Proceedings of 8th IOE Graduate Conference

Peer Reviewed
ISSN: 2350-8914 (Online), 2350-8906 (Print)
Year: 2020 Month: June Volume: 8

Optimal Setting and Siting of TCSC and SVC to Enhance Power

System Performance
Subrat Aryal a , Netra Gynawali b
a, b
Department of Electrical Engineering Pulchowk Campus, IOE, TU, Nepal
Corresponding Email: a [email protected]

Abstract
Power transfer capability of a transmission line falls with the length of the line. Loading in the short line and
long line is permitted by thermal limit and stability limit respectively. In a power system consisting of long lines
and short lines, FACTS devices can be used for partial increase of power transfer in the long line as well as
improve the voltage profile of the line. The main objective of this study is to minimize system line loss, sum of
line loading ratio by optimal placement of Static Var Compensator (SVC) at bus and optimal placement of
Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC) in long lines. The system line loss and sum of line loading
ratio has been separately minimized with the various combination of both TCSC and SVC. The optimization
was done with help of Genetic Algorithm (GA). In this work three cases (only SVC, only TCSC, both TCSC
& SVC) are considered for optimal power flow. It is observed that SVC is better in improving voltage profile
and reducing line loss. Similarly, for this system TCSC is better for partial increase in power flow of long line
but less capable of voltage profile improvement. With combination of both TCSC and SVC there is further
reduction of power loss, improvement of voltage profile and decrease in the sum of line loading ratio. The
result thus obtained was verified with MATLAB 2013Ra.
Keywords
Transmission Loss Minimization, Voltage Profile Enhancement, Genetic Algorithm (GA), Thyristor Controlled
Series Compensator(TCSC), Static Var Compensator (SVC)

1. Introduction of great importance for the maximum utilization of

transmission network for improving the system
Depending upon the active power and reactive power efficiency . The performance of power system can be
demand on the load buses, the power flow changes in considerably improved with the help of solid state
the transmission line. Hence this will cause the devices which enables the power flow control as per
overloading and under loading of some lines. need.
Similarly, the loss in the line also increases with the
load demand and voltage constraints of some bus are In the modern power system the competition existing
also violated. If some measures are not taken, then the among the electric utilities will cause the numbers of
system enters into verge of instability. Hence to power exchanges which can result different issues
address this problem there are solid state power during operational phase of power system. If these
electronics devices known as FACTS devices which exchanges are not controlled, some lines may get
stands for Flexible AC Transmission System that can overloaded and system might become unstable. Hence
be installed in the power system network as per our this problem can be handled by proper use of FACTS
requirement. They can be used to control the power technology. It allows for the flexible operation of the
flow by changing the parameters of power systems so existing transmission system without adding new
that the power flow can be optimized as per need. lines. The power handling capacity and the
However, these devices should be installed at certain performance of the transmission line can be improved
locations with certain ratings so that our desired with the FACTS. There are different types of FACTS
objective is fulfilled. Hence, optimal placement of such as Static Var Compensator (SVC), Thyristor
FACTS controller in a power transmission network is Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC), Static
Compensator (STATCOM), Unified Power Flow

Pages: 15 – 23
Optimal Setting and Siting of TCSC and SVC to Enhance Power System Performance

Controller (UPFC), TCPST (Thyristor Controlled requirement we can incorporate the FACTS devices
Phase Shifting Transformer) etc [1]. There are many optimally so that the capacity of the line can be made
advantages associated with the FACTS devices. Their flexible. Some research has used GA for optimal
main function is to control the power by controlling choice and allocation of FACTS devices in multi
parameters such as impedance, terminal voltages and machine power system and they have simultaneously
phase angles. They can control the flow of active and optimized rating, location and type of FACTS devices
reactive power in the network. They can minimize the [2].
congestion in the network. They can reduce power
In this study, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used as a
losses and improve the voltage profile. Also these
minimization tool for optimal placement of TCSC and
device can improve the both transient stability and
SVC so that Line loading management, real power loss
small signal stability of the power system.
reduction and voltage profile enhancement is achieved.
The test system under study is Modified IEEE-14 Bus
system with two long lines introduced in the system.

