Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189

FACTS applications in load ow studies effect on the steady state

analysis of the Hellenic transmission system
John G. Vlachogiannis *
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aristotle Uni6ersity of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Received 5 September 1999; accepted 11 November 1999
Abstract
The critical role of control strategies of power system operation in the load ow analysis has long been recognized. Efcient
implementation of adjustments which model the modern control strategies, such as FACTS devices control, is growing in
importance in the new energy management system environment. In this paper, three FACTS devices, the SVC, TCSC and TCPAR
are modelled and integrated into new FDLF (n-FDLF) program. A model of the Hellenic power system representing its current
state under peak load condition will be analyzed using a new version of n-FDLF program. More specically the problem of low
voltage prole in the North-Eastern area of the Hellenic system (East Macedonia and Thrace region) is investigated. This problem
is examined, taking account of the upcoming conditions in the Hellenic system, such as the installation of TCSC or TCPAR in
one of transmission line and the interconnection between Greece and Italy systems via an HVDC link. The proposed solution for
the above problem is the installation of a SVC at a bus of the East MacedoniaThrace region. Test results on the Hellenic power
system are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed project. Also, test results on several systems present the
efciency of the enhancement n-FDLF program in the adjusted solution. 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights
reserved.
Keywords: Load ow studies; Steady state analysis; FACTS devices; Adjustment interactions; Hellenic transmission system
www.elsevier.com/locate/epsr
1. Introduction
The trend, which appears in the development of
modern transmission systems, is the more intensive
utilization of existing networks. In addition to this, due
to deregulation and reconstruction of the electric power
industry, the need arises to transport large blocks of
power between areas through dened corridors. Fur-
thermore the voltage prole of the remote buses of
systems is necessary to be kept within a pre-specied
range. Thus the need arises to install modern devices,
such as FACTS, into power systems [1].
The critical role of control strategies of power system
operation in load ow analysis has long been recog-
nized. Efcient implementation of adjustments which
models the modern control strategies, such as FACTS
devices control is growing in importance in the new
energy management system environment.
The main problem with introducing FACTS into
load ow studies is the adjustment interaction [2]. Ad-
justments interactions arise in load ow solution on
account of control strategies. They slow down the
convergence and can often cause oscillation of the
solution or even divergence.
The state of the art fast decoupled load ow (FDLF)
method which models all conventional adjustments has
been represented in [3]. In this program the adjustments
are implemented via the conventional schemes of error
feedback and bus switching [3]. The developed method
employs the full solution [3], instead of auxiliary solu-
tion [4], after a set of adjustments.
For solving all types of adjustment interactions the
new FDLF program [3] is enhanced by the following
objectives:
All control strategies within single-type local interac-
tions group, are solved in a coordinated and simulta-
neous manner [2].
The global interactions problem in the error feed-
back adjustment scheme can be alleviated by scaling
the control variable changes [24].
* Present address: Department of Engineering, Merchant Marine
Academy of Aspropyrgos, Paralia Aspropyrgou, TK 19300, Athens,
Greece. Tel.: +30-1-5574171; fax: +30-1-5576807.
E-mail address: vlachogiannis@yahoo.com (J.G. Vlachogiannis).
0378-7796/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S0378- 7796( 00) 00083- 3
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 180
Cross-type interactions [2] can be partially circum-
vented by using proper starting criteria and enforc-
ing the different adjustments in a specic sequence
[3]. Also the two-pass solution method [2] is em-
ployed to the Q-limit enforcement adjustment. The
proper starting criteria when implemented together
with the two-pass solution method, greatly improves
the efciency of the adjusted solution.
Moreover, three FACTS devices, the SVC, TCSC
and TCPAR are modelled and integrated into the new
FDLF [3] (n-FDLF) program.
In this paper, a model of the Hellenic power system
representing its current state under peak load condition
will be analyzed using the enhancement n-FDLF pro-
gram. More specically the problem of low voltage
prole in the North-Eastern area of the Hellenic system
(East-Macedonia and Thrace region) is investigated.
This problem is examined by taking account of the
following conditions:
The current conguration of the Hellenic system
necessitates the availability of maximum transfer
capacity from North to South area, within stability
limits, even in (n-l) conditions. This is achieved by
the installation of a TCSC or TCPAR in one 400 kV
transmission line (Public Power Corp. project).
The upcoming interconnection of GreeceItaly
transmission systems by the end of year 2000 via an
HVDC link of 500 MW capacity. For the implemen-
tation of this project one FIVI3C-converter station
will be installed in combination with the installation
of a TCPAR or TCSC in one 400 kV transmission
line. Also two new AC transmission lines at 400 kV
with triple bundle heavy type conductors will be
installed in the Hellenic system.
