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36 IEEE power & energy magazine 1540-7977/06/$20.

002006 IEEE september/october 2006


S
SOME OF THE COMMON SCENARIOS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A BLACKOUT ARE PARALLEL
transmission paths overloading and tripping in a cascading sequence, system voltage collapsing due to a lack of
reactive power reserves and, thus, a lack of voltage regulation ability, growing power oscillations on the system
(small-signal instability), and transient rotor-angle instability.
Many of the modern power-electronic-based transmission technologies can help to alleviate these types of
problems. For example, high-voltage dc (HVDC) can be used to provide the benefits of interconnecting two
systems (i.e., power transfer) while essentially acting as a barrier across which phenomena such as power
oscillations are not propagated. Thus, HVDC can effectively shield one system from electrical distur-
bances on the other. In addition, flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) can provide economic alter-
natives to building additional extra-high-voltage (EHV) lines for the purpose of increasing the power
transfer capability across transmission corridors, thereby enhancing system dynamic performance. In
this article, we discuss some of these technologies together with their potential benefits.

FACTS
The concept of FACTS was first introduced in the mid-1980s. In traditional power systems, at
remote locations far from generating plants, network voltage is controlled by either switching
mechanically switched shunt devices (capacitors and reactors) or by changing taps on on-
load tap-changing transformers. These methods of voltage control can be sluggish and rather
coarse (i.e., result in step changes in voltage rather than smooth, continuous regulation).
Under severe contingen-
cies, particularly those
occurring near load cen-
ters remote from genera-
tion, such slow and
coarse voltage control
can result in an inability
to regulate voltage fast
enough and may lead to
voltage instability or
voltage collapse. One of
the major causes of such voltage collapse conditions is the use of modern air conditioning. As
air conditioning has become a necessary comfort of the typical household, the on-peak
summertime load in many electrical power systems has grown. To further exacerbate the prob-
lem, air-conditioning load is characterized by light electrical motors at the heart of the air-con-
ditioning systems. During major system disturbances, these motors have a tendency to stall and
become a significant drain of reactive current, resulting in local voltage collapse that may lead to
wide-area cascading outages. To address such problems, the solution often tends to be a combina-
tion of faster protection systems (that is, an ability to remove the faulted line as quickly as possible
from service) and the addition of fast-acting dynamic reactive power devices. With the advent of
modern power electronics, shunt devices, such as static var compensators (SVCs) and static compen-
sators (STATCOMs), can be implemented to provide the necessary fast and smooth dynamic reactive
support. These devices also boast other system performance benefits, such as improving transient stabili-
ty and small-signal stability as well as significant operational benefits.
Other FACTS controllers include the series devices such as the thyristor-controlled series capacitor (TCSC).
Series FACTS devices can also be used to enhance the damping of interarea modes of oscillation between gener-
ating plants while improving transient stability and providing a means of controlling power flow on parallel ac
transmission paths.
At the heart of FACTS devices is either the thyristor valve or the gate-turn-off device. The thyristor valve has been
around since the 1970s and is a four-layered junction semiconductor device. The thyristor is line commutated and, while its
turn-on time can be controlled, turn-off occurs only when the line current reverses. This means that thyristor-based devices are
controlled passive components. That is, through controlled switching of thyristors, the effective impedance of a series or shunt

september/october 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine 37


TCR TSC TCR/FC TCR/TSC VSC
TSR

figure 1. Building blocks for shunt FACTS devices such as the SVC or STATCOM.