2. Problem Formulation
The objective function in this study has two terms, the
first term represents the active power loss and second
term represents the sum of line loading ratio. Only one
objective function is considered at a time during the
entire study.

Figure 1: St.Clair Curve

2.1 Objective Function
The objective function is formulated as,
Usually in the power system consisting of long lines
and short lines, the long line cannot transfer more MinF = W1 ∗ [PL ] +W2 ∗ [SOL] (1)
power due to stability consideration. The scenario can
be observed in the figure 1. It shows that the active
where, W1 & W2 are the weight factors whose values
power flow through the line is limited by thermal limit
are either 1 or 0 as per the requirement.
in short lines and limited by voltage limit for medium
line and limited by stability limit for long lines. The first term of the objective function represents the
Hence due to incapability of more power transfer by active power loss and is given by equation (2)
long lines can cause the overloading of the short lines
in interconnected power system. Hence, we can insert
the controllable series compensator in the long lines NL
which can compensate for the inductive reactance of PL = ∑ Gl (Vi2 +V j2 − 2ViV j cosδi j ) (2)
l=1
the long lines and hence power through the long line
can be increased. Due to increase in the power in the
long lines, short lines will get relief and the loading Where,
can be managed. The controllable series compensator Vi , V j are the Voltage magnitude at ith bus and jth bus.
that we can use is Thyristor Controlled Series
Compensator (TCSC). With the introduction of a NL is Number of transmission line.
controllable series capacitor or reactor in series with δi ,δ j are the Voltage angle at ith bus and jth bus.
the transmission line, the line impedance can be
Gl is the Conductance of the l th line.
varied continuously. Similarly, in the transmission
line the voltage can be maintained within the limit by The second term represents the sum of line loading
incorporating the shunt compensator. If such devices ratio and is given by equation (3).
are not installed, then it will require the reinforcement
NL
of the overloaded line whereas the underutilized lines SL n
SOL = ∑ ( ) (3)
remaining same. Thus, depending upon our l=1 SL max

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 Proceedings of 8th IOE Graduate Conference

where n=1. In equation (3) SL corresponds to the 3. Modelling of TCSC and SVC
actual active power flowing through the line and SLmax
corresponds to the thermal limit for the short line while 3.1 Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator
stability limit for the long lines as that of base case.
TCSC consists of a Thyristor Controlled Reactor
However, during the study a power factor of 0.9 is
(TCR) in parallel with a capacitor bank and connected
used for converting SLmax into corresponding active
in series in the transmission line to compensate the
power. The stability limit under consideration is taken
line reactance. TCSC can serve as the capacitive or
for power angle corresponding to 30◦ .
inductive compensation respectively by smoothly
varying the reactance of the transmission line. Figure
2.2 Constraints 2 shows the schematic of TCSC. The reactance
offered by TCSC is dependent upon the firing angle
Following inequality constraints includes the limits of
input to the TCSC.
the concerned variables.
a) Reactive Power Generation Limit

Qgimin ≤ Qgi ≤ Qgimax

where Qgimin and Qgimax are the respective minimum

and maximum values of reactive power generation
allowed at ith bus.
b) Voltage magnitude limit
Figure 2: Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator
Vimin ≤ Vi ≤ Vimax

where Vimin and Vimax are the respective minimum and

maximum values of voltage allowed at ith bus. π ∗ Xl
Xtcr (α) = (4)
c) Limit on reactance offered by TCSC π − 2α − sin2α

