. Single-line Diagram of a UPFC

Fig 4. Simplified Block of the Series Converter Control System[11]

In manual voltage injection mode, regulators are not used.

The reference values of injected voltage Vdref and Vqref are used
Fig 3. Phasor Diagram of Voltages and Currents[10] to synthesize the converter voltage [9].
V2 × V3 sin δ (1)
P=
X IV. THE EFFECT OF UPFC ON POWER SYSTEM
V2 (V2 − V3 cos δ ) (2) UPFC can achieve the target of control the active and
Q=
X reactive power on transmission line, and the active power PSE
This FACTS topology provides much more flexibility than exchanged between the series part of UPFC and system must
the SSSC for controlling the line active and reactive power be provide by the parallel part of UPFC which can absorb
because active power can now be transferred from the shunt power from the transmission line.
converter to the series converter, through the DC bus. Contrary
to the SSSC where the injected voltage Vs is constrained to stay
in quadrature with line current I, the injected voltage Vs can
now have any angle with respect to line current. If the
magnitude of injected voltage Vs is kept constant and if its
phase angle with respect to V1 is varied from 0 to 360 degrees,
the locus described by the end of vector V2 (V2=V1+Vs) is a
circle as shown on the phasor diagram. As is varying, the phase
shift δ between voltages V2 and V3 at the two line ends also
varies. It follows that both the active power P and the reactive
power Q transmitted at one line end can be controlled.
Fig 5. Two-machine system with UPFC (1) equivalent circuit (2) vector
The shunt converter operates as a STATCOM. In summary, relations
the shunt converter controls the AC voltage at its terminals and
the voltage of the DC bus. It uses a dual voltage regulation
From the Fig.5.1, we can see that: the ending power of the
loop: an inner current control loop and an outer loop regulating
line can be expressed as:
AC and DC voltages.
Control of the series branch is different from the SSSC. In a ⎛ . . .
⎞
⎜
.U i + U se − U j ⎟ (3)
SSSC the two degrees of freedom of the series converter are P − jQ = U i
⎜ jX ⎟
used to control the DC voltage and the reactive power. In case ⎝ ⎠
of a UPFC the two degrees of freedom are used to control the
Suppose if the UPFC is installed at the end of transmission
active power and the reactive power. A simplified block
line, according to the vector relations, we can get the active and
diagram of the series converter is shown below Figure 4.
reactive power equations as follows:
The series converter can operate either in power flow
control (automatic mode) or in manual voltage injection mode. U iU j U seU j
P= sin δ + sin(δ + ρ ) (4)
In power control mode, the measured active power and reactive X X
 U iU j U s eU j (5) A UPFC is used to control the power flow in a 500 kV /230
Q = (c o s δ − 1) + co s ( δ + ρ )
X X kV transmission system. The system, connected in a loop
It can be seen from the above equation that when ρ = 90°-δ, configuration, consists essentially of five buses (B1 to B5)
transmission line which the UPFC is installed can obtain the interconnected through three transmission lines (L1, L2, L3)
greatest power, that is to say, at this point Use has the greatest and two 500 kV/230 kV transformer banks Tr1 and Tr2. Two
impact on power flow of the line. make a appropriate power plants located on the 230 kV system generate a total of
transformation of equation (4) and (5),we can obtain the 1500 MW which is transmitted to a 500 kV, 15000 MVA
reactive power and active power equation as follows: equivalent and to a 200 MW load connected at bus B3. Each
plant model includes a speed regulator, an excitation system as
⎛ U iU j ⎞ ⎡
2
U iU j ⎤ ⎛ U seU j ⎞
2 2
(6) well as a power system stabilizer (PSS).
⎜P− sin δ ⎟ + ⎢ Q − (cos δ − 1) ⎥ = ⎜ ⎟
⎝ X ⎠ ⎣ X ⎦ ⎝ X ⎠
VI. SIMULATION RESULTS
Take different values of δ, the reactive power and active
The UPFC located at the right end of line L2 is used to
power curve that on the terminal of the transmission line is
control the active and reactive powers at the 500 kV bus B3, as
shown in Fig.6.
well as the voltage at bus B_UPFC. The UPFC consists of two
100 MVA, IGBT-based, converters (one shunt converter and
one series converter interconnected through a DC bus). We are
considering a contingency case where only two transformers
out of three are available (Tr2= 2*400 MVA = 800 MVA).
Case 1: Initially the Bypass breaker is closed and the
resulting natural power flow at bus B3 is 587 MW and -27
Mvar. The Pref block is programmed with an initial active
power of 5.87 pu corresponding to the natural power flow.
Then, at t=3s, Pref is increased by 1 pu (100 MW), from 5.87
pu to 6.87 pu, while Qref is kept constant at -0.27 pu. Then at
t=7s Qref change from -0.27 to -0.17 pu, Waveforms are
reproduced in figure 8
Fig 6. Reactive power and active power curve for different values of δ.
P and Pref (pu)
From the above we can see that UPFC devices can expands 7
the operating range of the transmission system greatly.
especially when δ = 90°, transmission system has reached the 6.5 P
limit point of stable operation if there is no compensation of Pref
6
UPFC devices, Operation range of the system is far beyond the
original range, and the system can still running stability after 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t(s)
the UPFC device inputted in the system. It is important to Q and Qref (pu)
optimal operation for the system, improve the stability limit of
the system and improve system stability margin if appropriate -0.2 Q
number of UPFC devices are installed in a system [7].
Qref