device can be quickly and smoothly changed to result in con- Shunt FACTS Devices and Voltage Control
trol of a power system parameter. More advanced technolo- Shunt FACTS devices such as SVCs or the static compen-
gies use gate-turn-off thyristors (GTOs), insulated gate bipolar sator (STATCOM) can be used to provide significant
transistors (IGBTs), or insulated gate-commutated thyristors improvements in voltage control and stability. Shunt FACTS
(IGCTs). These power electronic devices allow controlled devices have been applied at voltages ranging from 35735
switching both on and off. As such, extremely fast switch- kV to improve system dynamic voltage performance.
ing frequencies (kilohertz) can be used to fully control the The SVC is an impedance device that uses thyristor
output of the device. In this manner, through forced commuta- valves to control the effective impedance applied to the sys-
tion, a truly active voltage-source device can be designed. In tem. By regulating the devices impedance as a function of
the following sections, these technologies and their benefits in measured system voltage, vernier voltage control can be
reducing the risk blackouts are described in more detail. effected. In addition, by integrating the control of other
nearby mechanically switched capacitor banks (which may
already exist in the system), a fully integrated static VAr
system (SVS) can be implemented to provide much greater
flexibility and control. Such a design ensures that the
switching of the mechanically switched capacitor (MSC)
banks and the SVC is fully coordinated and automated,
thereby removing the need for operator action (and possible
operator error) following a major disturbance.
Another shunt FACTS device is the STATCOM, which is
based on voltage-sourced converter technology. Under cer-
tain system conditions, these devices present additional
benefits since, once at its reactive limit, a STATCOM is a
constant-current device, while an SVC is a constant-imped-
ance device. However, it is possible to build SVC and
STATCOM devices having equal system performance pro-
figure 2. A 100-MVAr STATCOM installed in a U.S. city vided that the individual device rating is different. In most
center to provide dynamic voltage support following the utility transmission applications, the decision for SVC or
retirement of generation adjacent to the STATCOM site. STATCOM technology is typically not driven by electrical
The power electronics are enclosed in a two-story building system performance since both devices have similar per-
to reduce the footprint and reduce audible noise to the formance. However, while SVCs have generally proven to
surrounding area. have lower equipment costs and lower losses, STATCOMs

38 IEEE power & energy magazine september/october 2006


have also been used in transmission where land constraints, eration is the first to come online, except in cases where a
audible noise, or visual impact are of concern. higher-cost generator is required to maintain voltage under
Figure 1 shows the basic power-electronic-based building normal or contingency conditions to maintain system reliabil-
blocks used for the SVC and the voltage source converter ityhence the term reliability must-run generation. Multi-
the main building block for the STATCOM. The thyristor- ple indpendent system operators (ISOs) and regional
controlled reactor (TCR) provides vernier control throughout transmission authorities have reported annual RMR costs in
the rating of this building block, but as a nonlinear device, excess of US$100 million. Given the magnitude of these
the TCR generates harmonics that must be mitigated with costs and the objective of market operators to constantly
filters. For this reason, a TCR is always combined with har- improve market efficiency, several system operators have
monic filters, which also provide part or all of the SVCs taken specific actions to reduce RMR costs. However, retiring
capacitive rating. A thyristor-switched capacitor (TSC) can generation without consideration for voltage support can
also be added to a TCR and filter to increase the operating adversely impact overall system reliability. Shunt FACTS
range of an SVC. devices have been applied in several locations in the United
A voltage source converter (VSC) has by its nature a sym- States since the late 1990s to provide dynamic reactive sup-
metrical output. However, in many cases where reactive sup- port as generators are retired for the purpose of reducing
port is required, a greater capacitive rating of the device is RMR costs. Figure 2 shows 100-MVAr STATCOM applied
needed relative to inductive rating. For this reason, a VSC is for fast voltage support in a U.S. city center to facilitate the
often combined with MSCs. retirement of a generating plant without adversely impacting
In recent years, shunt FACTS devices have been increas- system reliability.
ingly applied at subtransmission levels to facilitate the retire- Power plant generators are the most common form of
ment of old or uneconomic generation assets [often called dynamic reactive power. However, as indicated above, they
reliability must-run (RMR) generation]. This application (of may not be the most economical. In particular, concentrated
both SVC and STATCOM) to facilitate the retirement of areas of load such as city centers have sufficient transmission
uneconomic generation assets is often attributed to electric available to serve the megawatt demand from distant sources
utility deregulation. Also, some aging generating facilities are of low-cost generation. However, if city-center generation is
retired due to environmental concerns related to emissions. retired, some form of dynamic voltage support must be sup-
Under market-based generation dispatch, the lowest-cost gen- plied in some alternative variety. Without adequate dynamic

Table 1. Summary of transmission technologies.