0.8XL ≤ XTCSC ≤ −0.3XL Xtcr (α) ∗ Xc

XTCSC (α) = (5)
Xtcr (α) − Xc
where XL is the reactance of the transmission line
Equation (5) gives the variable reactance offered by
where TCSC is to be connected.
TCSC for any value of
d) Limit on reactive power offered by SVC
0◦ ≤ α ≤ 90◦
QSVCmin ≤ QSVC ≤ QSVCmax
The TCSC is not allowed to operate at the resonance
region in this study and firing of TCSC in this study
where QSVCmin and QSVCmax are the respective
is considered only for capacitive region. In this study
minimum and maximum values of reactive power
for a fixed value of L and C of TCSC, firing angle is
generation/absorption by SVC.
controlled to achieve variable reactance of TCSC. The
modification in the line reactance due to insertion of
2.3 Control Variables the TCSC is shown in equation (6,7).
The control variables in the study are the quantities Xi j = XLINE + XTCSC (6)
which are to be adjusted so that the minimum value of
objective function is obtained. They are reactance
offered by TCSC that is obtained by varying the firing XTCSC = k ∗ XLINE (7)
angle for compensation of line reactance and the
reactive power injected or absorbed at the bus by the where k is a numerical coefficient which gives the
Static var compensator that is obtained by varying the degree of compensation in transmission line. To avoid
firing angle of SVC. overcompensation value of Kmin = -0.8 and Kmax =0.3

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Optimal Setting and Siting of TCSC and SVC to Enhance Power System Performance

3.2 Static Var Compensator(SVC) If capacitive compensation is needed, then we will

consider Qsvc as positive while for inductive
SVC is a shunt connected device. There are various
compensation we will consider Qsvc as negative.
types of SVC. In this study, Fixed Capacitor Thyristor
However, only capacitive compensation is considered
Controlled Reactor (FCTCR) is used. It consists of a
in this study.
Thyristor Controlled Reactor (TCR) in parallel with a
capacitor bank and is shunted at a bus. Compensation
provided by SVC can be varied with firing angle. It 4. Methodology
either injects or withdraws reactive power from the
bus to which it is connected and there by maintains 4.1 Flowchart and Algorithm
the voltage magnitude. Depending upon the firing
The flowchart for the proposed study is shown in figure
angle, the reactive power offered by the SVC also
4. Following algorithm has been developed for the
varies accordingly. Main benefits of using SVC is that
study of the optimal placement of SVC and TCSC.
it regulates the bus voltage and also helps in reduction
of real power loss in interconnected power system.
SVC also provides both inductive and capacitive Step 1: Start
compensation. Step 2: Load flow on one of the case where voltage
Figure 3 shows the schematic of a Static Var constraint and loading is violated is carried
Compensator. The variable reactance offered by the out and this load is considered as 100 %(P and
SVC can be obtained with help of equation (8). Q) for our case. Load flow initially is done
Reactive power generated/absorbed by SVC can be without FACTS device.
shown in equation (9).
Step 3: Load flow result obtained from step 2 is used
for computing the power loss and the sum of
line loading ratio for that case.

Step 4: Load flow is done with TCSC and SVC at a

particular position (TCSC at long line and
SVC at a bus other than bus containing
Generator) and certain rating value.

Step 5: Objective function is called upon by GA

solver tool of MATLAB 2013a for
Figure 3: Static Var Compensator minimization. This will provide the location
and rating of SVC and TCSC for minimizing
the objective function.

Step 6: If the constrained minimization result is

Xtcr (α) ∗ Xc obtained Go to Step 7, otherwise Go to Step
Xsvc = (8)
Xt cr(α) − Xc 4.

Step 7: Stop
Vk2
Qsvc = (9) 4.2 Genetic Algorithm
Xsvc
Genetic Algorithm is the process of applying biology
where Vk is the voltage of the kth bus under
in engineering. Genetic algorithm which was first
consideration.
proposed by John Holland is based upon evolution
The range of firing for SVC is set between 0◦ to 90◦ . theory and genetics. This algorithm is based upon
In this study for a fixed value of L and C of SVC, Darwin’s Theory. The fundamental concept which is
firing angle is controlled to provide the variable associated with the GA is that it attempts to extract
compensation. Similarly, the position for its optimum value by minimizing a set of objective
installation is allowed on all bus except the bus function. Usually, Genetic algorithm performs three
containing generators (bus 1 and bus 2). basic operations. These operations are also called