The installation of one more heavy type transmission
line 150 kV replacing the existing line, which is pro-
posed by Public Power Corporation for solving the
above problem, is not right decision mainly because of
environmental issues. Nevertheless, the SVC installa-
tion at a bus of the region of East Macedonia and
Thrace is capable of keeping the voltage magnitudes
within the pre-specied range. Test results are presented
of applying the proposed solution in comparison with
the tap changing voltage control, which have been
investigated in [5].
The enforcement of an enhancement package of n-
FDLF to the Hellenic transmission system with the
conditions discussed above, circumvents the adjustment
interactions in contrast to other load ow programs. So
test results on several systems are presented to demon-
strate the effectiveness of the n-FDLF in the adjusted
solution.
2. Modeling of FACTS devices
For the scope of this study three FACTS devices, the
TCPAR [3], the TCPAR and the SVC [6], have been
modelled and integrated into the n-FDLF [3]. This
program has been used for the last 6 years in perform-
ing analytical studies and for educational purposes at
the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The models of
FACTS devices incorporated are described next.
2.1. TCSC
TCSC is used to control the real power ow in an
AC line by controlling the line impedance (Fig. 1). The
basic relation of line power is as follows:
P=
U
i
U
k
xx
c
sin l (1)
where U
i
, U
k
are the terminal nodes voltages, x is the
line impedance, x
c
is the capacitor controlled
impedance and l is the phase angle between voltages.
TCSC variation is modelled as real power ow ad-
justment in the Pq cycle of n-FDLF [3]. In the
routines of this program, Jacobians are held constant
and the above adjustments are handled via the error
feedback scheme [3]. The error in real power ow of
previous iterations is used to calculate the new values of
impedance so that the line real power ow is driven to
the desired value.
This simple scaling process preserves the direction of
the original changes, thus minimizing the perturbation
to the solution. In this way, a few iterations are re-
quired to adjust line impedance so as to achieve the
desired power ow.
2.2. TCPAR
The phase shifting transformer is connected between
the terminal buses i and k with an ideal turns ratio and
shifting angle in series with transformer admittance
y
k
, as shown in Fig. 2. The real power ow (P
i
),
through a controllable phase shifter (TCPAR) can be
Fig. 1. TCSC in the middle of the transmission line.
Fig. 2. PAR connected between terminal-buses.
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 181
Fig. 3. SVC model for operation within control range as a PV-type
bus.
where
D
0
=DP
0(i k)
* x
ik
/S (6)
and x
ik
is the reactance impedance of i k line.
DP
0(i k)
=P
i
P
desired
(7)
DP
(i k)
is the error in real power ow of the previous
iteration.
The correction of the phase shift angle introduces
incremental real power mismatches, which are updated
and solved. The use of automatic scaling method [2]
with full solution method [3], overcomes the single-type
global interactions between TCPAR and other real
power ow adjustments. After this process the desired
ow on the specic transmission line is achieved in a
few iterations.
Also the automatic scaling method is implemented in
the reactive power adjustments, such as remote and tap
changing voltage control, according to [2].
2.3. SVC
One way to represent the SVC in the QV cycle of
n-FDLF [3], is to model it as synchronous condenser.
This is presented as a PV-node at an auxiliary bus. The
PV-node can be treated like any other generator, with
no real power output (P=0) and with specied mini-
mum and maximum reactive limits representing the
range of SVC-reactive power outputs. A reactance of
X
SL
equivalent to the slope SL (X
SL
in p.u. =SL, in p.u.
[6]) is added between the auxiliary node and PQ-bus of
the HV system. This method, which assumes a continu-
ous range of SVC, is used in this paper. The basic SVC
model is shown in Fig. 3 as a PV-bus [6].
Based on the SVC current I
SVC
, which can be calcu-
lated as the current between the SVC node and the
auxiliary SVC-bus, the control procedure will decide
whether the auxiliary SVC-bus will be a PV-bus (within
Q-limits, Q
min
BQBQ
max
) or a PQ-bus (without Q-
limits), as shown in Fig. 4. If the SVC is operating
outside the limits (I
SVC
\I
max
or UBU
min
) the reactive
power Q is set [6]:
Q=B
min
* U
2
or Q=B
max
* U
2
, (8)
respectively where B is the equivalent suspectance of
the SVC and U is the calculated voltage magnitudes at
the SVC node in the previous iteration of the solution.
The auxiliary bus has to be switched back to the
PV-type as soon as the SVC is back to its normal
operating range during the next iteration. This method
requires the refactorization or factor updating of the B%%
matrix whenever the PV-bus is switched to load bus
(PQ-type). The most efcient refactonization methods
are developed in [7].
The most serious perturbations are introduced by
Q-limits/MVAr back-off enforcement for which a two-
Fig. 4. SVC model as a PQ-type bus.
regulated by adjusting its shift angle . In the Pq
cycle of n-FDLF [3] this adjustment is best handled via
the error feedback scheme, in which the feedback
gain is approximated by the sensitivity (S) between the
phase shift and the power ow.