Device Potential Application Potential Benefits as Countermeasures to Blackouts


HVDC (conventional) Transmission of power over Ability to control power on the dc path independently of parallel
long distances or between ac paths. Ability to isolate the two interconnected systems,
asynchronous systems creating a firewall between the two systems. In some cases
the ability to improve damping of power oscillations on parallel
ac paths through proper application of supplemental controls
on the dc converters.

HVDC (voltage Transmission of power over Same benefits as conventional dc with the added advantage of
source converter) long distances or between being able to control both real and reactive power independently
asynchronous systems at each converter, thereby providing voltage support/regulation.
This type of dc link also allows for black-start, that is, load can
be picked up without any other source of power but the dc
converter.

SVC/STATCOM To provide local voltage These shunt devices can provide a number of potential benefits:
support in heavy load Improve/ensure voltage stability and regulation
centers remote from Improve/ensure transient stability when placed
generation; to improve appropriately on long transmission paths
power transfer on long Improve small-signal stability through the proper
transmission paths, by tuning and application of supplemental damping
providing fast voltage controls.
support midline and, thus,
improved transient stability
margins

TCSC To allow for control of This technology can mitigate SSR for series capacitor
power flow on parallel applications. In addition, through the application of
ac paths. To mitigate supplemental power oscillation damping controls, it can be used
subsynchronous resonance to enhance small-signal stability. Clearly, the series capacitor
(SSR) itself provides significant improvements in transient stability margins.

september/october 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine 39


Shunt FACTS devices such as static VAr compensators
or the static compensator can be used to provide significant
improvements in voltage control and stability.

reactive support, reliability issues such as voltage collapse orgized. Thus, if an MSC is inserted following a contingency
widespread loss of load (blackout) can arise. The smoothly and then taken off line, it cannot be reinserted for several
controllable dynamic nature of FACTS devices makes them minutes. The span of a dynamic event can range from mil-
an increasingly common substitute for dynamic reactive com- liseconds to minutes, reducing the effectiveness of an MSC
pensation, which was formerly supplied by a generator locat- to actively compensate for typical postcontingency voltage
ed close to a load center. perturbations. An SVC or STATCOM can vary its output on
Shunt FACTS devices have also been applied at bulk a millisecond basis without limitation.
transmission voltages since the 1980s to improve power Another means of reducing the cost of an SVC or
transfer capability by improving transient stability margins, STATCOM is by designing a short-term or overload rat-
postfault voltage recovery, and damping power oscillations. ing. The reason for having a short-term rating is that, in
In terms of cost per MVAr, MSCs can be an order of some applications, the FACTS device may only be needed
magnitude less costly than FACTS devices. Given these for a short time following contingencies. However, care
economics and the fact that MSCs work well to control must be taken in applying this approach. Following a criti-
steady-state voltage, it is often desirable to automate the cal contingency, it may take operators minutes or hours to
operation of MSCs with an SVC or STATCOM. The vernier establish the impact on load and generation and redispatch
output of the FACTS device can be used to smooth the volt- the system appropriately. While dynamic simulations may
age profile between MSC switching steps, while the output demonstrate that a device rated with short-term rating of
of the SVC or STATCOM is held within a small bandwidth seconds is appropriate to recover system voltage immedi-
close to zero to conserve its dynamic range for severe ately following a critical contingency, it is often advanta-
events. However, when combining shunt FACTS devices geous for system operation to have a fully rated device. For
with mechanically switched devices such as capacitor example, blocks of load may trip during a fault and then
banks, it is crucial to confirm that the mix of the smoothly automatically reconnect several seconds or minutes follow-
controllable reactive support under the control of power ing the contingency. A fully rated FACTS device can be
electronics versus discrete mechanically switched reactive used during this period to stabilize voltage during these
components is appropriate. For example, MSC banks typi- types of operations, while a short-term device may be at its
cally must be discharged for several minutes once deener- limit due to the initial contingency.
For an SVC, short-term rating
can range from an additional
fraction of the steady-state rating
to several times the steady-state
O1 JXC O2 O1 O2 rating. Depending on the SVC
JXL
P1 P2 component being thermally over-
Q1 Q2 loaded, the duration of an SVCs
short-term rating can be on the
order of 510 s or 24 h. A STAT-
Power Transfer Without Power Transfer with
Series Compensation Series Compensation
COM can also be designed to
have a short-term rating of several
U1 U2 U1 U2 U1 U2 times its steady-state rating for
P2 = sin P2 = sin = sin several seconds.
XL XL Xc XL(1k)

