2012 China International Conference on Electricity Distribution (CICED 2012)

Shanghai, 5-6 Sep. 20I2

A Comparative Study on Voltage Stability Bifurcation Control

Ability ofSVC andSTATCOM
Sheng LI Qi ZHAO Cheng CHEN Yan XU
(School of Electric Power Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology, Nanjing 2II167, China)

Abstract-In this paper,

the bifurcation analyses were

made in a single-machine PQ dynamic-load system and a

classical 3-node system. It is verified that both SVC and
STATCOM
occurrence

compensation
of

saddle-node

could

effectively

bifurcation(SNB)

delay
in

the

the
two

systems, and as greater as gains of the compensation devices

are,

the better the control effect to SNB point is;

and

STATCOM always plays better than SVC when concerned

with the same value of their gains. In the 3-node system that
can appears the Hopf bifurcations, SVC and STATCOM can
effectively delay the unstable Hopf bifurcation(UHB). When
the gain values of SVC and STATCOM are the same and
both of them are small, the control effect of SVC and
STATCOM to UHB is almost the same; while both of the gain
values are great, the control effect of STATCOM to UHB is

system, so that the recovering speed of voltage is much

quicker, which is beneficial to maintain the system
transient voltage stability. Recently, the comparison of
STATCOM and SVC's ability in controlling the transient
voltage stability of electric power systems has achieved
some corresponding analyses [6-7]; but the comparison
between the above two compensators' ability in voltage
stability bifurcation control, is still lack of further studies.
This paper would take the examples of the single-machine
PQ dynamic-load (SMDL) system and the 3-node system,
which are regularly applied in the voltage stability analysis,
and utilize the numerical bifurcation analysis software
MATCONT, which is based on MATLAB, to make a
comparative study between SVC and STATCOM
compensators' controlling ability on SNB and URB, and
also their control effects.

apparently superior that of SVc. It can be demonstrated that

the bifurcation control ability of STATCOM for voltage
stability

is

more

superior

than

that

of

SVC

with

II THE MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF SVC AND

STATCOM

comprehensive consideration.
Kwords-bifurcation

control,

saddle-node

bifurcation,

unstable Hopf bifurcation, SVC, STATCOM

I INTRODUCTION

Voltage stability bifurcation control means to delay or

eliminate the potential bifurcation phenomenon to the
voltage stability in the electric power system with various
bifurcation control methods [I]. Currently, the static var
compensator (SVC) is observed to play a positive role in
delaying the bifurcation phenomena of power systems. In
reference [2], it took the single-machine PQ dynamic load
system (SMDL) as an example, and verified the load bus
with SVC compensator can effectively delay the system
saddle-node bifurcation (SNB). In reference [3], the
AUTO software was applied to prove the SVC
compensator can effectively delay the Hopf bifurcation
(HB) and SNB in the 3-node system. In reference [4], the
3-node system was exampled and numerical simulation
was applied, to verify that SVC compensator is able to
effectively eliminate the system HB in a certain load model
parameter range. In reference [5], it took the 3-node
system with an SVC compensator as an example, and
direct feedback control method was put into practice, to
design an SVC non-linear controller, in the purpose of
delaying the unstable Hopf bifurcation (UHB) and the time
that the load bus voltage breaks down.
In another aspect, under the condition of large-scale
disturbance,
the
static
synchronous compensator
(STATCOM) is superior than SVC in the ability of
supporting the system bus voltage. The STATCOM of the
same rated capacity can input more reactive current to the

CICED2012 Session 3

VIe!
Fig.! SVC mode!

V ret
Fig.2 STATCOM model

In this paper, the adoptive mathematical models of SVC

and STATCOM are reflected as Figure 1 and Figure 2 [8],
and the linear first-order differential equation and
compensated reactive power of SVC compensator are
shown as follows respectively:
.
1
(1)
B = -[Ksvcevre.f - V) - B]

T\vc

Qadded = _BV2

(2)

In the upper two equations, B stands for the equivalent

compensated susceptance of SVC; Ksvc represents gains of
SVC; T,ve is regarded as the time constant of SVC; Vret
stands for the reference value of load bus voltage to
control the voltage.
The linear first-order differential equation and

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2012 China International Conference on Electricity Distribution (CICED 2012)

compensated reactive power of STATCOM compensator

are shown as follows respectively:
1
V
(3)
iSH = _
_ [Ks1al (Vrej
. - ) - iSH]
T,tat
(4)
Qadded = -iSHV

In the upper two equations, iSH stands for the equivalent

compensated current; K'lal is equal to the gains of
STATCOM; T'lal represents the time constant of
STATCOM.