V. SYSTEM INVESTIGATED -0.3

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MATLAB/SIMULINK is multifunctional software for t(s)
Vse (pu)
power system simulation, especially for dedicated power 0.1
electronic system. Compared with PSCAD/EMTDC, It can
produce almost identical and consistent results during steady- 0.05
state and transients situations [8].
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t(s)
Vse phase (deg)
95

90
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t(s)
Fig 8. UPFC dynamic response to a change in reference power

As shown in Figure 8, The load flow when the UPFC is

Fig 7. UPFC installed in a Multimachine system. bypassed shows that most of the power generated by plant #2 is
transmitted through the 800 MVA transformer bank (899 MW stability after 0.15s running when the fault removed, active and
out of 1000 MW) and that 96 MW is circulating in the loop. reactive power of the system still shocking seriously in a long
Transformer Tr2 is therefore overloaded by 99 MVA. time after the fault removed when UPFC does not work. And at
this time the oscillation range of power is greater than the case
UPFC can relieve this power congestion. By increasing the of UPFC working. So that they all directed that UPFC has a
power rate of 1 pu, at t=3s without noticeable transient on the very good improvement on system transient stability, it can
reactive power , it takes one second for the power to increase to enhance the power flow of transmission line and improve the
687 MW. This 100 MW increase of active power at bus B3 is stability of system power.
achieved by injecting a series voltage of 0.089 pu with an angle
of 94 degrees. This results in an approximate 100 MW When the system disturbed, the voltage of access point
decrease in the active power flowing through Tr2 (from 899 drops sharply, Fig.11 reveals that, when UPFC is on service,
MW to 796 MW), which now carries an acceptable load, and the amplitude of the voltage can give back to the potential
allow a better use of underloaded lines. faster than UPFC out of services. That is to say, at this time the
parallel side of UPFC working as a compensator to maintain
At t=7s, Qref change from -0.27 to -0.17, it takes 0.17s, the system voltage constant and improve system’s stability.
without noticeable transient on the active power , this variation
in the reactive power is achieved by keeping the injected V (pu) V (pu)
voltage at 0.089pu with an angle of 92 degrees.
1.1 1.1
Case 2: Suppose that single phase to ground short circuit
fault occurs on the line L3. doing transient simulation on this 1 1

system, and the simulation time is 3s, during 0.75s to 0.8s, 0.9 0.9
single phase to ground short circuit fault occurs on L3, at 0.8s
0.8 0.8
the fault is removed, then maintain the single-loop operation.
Pre-fault system is in normal operation and the reference as 0.7 0.7

follows: Pref=6.87pu，Qref=-0.27pu，Vref=1.0pu.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
P (pu) P and Pref (pu) (a) t(s) (b) t(s)
9 12
P Fig 11. Input voltage when UPFC on service and out of service
Pref
8 10

7 8 VII. CONCLUSION
6 6 Modeling the system and studying the results have given an
5 4
indication that UPFC are very useful when it comes to
organize and maintain power system.
4 2
UPFC device in the dynamic simulation system, can adjust
3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
the distribution the system power flow among the transmission
(a) t(s) (b) t(s) line quickly and smoothly, and have no significant impact to
Fig 9. Active power of the transmission line when UPFC (a) out of service other operating parameters of the system. At the same time,
and (b)on service the UPFC can improve system’s stability, to keep down the
Phase angle Phase angle
14 14 shaking of the line power angle and inhibit the line power flow
12 12 line oscillation.
10 10