Series FACTS Devices


The use of conventional series
Xc capacitors in helping to improve
Degree of Compensation: k =
XL transient stability margins on long
EHV transmission corridors is
well known. While often not clas-
figure 3. Principle of series compensation. sified as a FACTS device, a

40 IEEE power & energy magazine september/october 2006


Many of the modern power-electronic-based
transmission technologies can help to alleviate
these types of problems.

conventional series capacitor reduces the effective reactive Other benefits of a TCSC are the ability to regulate
impedance of a transmission line. Since a capacitor is the flows between parallel transmission paths and the ability to
dual of an inductor, a series capacitor acts to cancel part of improve small-signal stability. Through dynamic control of
the impedance inherent in a transmission line, thereby mak- the effective impedance of the series device, the impedance
ing the effective electrical distance between load centers and of a transmission path can be varied relative to other paral-
power plants appear shorter. In this way, a series capacitor lel paths, allowing some control of the power flow. This
can improve system stability. The principles behind series can be particularly useful after a major disturbance, when
compensation are illustrated in Figure 3. lines become overloaded due to the redistribution of power.
Although series capacitors are
widely used in many power sys-
tems (such as the Western Electric-
R
ity Coordinating Council of the
L
North American power system),
one of the concerns with series
capacitor application is that of sub- IV
synchronous resonance, which is a F
resonance between the series-com- C
pensated electrical network and the IL +
mechanical shaft of nearby turbine- uc
generators. There are, however,
many established means of 0.5
addressing this issue, including
iL (kA)

active damping controls on the 0


generating plant(s) of concern, pas-
sive filtering at the generating
0.5
plants, and operational strategies. 2 2.005 2.01 2.015 2.02 2.025
Another effective way to address 0.5
this issue is by implementing part
iv (kA)

or all of the series capacitor as a 0


thryristor-controlled series capaci-
tor (TCSC), a series FACTS
0.5
device. One concept of TCSC con- 2 2.005 2.01 2.015 2.02 2.025
trol is described in Figure 4. One 20
of the consequences of the TCSC 10
Uc (kV)

control strategy is that the apparent 0


impedance of the device at torsion- 10
al frequencies (i.e., frequency
20
range corresponding to mechanical 2 2.005 2.01 2.015 2.02 2.025
modes of torsional oscillation on Time (s)
turbine generator shafts) is induc-
tive. This eliminates any electro-
figure 4. General concept of the control of a TCSC. By firing the forward-biased
mechanical resonance between the
thyristor just prior to a capacitor voltage zero crossing, an additional current is
controlled series capacitor and the injected into the capacitor, causing its voltage to jump further when crossing
torsional modes of nearby turbine- zero. Thus, the effective voltage across the capacitor is increased at fundamental
generators. Figure 5 shows how the frequency, and so its apparent impedance increases. Therefore, through
TCSC can effectively mitigate tor- controlled firing of the thyristors, the apparent impedance of the series capacitor
sional instability. can be varied over a designed range of values.

september/october 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine 41


power oscillations on a major
1.02
transmission line can be quickly
TCSC TCSC Released
damped to prevent small-signal
Blocked instability following a major dis-
1.015
turbance. More traditional devices,
such as phase-shifting transform-
1.01
Machine Mechanical Speed (pu)