III COMPARATlVEBlFURCATlON ANALYSIS

IN THE SMDL SYSTEM

jX

shows that when the gain takes the value of 0, the

bifurcation parameter P is equal to the parameter value of
saddle-node bifurcation point which comes out in a system
without reactive power compensation. According to Figure
4, it reflects that with the gain values of SVC and
STATCOM grow, the bifurcation parameter P emerging at
the SNB point also increases, which means the SNB would
be delayed. On the other hand, under the condition taking
the same gain value (J('l'c=K,lal>O), STATCOM could be
more effective on delaying the system SNB point than
what SVC can do.
18
16

I =::: ;TCOM I

14

VLO

.
.. .

,..--'-----,

Equivalent
generator

Shanghai, 5-6 Sep. 20I2

ELo

04
./

L-___________

0.2

........ ........../

KsvclKstat

Fig.3 The single-machine PQ dynamic-load (SMDL) system

FigA The SNB boundary curves (the SMDL system)

As the Figure 3 shows, the SMDL system ordinary

differential equation sets with the SVC or STATCOM
placed in are comprised of Equation 5 [2], and Equation 1
& 2 or Equation 3 & 4:

N COMPARATlVEBlFURCATlON ANALYSIS
IN THE 3-NODE SYSTEM
7r

r5 = OJ
.

EV . '"

OJ = - ( P -- s mu -DOJ)
M
X

YL-B-o
0
2

(5)

. 1 EV
V2
V = [(XCOS6 -X-)-(kP + Qadded)]

Infinite bus
rv system

where the values of all the parameters except Qadded can

refer to reference [2].
In terms of the system ordinary differential equation sets,
the variation of SVC or STATCOM's time constant would
not change the system's equilibrium point and the location
of each bifurcation point. Therefore, more observation
should be paid on the influence made by the values of SVC
and STATCOM's gains to the bifurcation points. The
sofiware-MATCONT is applied to analysis the system's
bifurcation phenomena; both of the two time constant of
reactive power compensator device value about O.Ols and
the reference voltage of load bus takes the value of Ip.u.;
taking the system's active power demand P as the
bifurcation parameter. Then, the simulation result reflects
that no Hopf bifurcation point comes out in the system.
In Figure 4, it reveals the saddle-node bifurcation
boundary partially comparative curves. In the figure, it

CICED2012 Session 3

YmL-Bm

VL8

EoLO

.
--....... ....
.

c
:

Equivalent
generator rv

EmL8m

.
.--........ /

Fig.5 The 3-node system

A classical 3-node system is displayed in Figure 5, the

system ordinary differential equation sets with the SVC
compensator or STATCOM placed in is comprised of
Equation 6 and Equation 1 & 2 or Equation 3 & 4 [9]:

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2012 China International Conference on E[ectricity Distribution (C[CED 2012)

Om

0)

+ Pm + E,;,Y,l1 sinem
+ Em l1 sin(o - Om -em )
kqm5 -kqvV - kqV2V2 + Q- Qo - QI - Qadded
(6)
TkqwkpvV kpwkqV2V2
+ (kpmkqv - kqwkpv)V
+ kpm(Qo + QJ + Qadded- Q)
- kqm(Po + l'I - P)
MciJ

-DO)

where the values of all the parameters except Qadded can

refer to the reference [[0].
Reference [[0] has verified in the 3-node system (without
reactive power compensation), there are one unstable Hopf
bifurcation (UHB) point and one supercritical Hopf
bifurcation (SHB) point coming out on the upper-half of
the QI- V curve. [n this paper, MATCONT is applied to
make bifurcation analysis on the system with SVC and
STATCOM respectively. Concerning on both of the two
compensator devices, their time constant take the values of
0.01 s, the reference voltage of load bus is valued of [p.u.,
and the reactive power QI of the constant power load is
regarded as bifurcation parameter.
Owning to the major threaten created by UHB to the
power system voltage stability, much attention is paid on
studying about the controlling effects afforded by SVC and
STATCOM to the system UHB phenomenon, and
comparative analysis is also made.