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 Proceedings of 8th IOE Graduate Conference

selection, crossover and mutation. These operations upto 2 SVC and 2 TCSC installed in this system. With
are also known as genetic operations which are increase in more devices has minimum change in the
performed until the minimization is reached. Genetic objective function under study. The coding were done
algorithm generally operates on chromosomes. Each in MATLAB R2013a.
of the chromosomes are given certain fitness value.
GA forms new chromosomes in each generation and 5.1 Test System Under Study
hence only those chromosomes will survive which
had best fitness values. It is robust technique and it is The test system under study is obtained by modifying
easy to understand but it has slow convergence. the IEEE-14 Bus test system shown in figure 5. All
However for this study GA optimization solver tool of the synchronous compensators are removed so that
Matlab 2013Ra is used. the system demands for shunt compensation. Further,
one long line between bus 1 and bus 5 and another
long line between bus 2 and bus 3 are introduced by
linear scaling of existing original system for study
purpose. Line between bus 1 and bus 5 is Line-2.
Line between bus 2 and bus 3 is Line-3. The line
lengths of the system shown in figure 5 can be found in
various research papers [3]. The thermal limit of long
lines under study are considered as 1.83 p.u. Some
research has proposed the line limits of the IEEE-14
bus system and hence we have considered the same
line rating for all the lines except line 2 and line 3 for
our study purpose [4]. Similarly, the other conditions
such as generation and loads of the system were not
changed. Hence this causes the base case loading of
standard IEEE-14 bus and the system under study to
be different.

Figure 4: Flowchart Using Genetic Algorithm

5. Simulation and Results

Prior to the placement of TCSC and SVC in the system,
power loss and line loadings during overload condition
was examined by increasing the load in the system
at a certain steps. For the study purpose, real and
reactive power loads connected at various load buses
were increased simultaneously while the load power
factor was kept constant. The load was increased from
70% to 100% of the load of system discussed in section
5.1. At 100% of the load both voltage magnitude and Figure 5: Modified IEEE-14 Bus System
line loading was violated. That is, for study we will
create a condition where the system demands for both
series and shunt compensation. This case will be our 5.2 Study without TCSC AND SVC
base case throughout the study and it is considered This section shows the simulation result at base case
100%(P&Q) throughout our study and is shown in our loading of system discussed in section 5.1. Figure 6
result analysis part. The study is done considering shows the voltage profile of load bus. It shows that

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Optimal Setting and Siting of TCSC and SVC to Enhance Power System Performance

voltages are out of limit and voltage constraint is enough margin of operation. Hence it requires the
violated. Table 1 shows the line loss scenario with the redistribution of loadings of the lines so that long line
increase in loading from 70% to 100% of total load of transfers extra power within its margin thereby
system. It shows power loss increases with loading. creating relief in the short lines.

Figure 6: Voltage profile at bus before placement of Figure 8: Line loading ratio before placement of
TCSC and SVC TCSC and SVC

Figure 7 shows the phase angle condition of the system 5.3 Minimization Study with SVC only
at base case. It can be observed that the phase angles
This section shows the simulation result at base case
are within the limit at steady state conditions without
with the inclusion of SVC for power loss
addition of TCSC and SVC.
minimization. Figure 9 shows the variation of power
Table 1: Line loss with increased loading loss with increase in number of SVC. It can be
observed that with addition of 2 SVC drastically
SN Load%(P and Q) Overall Line loss
reduces the power loss and this value remains almost
1 70% 0.0968 p.u.
steady because the voltage are boosted within the
2 80% 0.132719 p.u.
limit with more increment of SVC. Hence we will
3 90% 0.236115 p.u.
consider study with 2 number of SVC in our base case.
4 100% 0.354075 p.u.
From table 2 it can be observed that the power loss
reduces by 40.63% with the inclusion of 2 number of
SVC. Table 3 gives the optimal location and optimal
rating for SVC. Optimal location is at Bus No-5 and
Bus No-7, and the optimal rating of SVC for these bus
are 0.369 p.u. and 0.4638p.u. respectively. From table
4 it can be observed that sum of line loading ratio also
decreased from 10.3443 to 10.1062.