ers, can also often be applied for


controlling power flow on parallel
1.005
paths. However, these devices do
not offer the significantly faster
1 response time associated with the
power electronics employed in a
0.995 TCSC. Emerging technologies
such as the unified power flow
0.99 controllers (UPFCs) can also con-
trol power flow on parallel trans-
0.985 mission corridors, while providing
all the other benefits of voltage
0.98 control and stability improve-
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
ments. However, the UPFC is yet
Time (s)
to be established as a commercial-
ly viable technology.
figure 5. TCSC application for mitigating torsional oscillations. From 15 s, the thyris-
tor valves in the TCSC portion of the series capacitor are deliberately blocked. Due to HVDC
SSR, the 20-Hz torsional mode of the shaft becomes unstable (the machine used is the
Transmission Systems
IEEE first SSR benchmark). Once the TCSC is released, the apparent impedance of the
HVDC transmission is widely
line at subsynchronous frequencies changes dramatically, eliminating the SSR prob-
lem near 20 Hz and resulting in damping of the torsional oscillations. recognized as being advantageous
for economic long-distance, bulk-
power delivery, asynchronous
Following such a disturbance, either by operator action or interconnections, and long submarine cable crossings.
through automated control, the effective impedance of a HVDC lines and cables are less expensive and have lower
path compensated by the TCSC can be controlled to losses than those for three-phase ac transmission. Higher
change the power flow on that path to mitigate thermal power transfers are possible over longer distances with
overload on that or adjacent paths. Similarly, through fast fewer lines with HVDC transmission than with ac trans-
modulation of the effective impedance of a TCSC, the mission. Higher power transfers are possible without

1 3 5

UIa Uca I
++ +
Ua

UIb Ucb I
++ +
Ub

UIc Ucc Ic
++ +
Uc

Valve Commutation Converter


4 6 2
Enclosures Capacitor Transformer

figure 6. Rapid city tie with modular 2 100 MW capacitor commutated converters.

42 IEEE power & energy magazine september/october 2006


Other benefits of a TCSC are the ability
to regulate flows between parallel transmission paths
and the ability to improve small-signal stability.

distance limitation on HVDC cable systems using fewer stopped at the asynchronous interface with Quebec. Que-
cables than with ac cable systems, whose capacity dimin- bec was unaffected. The weak ac interconnections between
ishes with distance due to their charging current. Because New York and New England tripped, but the HVDC links
of their controllability, HVDC links offer firm capacity from Quebec continued to deliver power to New England.
without limitation due to network congestion or loop flow Conventional HVDC transmission employs line-
on parallel paths. commutated converters with thyristor valves. These convert-
With HVDC transmission systems, interconnections can ers require a relatively strong synchronous voltage source to
be made between asynchronous networks for more eco- commutate. The conversion process demands reactive
nomic or reliable operation. The asynchronous intercon- power, which is supplied by mechanically switched ac fil-
nection allows interconnections of mutual benefit but ters or shunt capacitor banks that are an integral part of the
provides a buffer between the two systems. Often these converter station. Any surplus or deficit in reactive power
interconnections use back-to-back converters with no trans- must be accommodated by the ac system. This difference in
mission line. The asynchronous links act as an effective reactive power must be kept within a given band to keep the
firewall against propagation of cascading outages from ac voltage within the desired tolerance. The weaker the sys-
one network to another. Many asynchronous interconnec- tem or the further away the HVDC is from generation, the
tions exist in North America between the eastern and west- tighter the reactive power exchange must be to stay within
ern interconnected systems, between the Electric the desired voltage tolerance.
Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and its neighbors Converters with series capacitors connected between the
and between Quebec and its neighbors. The August 2003 valves and the transformers were introduced in the late
Northeast blackout provides an example of this firewall 1990s for weak-system back-to-back applications. These
against cascading outages provided by dc asynchronous converters are referred to as capacitor-commutated convert-
interconnections. As the outage propagated around the ers (CCCs). The series capacitor provides some of the con-
lower Great Lakes and through Ontario and New York, it verter reactive power requirements automatically with load

udc1 udc2
i
uac1 i uac2
uac-ref2
uac-ref1
+
udc-ref1 udc-ref2
+ ac
ac + Voltage
Voltage dc dc Control
Control Voltage Voltage
Control Control
PWM PWM
Internal Internal
Current Current
qref1 Control pref1 pref2 Control qref2

figure 7. VSC-based HVDC system control.