8 8 APPENDIX
6 6
The Test Data is given in Table below.
4 4
Table I: Bus Data
2 2
Bus Voltage Load (MW, Generator Injected
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
no. (|v|,θ) Mvar) MVA MVAR
(a) t(s) (b) t(s) 1 0.997, 0 0, 0 500 0
Fig 10. The phase angle when UPFC (a) out of service and (b) on service 2 1.00, 0 0, 0 0 0
3 1.00, 0 200, 0 0 0
4 1.00, 0 0, 0 1200 0
Instantaneous short-circuit fault will cause the system
5 1.00, 0 0, 0 15000 0
power angle oscillation, then causing oscillation on power flow
of the line, considering two cases that the UPFC device not TABLE II: LINE DATA
installed in and joined in the system, due to the power control Sending Receiving Line Line Line
of UPFC, system working in single circuit when the fault is Bus Bus resistance pu reactance pu suseptance pu
removed, active power of single-circuit lines can still tracing 1 2 0.002 0.12 0.06
the reference value, while the active power is lower than 1 4 0.068 0.31 0.05
reference value when UPFC is out of working, Fig.9 also 2 3 0.012 0.38 0.04
descript that the dynamic feature of system is better than the 3 5 0.012 0.38 0.03
status of UPFC out of service. The system power can restore 5 4 0.002 0.12 0.06
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BIOGRAPHIES
Novel Real-Time Approach to Unified Power Flow Controller Djilani Kobibi Youcef Islam: was born in Relizane
Validation,” IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. Algeria , he received the Master degree in 2011 from the
25, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2010
University of Djillali Liabes Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria. He is
[3] C.R. Fuerte-Esquivel, E.Acha, ”Unified power flow controller: a critical presently a Phd student in the Intelligent control of electrical
comparison of Newton-Raphson UPFC algorithms in power flow
studies”, IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 144, No. 5, September power system laboratory (ICEPS) of Djillali liabes university.
1997 His research interests include incorporating FATCS devices in
[4] Song Y.H., Johns A.T: “Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS)”, power system.
The Institute of Electrical Engineers(IEE) Press, London, U. K, 1999.
HADJERI Samir: received the Master's degrees in
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S.L., “The Unified Power Flow Controller: A New Approach to Power Electrical Engineering from the University of Laval, Quebec,
Transmission Control” IEEE Trans on Power Delivery, Vol. IO, No.2, Canada, in 1990. The PhD degrees from the University of Sidi
pp.1085-1093, April 1995. Bel- Abbes, Algeria, in 2003. From 1991 to 2004 he was at the
[6] L. Xu and V.G. Agelidis, “Flying Capacitor Multilevel PWM Converter Faculty of Science Engineering, Department of Electrical
Based UPFC’, IEE Proc. Of Electronic Power Application, Vol. 149, Engineering, Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria, where he was a teaching
No. 4, July 2003. member. His research there focused on high voltage direct
[7] Yao Shu-jun,Song Xiao-yan, Wang Yan, Yan Yu-xin, Yan Zhi,” current and power system analysis.
Research on dynamic characteristics of Unified Power Flow Controller
(UPFC)”, IEEE 2011 Sid-Ahmed ZIDI: was born in SidiBel Abbes, Algeria. He
[8] M. O. Faruque, Y. Zhang, and V. Dinavahi, "Detailed modeling of received the diploma of Electro technical Engineering degree
CIGRE HVDC benchmark system using PSCAD/EMTDC and from the University of Science and Technology of Oran,
PSB/SIMULINK," IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 21, pp. 378-387,
Jan. 2006. Algeria. The Master degree, from the University of Djillali
[9] Vibhor Gupta,” Study and Effects of UPFC and its Control System for
Liabes of Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria in 1994. The PhD degrees
Power Flow Control and Voltage Injection in a Power System” from the University of Sidi Bel-Abbes, Algeria, in 2005. He is
International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Vol. 2(7), currently interested by the HVDC link, FACTS and transient in
2010 power systems.
[10] Phasor Model of UPFC control, MATLAB v 7.6, ‘help’- UPFC for
power flow control Mohamed DJEHAF: was born in Oran, Algeria. He
[11] Control Block of UPFC - M. Toufan, U.D. Annakkage, “Simulation of received the master’s. Degree in electrical engineering, from
The Unified Power Flow Controller Performance Using the Djillali Liabes University of Sidi Bel-Abbes (Algeria), in
PSCAD/EMTDC,” Electrical Power System Research Vol. 46, 1998, pp 2011.He is now a PhD Candidate in the Electrical Engineering
67-75 Department of Djillali Liabes University. His current interest
[12] Xiao-Ping Zhang, Christian Rehtanz, Bikash Pal,” Flexible AC covers HVDC control and protection.
Transmission Systems: Modelling and Control” ISBN 978-3-642-28240-
9, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012