Figure 7: Phase angle condition before placement of

TCSC and SVC

Figure 8 shows the line loading ratio of each of the

line. Line number 14 corresponds to the connection
Figure 9: Power Loss(p.u) Variation with number of
between compensator and the tertiary of three
SVC
winding transformer. This part carries zero power
during our study. It can be observed from figure 8 that
some lines are overloaded while the long lines have

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 Proceedings of 8th IOE Graduate Conference

Table 2: Losses before and after SVC Table 6: Optimal ratings and locations of TCSC
Loading Loss before SVC Loss after 2 SVC Loading Optimal ratings(p.u.) locations
Base case 0.354075 0.2102115 Base Case 0.0146,0.3159 Line-2,Line-3

Table 3: Optimal ratings locations of SVC Table 7: Losses before and after TCSC
Loading Optimal ratings(p.u.) locations Loading Before TCSC After 2 TCSC
Base case 0.369,0.4638 Bus-5,Bus-7 Base case 0.354075 p.u. 0.312705 p.u.

Table 4: Sum of line loading ratio before and after Figure 11 shows the voltage profile with the inclusion
SVC of TCSC. However, with the TCSC placed on line 2
and 3 the voltage limit is still violated for the system
Loading Before SVC After 2 SVC under study. Hence this necessitate SVC to be used
Base case 10.3443 10.1062 along with TCSC. Table 6 shows the location and
optimal rating of TCSC without considering voltage
5.4 Minimization Study with TCSC only constraint. Location for this case is line no 2 and line
no 3, and the corresponding rating can be found in
This section shows the simulation result at base case Table 6. Similarly, from table 7 it can be observed that
with the inclusion of TCSC for sum of line loading inclusion of TCSC has significantly less effect on the
ratio minimization. Figure 10 shows the variation of overall power loss.
Sum of line loading ratio with number of TCSC. It
can be observed from the table 5 that the sum of line
loading ratio decreased from 10.3443 to 9.3426 with
two number of TCSC. Since our aim in this study is to
locate TCSC in the long lines only and the long lines
under study are limited to two. Hence we will consider
two TCSC for our study purpose. The decrease in sum
of line loading ratio is quite more as that compared to
SVC case.

Figure 11: Voltage at each bus with TCSC

5.5 Minimization Study with both TCSC and

SVC
5.5.1 Minimization of Power Loss Only
This section shows the simulation result at base case
with the inclusion of TCSC and SVC for minimization
of Power Loss Only. Table 8 shows the power loss
Figure 10: Sum of line loading variation with number variation with different number of TCSC and SVC. It
of TCSC can be observed that for different combination of
TCSC and SVC the objective function is giving
different values. Among this four values the minimum
Table 5: Sum of loading ratio before and after TCSC is associated with the two SVC and two TCSC. For
Loading Before TCSC After 2 TCSC this case the percentage reduction in power loss is
Base case 10.3443 9.3426 41.89%. This reduction in power loss is slightly more
compared to that of with two SVC only. The optimal
locations and the optimal rating for this case is shown

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Optimal Setting and Siting of TCSC and SVC to Enhance Power System Performance

in table 7. Phase angle conditions with inclusion of

TCSC and SVC for this case is shown in figure 12.