september/october 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine 43


HVDC transmission and reac-
Q tive power compensation with VSC
technology has certain attributes
0,5 that can be beneficial to overall
Converter
system performance. VSC convert-
Classic
Shunt Filter er technology can provide rapid,
Banks independent control of both active
0,13
Harmonic and reactive power. Reactive power
Filters Id can also be controlled at each ter-
1.0
Unbalance minal independent of the dc trans-
mission voltage level. This control
figure 8. Reactive power balance conventional HVDC. capability gives total flexibility to
place converters anywhere in the
ac network since there is no
current and provides part of the commutation voltage, restriction on minimum network short-circuit capacity.
which improves voltage stability. This reduces the need for Forced commutation with VSC even permits black-start,
switching of shunt compensation with load changes. The i.e., the converter can be used to synthesize a balanced set
CCC configuration allows higher power ratings in areas of three-phase voltages like a virtual synchronous genera-
were the ac network is close to its voltage stability limit. tor. The dynamic support of the ac voltage at each con-
The asynchronous Garabi interconnection between Brazil verter terminal improves the voltage stability and
and Argentina consists of four 550-MW parallel CCC increases the transfer capability of the sending- and
links. The Rapid City Tie between the eastern and western receiving-end ac systems.
interconnected systems consists of two 100-MW parallel Being able to independently control ac voltage magni-
CCC links (Figure 6). tude and phase relative to the system voltage allows the use
HVDC transmission using VSCs with pulse-width modula- of separate active and reactive power control loops for
tion (PWM) is an new addition to the HVDC family. These HVDC system regulation (Figure 7). The active power con-
VSC-based systems are force-commutated with IGBT valves trol loop can be set to control either the active power or the
and solid-dielectric, extruded HVDC cables. dc side voltage. In a dc link, one station will be selected to
control the active power while the
other must be set to control the dc
side voltage. The reactive power
control loop can be set to control
P-Q Diagram (Vchada Volga Range)
either the reactive power or the ac
1.25 1.25
side voltage. Either of these two
1 modes can be selected independ-
ently at either end of the dc link.
0.75
Operating Area No mechanical switching of reac-
0.5 tive power compensation elements
Active Power | P. U. |

is required, unlike in conventional


0.25 HVDC. The reactive power
P(I)

dynamic range, however, can be


1.25 1 0.75 0.5 0.25 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 biased by a mechanically switched
0.25 capacitor bank, similar to what is
done with SVSs.
0.5
Figure 8 shows the reactive
0.75 power demand of a conventional
converter station. In contrast, Figure
1 9 shows the reactive power capabili-
1.25 ty of a VSC station.
1.25
1.25 D() 1.25
Conclusions
Range Power (R)
A brief overview of modern
Y-axis: Active Power transmission technologies and
how they may be effectively used
figure 9. Typical HVDC VSC converter active (P) and reactive (Q) power capability. to enhance system dynamic per-