12.6
12.4
:::i

.e-

12.2
12
118
116
11.4
11 2

KsvclKstat

Fig.6 The SNB boundary curves (the 3-node system)

In Figure 6, it displays the SNB boundary comparative

curves in the 3-node system. It is known that with the
growing up of SVC and STATCOM's gain values, SNB
phenomenon correspondingly delays to happen. Moreover,
when taking the same value of SVC and STATCOM's
gains (K,,'c=Ks,G,> 0), STATCOM makes a better delay
effect on SNB than what SVC does; and the higher the
gain value is, the more apparent the advantage is.
Figure 7 displays the UHB boundary curves in the 3-node
system with SVC and STATCOM respectively. [t is known
that under the condition of SVC and STATCOM taking the

CICED2012 Session 3

Shanghai, 5-6 Sep. 20[2

same gain value (K,vc=Kstat>O), and in a relatively limited

range of gains, the UHB phenomenon emerges a little
earlier in the system with SVC than that in the system with
STATCOM. When the gain value relatively larger ( ?
3.296), the bifurcation controlling capacity of STATCOM
is apparently superior than that of SVC, which could be
more effectively delaying UHB point; moreover, the larger
the gain value is, the better bifurcation delay effect of
STATCOM reflects than that of SVC.

12

::l

.ea

11.5

11

KsvclKstat

Fig.7 The UHB boundary curves (the 3-node system)

V CONCLUSION

This paper takes the SMDL system and the classical 3node system as examples, applies the MATLAB-based
numerical bifurcation analysis software MATCONT to
make a comparative study about bifurcation control ability
of SVC and STATCOM on voltage stability. When the
gain values of SVC or STATCOM (K,vc, Kstat respectively)
vary in a reasonable range, the achieved conclusions are as
follows:
(1) Both SVC and STATCOM are able to effectively delay
the SNB point in their corresponding systems; and the
larger the Ksvc or Kstat is, the better control effect to SNB it
reflects. While under the condition that when Ksvc and Kstat
value the same, STATCOM's control effects are always
superior than that of SVC.
(2) To the 3-node system which would emerge UHB
phenomenon, SVC and STATCOM can both effectively
delay the UHB; what's more, the larger the gain value is,
the better the control effect to UHB is. Under the condition
of the same value of gains, when the gains range at a
limited scope, the control effect of SVC to UHB is a bit
superior than that of STATCOM; while the differentiation
is not much obvious, which can be regarded that both of
the two compensators' control effects are almost similar.
However, when the gain value becomes larger (?3.296),
STATCOM's control effect IS apparently more
advantageous than that of SVC.
(3) SVC or STATCOM compensator plays a significant
role in expanding system's load limitation, enhancing the
margin of voltage stability. When taking SVC or

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2012 China International Conference on Electricity Distribution (CICED 2012)

STATCOM to make a voltage stability bifurcation control,

the rate of gains plays a key role in bifurcation control
effect. In order to correctly assess the bifurcation control
effect, it should be taken into consideration that the value
of gains would influence much on system bifurcation
points. Generally, under the condition of the same value of
gains, STATCOM's bifurcation control ability to system
SNB and UHB is better than that of SVC. When taking
STATCOM as system dynamic reactive power
compensator, the setting of a larger value of gains can
apparently enhance the bifurcation control ability. On the
other hand, however, an oversize gain of dynamic reactive
power compensator would lead to the high-level voltage of
load bus at the SNB or UHB point, so that the operating
staff would misunderstand that there is no problem
emerging from the system voltage stability. Therefore, to
avoid such kind of hidden danger, a reasonable value of
gains of SVC or STATCOM is significant.
Owning to every complicated system could be simplified
these two kinds of simple system models mentioned in this
paper, therefore, the conclusions achieved have certain
representativeness, and could be referred by engineering
designers when doing some related project optimization
design.

[3]

[4]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]
VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is supported by Jiangsu Province University

Student Practice Innovation Training Project of China
(16620III0017) and Scientific Researching Fund Project
of Nanjing Institute of Technology (QKJC2009007).

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[1]

[2]

Guangrong Chen, Jorge L. Moiola and Hua O. Wang,

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Wei Gu, Federico Milano, Ping Jiang, et aI., 2007,
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CICED2012 Session 3

Xiu YANG, Honghe J1N, Chenji GUO, et aI., 2009,

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Corresponding author: Sheng LI( 1973-), male, Associate Professor of

School of Electric Power Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology of

China. Research Areas: power system stability and control, new energy
and smart grid technology. E-mail: lisheng_njit@126.com.

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