5.5.2 Minimization of Sum of Line Loading ratio

only.
This section shows the simulation result at base case
with the inclusion of TCSC and SVC for minimization
of sum of line loading ratio only. Table 9 shows sum
of line loading ratio variation with different number of
TCSC and SVC. It can be observed that for different Figure 12: Phase angle condition at bus after
combination of TCSC and SVC the objective function placement of TCSC and SVC for minimization of
is giving different value. Among this four values the active power loss only
minimum is associated with two SVC and two TCSC.
For this case sum of line loading ratio has decreased
from 10.3443 to 9.2581. The decrease in this value is Table 9: Sum of line loading ratio minimization with
more as compared to the individual placement of different number of TCSC and SVC
TCSC and SVC. The optimal location and optimal Number Optimal
rating for this case is given in table 9. Voltage profile of rating(p.u.)
is shown in figure 13 after inclusion of SVC and Sum Remarks
FACTS &
TCSC. The line loading ratio of each of the line after Device Location
placement of TCSC and SVC is shown in the figure Constraints
14. Phase angle conditions with inclusion of TCSC Bus-9
1 SVC Satisfied,
and SVC for this case is shown in figure 15. (0.5617),
& 10.0318 but
Line-2
1 TCSC overloading
Table 8: Power loss minimization with different (0.0118).
still exists
number of TCSC and SVC Bus-9
Constrained
Number Optimal rating (0.6684),
Power Loss 1 SVC Satisfied
of & Line-2
(p.u.) & 9.32189 and
FACTS Device location (0.0744),
Bus-7 2 TCSC Loading
1 SVC Line-3
(0.6805 p.u.), managed
& 0.210249 (0.2165).
Line-2
1 TCSC Constraints Bus-13
(0.0313 p.u.).
Bus-7 Satisfied, (0.4194),
2 SVC
(0.6740 p.u.), but Bus-9
1 SVC & 10.0316
Line-2 overloading (0.3821),
& 0.207638 1 TCSC
(0.0345 p.u.), still Line-2
2 TCSC
Line-3 exists (0.0121).
( 0.0471 p.u.) Bus-13
Bus-9
(0.2280),
(0.4775 p.u.), Constraints
2 SVC Bus-9
Bus-6 2 SVC satisfied
& 0.2085357 (0.4702),
(0.2379 p.u.), & 9.25814 and
1 TCSC Line-2
Line-2
2 TCSC Loading
(0.0292 p.u.). (0.0741),
Bus-5
managed
Line-3
(0.4002 p.u.), (0.2156).
Bus-9
2SVC
(0.3532 p.u.),
& 0.2057448
Line-2
2 TCSC
(0.0334 p.u.),
Line-3
( 0.045875 p.u.).

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 Proceedings of 8th IOE Graduate Conference

as there are many possible solution. The study was

performed on a modified IEEE-14 bus system. For
this study, GA solver of Matlab has been used. The
system line loss and sum of line loading ratio has been
separately minimized with various combination of
both TCSC and SVC. It was observed that the
minimum power loss obtained with two number of
SVC and two number of TCSC was further decreased
as compared to only SVC case. Similarly, it was
observed that the minimum sum of line loading ratio
obtained with two number of TCSC and two number
Figure 13: Load bus voltage after placement of of SVC was further reduced as compared to individual
TCSC and SVC placement of SVC and TCSC. The results obtained
shows that line loss and sum of line loading ratio can
be minimized to extent possible from TCSC and SVC.
Minimization of sum of line loading ratio signifies the
improved system security and also it indicates loading
can be done to some extent higher than the previous
with the same transmission lines.
Since the main aim of this study is the minimization of
Power Loss and sum of line loading ratio, the objective
function was minimized to the extent possible with
the help of Genetic Algorithm tool. This study can
be extended to other test system using other kinds of
optimization techniques. Also from this analysis we
can see that TCSC and SVC together perform better
in improved performance of the system than using
Figure 14: line loading after placement of TCSC and individually.
SVC

References
[1] S. Gerbex, R. Cherkaoui, and A. J. Germond. Optimal
location of multi-type facts devices in a power system
by means of genetic algorithms. IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems, 16(3):537–544, 2001.

[2] L. J. Cai, I. Erlich, and G. Stamtsis. Optimal choice

and allocation of facts devices in deregulated electricity
market using genetic algorithms. In IEEE PES Power
Systems Conference and Exposition, 2004., pages 201–
207 vol.1, 2004.
Figure 15: Phase angle condition at bus after
placement of TCSC and SVC for minimization of [3] X. Dong, C. Wang, J. Liang, X. Han, F. Zhang,
sum of line loading ratio only. H. Sun, M. Wang, and J. Ren. Calculation of power
transfer limit considering electro-thermal coupling of
overhead transmission line. IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems, 29(4):1503–1511, 2014.
6. Conclusion
[4] Slimane Souag and Farid Benhamida. Secured
Usually the optimal placement of the series and shunt economic dispatch algorithm using gsdf matrix.
compensator in a power system is a complex problem Leonardo Journal of Sciences, 13:1–14, 02 2014.

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