44 IEEE power & energy magazine september/october 2006


formance in response to major system disturbances has M. Bahrman, D. Dickinson, P. Fisher, and M. Stoltz, The
been presented (Table 1 provides a brief summary). In Rapid City TieNew technology tames the East-West inter-
this way, some of the risks of potential cascading outages connection, in Proc. Minnesota Power Systems Conf., Nov.
and islanding of the system can be mitigated. Of course, 2004, pp. 16.
the application of these devices requires proper coordina-
tion and tuning of controls to ensure robust performance. Biographies
The key benefit is the ability to effect fast and automatic Pouyan Pourbeik received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees in
response to system disturbances, thereby enhancing electrical engineering from the University of Adelaide, Aus-
damping in power oscillations, transient stability mar- tralia, in 1993 and 1997, respectively, and is a registered pro-
gins, and smooth voltage recovery and regulation follow- fessional engineer in the state of North Carolina. In June
ing major system disturbances. 2006, he joined EPR Solutions Inc.Before joining EPRI, he
worked for ABB and prior to that GE Power Systems.
For Further Reading While at ABB, he was heavily involved with studies related
N.G. Hingorani, High power electronics and flexible ac to the application and modeling of flexible ac transmission
transmission system, IEEE Power Eng. Rev., vol. 8, no. 7, systems (FACTS) and high-voltage dc (HVDC). He is
pp. 34, July 1988. presently the chair of the IEEE Power Engineering Society
N.G. Hingorani, Flexible AC transmission, IEEE (PES) Power Systems Stability Subcommittee and convener
Spectr., vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 4045, Apr. 1993. of the CIGR WG C4.6.01 on Power System Security
J.J. Paserba, How FACTS controllers benefit AC trans- Assessment. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.
mission systems, in Proc. IEEE PES General Meeting, June Mike Bahrman is currently the U.S. marketing and sales
2004, pp. 12571262. manager for high-voltage dc (HVDC) and flexible ac trans-
E. John, A. Oskoui, and A. Petersson, Using a STATCOM mission systems (FACTS) with ABB, Inc., of Raleigh, North
to retire urban generation, in Proc. IEEE PES Power Systems Carolina. He has 23 years of experience with ABB Power
Conf. and Exposition, New York, Oct. 1013, 2004, pp. Systems. This experience includes system analysis, system
693698. design, project engineering, and project management for vari-
P. Pourbeik, A. Bostrm, and B. Ray, Modeling and ous HVDC and FACTS projects in North America. Prior to
application studies for a modern static VAr system installa- joining ABB, he was with Minnesota Power for ten years,
tion, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. where he held positions as transmission planning engineer,
368377, Jan. 2006. HVDC control engineer, and manager of system performance
P. Pourbeik, D. Wang, and K. Hoang, Load modeling in and dispatch.
voltage stability studies, in Proc. IEEE PES General Meet- Eric John received a bachelors degree in electric power
ing, San Francisco, June 2005, pp. 18931900. engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New
P.M. Anderson and R.G. Farmer, Series Compensation of York, and and an M.B.A. from Duke Universitys Fuqua
Power Systems. Encinitas, CA: PBLSH Inc., 1996. School of Business. He is currently the U.S. marketing and
L. Angquist, G. Ingestrom, and H-A. Jonsson, Dynami- sales manager for flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS)
cal performance of TCSC schemes, in Proc. CIGRE Session, with ABB, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina. Since joining
Paris, France, 1996, pp. 14302. ABB in 1998, he has held a number of engineering and mar-
C. Gama, L. Angquist, G. Ingestrom, and M. Noroozian, keting functions related to power quality and FACTS, both
Commissioning and operative experience of TCSC for in Sweden and the United States. Prior to joining ABB, he
damping power oscillation in the Brazilian North-South Inter- worked with Westinghouse Power Generation on power
connection, in Proc. CIGRE Session 2000, Paris, France, quality and FACTS.
2000, pp. 14104. Willie Wong received a B.S.E. degree from Northern Ari-
P. Pourbeik and M.J. Gibbard, Damping and synchroniz- zona University, an M.S.E. degree from Arizona State Uni-
ing torques induced on generators by FACTS stabilizers in versity, and an M.B.A. from the University of North
multimachine power systems, IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. Carolina. He is director of Electric Systems Consulting with
11, no. 4, pp. 19201925, Nov. 1996. ABB, Inc., in Raleigh, North Carolina. His area of expertise
L. Kirschner, D. Retzmann, and G. Thumm, Benefits of is in power system analysis application of advanced tech-
FACTS for power system enhancement, in Proc. 2005 nologies such as high-voltage dc (HVDC), static var com-
IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conf. and Exhibi- pensator (SVC), and other FACTS devices. Prior to joining
tion: Asia and Pacific Dalian, China, pp. 17. ABB in 1984, he was a senior engineer in transmission plan-
D. McCallum, G. Moreau, J. Primeau, D. Soulier, M. ning at a major utility company in Phoenix, Arizona. He is
Bahrman, and B. Ekehov, Multiterminal integration of the active in the IEEE and is a member of several subcommit-
nicolet converter station into the Quebec-New England tees under the Power System Dynamic Performance Com-
Phase II HVC transmission system, in Proc. CIGRE Session mittee. He has authored/coauthored many papers on power
1994, Paris, France, pp. 17. system engineering and holds one U.S. patent. p&e

september/october 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine 45

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