Congestion management using FACTS devices

With power system restructuring going on the world over, there are increased power transactions due to wheeling, unscheduled flows, higher contractual needs etc. This results in heavy flows in transmission lines causing higher losses with possibility of loss of stability and security. This results in congestion on transmission lines. FACTS device can provide a solution to mitigate the effect of congestion in heavily loaded lines. This paper investigates the effect of SVC, TCSC and UPFC devices on power flows and bus voltages with increased line loadings. The effectiveness of these FACTS devices are demonstrated on two test systems viz. IEEE-14 bus system and WSCC 9 bus system. © 2013, The Society for Reliability Engineering, Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM), India and The Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.