The sensitivity S is computed using the linearized
network model of the following equation [4]:
DP
V
=[B%]Dq (2)
where DP is the real power mismatches vector, Dq is the
voltage angle correction vector.
B%
ii
=%
1
x
ik
, B%
ik
=%
1
x
ik
(3)
where x
ik
is the reactive impedance of branch i k.
The sensitivity is equal to:
S=(M
ik
B
1
N
ik
1)/x
ik
(4)
where M
ik
is a sparse vector with +1 and 1 in the
i th and kth positions, N
ik
is a sparse vector with
+1/x
ik
and 1/x
ik
in the i th and kth positions.
A negative value of S is used when P
k
is controlled
instead of P
i
. The nal changes in the control variable
D are obtained by scaling the original (preliminary)
changes D
0
by a factor [2]:
h=DP
(i k)
/DP
0(i k)
(5)
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 182
pass solution scheme was developed. So a full solution
method is performed after this adjustment [3]. This
method partically neutralized the cross-type interac-
tions. The load ow can then continue until a solution
is reached.
3. The Hellenic power system
3.1. Bulk power system
In the Hellenic power system the main power pro-
duction is situated in the North while more than one-
third of total load of the system is concentrated m the
Athens region, as demonstrated in Fig. 5. More than
60% of the generating capacity in the Hellenic power
system is provided by four coal-red power plants
installed in the North of the country (Ptolemaida re-
gion) and close to each other. In addition almost 20%
of the total generation is provided by hydroplants,
situated in mainly in Western Greece (Acheloos region).
Oil-red power plants also exist near the Athens region
(Lavrio), where oil is replaced by natural gas in order
to support the system with respect to environmental
issues. More specically, a new combined cycle power
plant of 500 MW has been put into operation at the
Lavrio site, in addition to the 627 MW installed
capacity.
The Hellenic transmission system consists of high
voltage lines of 400 and 150 kV and covers a total
length of almost 10 200 km. The link between 400 and
150 kV lines is achieved by three-winding 400/150/330
kV autotransformers. There are four 400 kV main links
between generating plants and major load centers:
PtolemaidaAthens, AcheloosAthens, LavrioAthens
and PtolemaidaThessaloniki.
In order to increase the system reliability and avoid
blackouts in the Athens area the third transmission line
between North and South has recently been put into
operation.
Furthermore, because of continuous growth of load
in the South (Athens region), a TCSC (or a TCPAR) is
required to be installed in one of the most critical 400
kV transmission lines, while the problem of low voltage
prole in North-Eastern (East Macedonia and Thrace
region) is proposed to be solved by installation of a
Fig. 5. The Hellenic mainland bulk power system.
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 183
Fig. 6. 150 kV grid of the East MacedoniaThrace region with the SVC installation at the CFIPLA-bus.
SVC at the critical CF1PLA-bus of the same area (Fig.
6).
3.2. GreeceItaly HVDC link
Referring to the GreeceItaly electrical interconnec-
tion, a monopolar HVDC link of 500 MW will be
erected by the end of year 2000. For the implementa-
tion of this project on Greek territory, one converter
station will be constructed at the Arachthos bus and
will be connected to the 400 kV grid. Also, two new AC
transmission lines at 400 kV with triple bundle heavy
type conductors will be built between Trikala
Arachthos and AcheloosArachthos (Fig. 5) of 104
and 73 km, respectively and one DC line leading to the
DC submarine cable. In this paper, the HVDC link [8]
is implemented by the Hellenic transmission system as
real and reactive power injection at the terminal-bus of
Arachthos. Next, the HVDC link will be modelled as
real power adjustment in the Pq cycle of the n-FDLF
according to [3], and its behavior on the GreekItaly
interconnection system will be investigated.
4. Results
4.1. Steady state analysis of the Hellenic transmission
system
For the investigation of the effect of the three
FACTS devices discussed above, both with and without
power interchanges through the HVDC link, a realistic
model of the current state of the Hellenic power system
corresponding to the summer of 1997 peak load of 7500
MW, is applied to enhancement package of n-FDLF.
The power system model consists of 240 buses, 267
branches, 30 equivalent generators, four three-winding
autotransformers and 54 transformers. The system
loads are modelled as mixed type constant power/con-
stant admittance and projected to the year 2000. This
model has been enhanced with the two new 400 kV AC
transmission lines between TrikalaArachthos and
AcheloosArachthos. The HVDC link in load ow
simulations is assumed to operate at full rating condi-
tions. More specically, the imported power through
the HVDC link is modelled as power generation with a
maximum of 500 MW/275 MVAr and the exported
power as constant power load. It must be noticed that
at full rating conditions the AC lters of the HVDC
link produce 180 MVAr, whereas the network delivers
the rest.
In order to estimate power system performance, the
followmig indices for voltage limit violations have been
used [9]:
J
V
= %
i =NL
i =1
W
i
(V
i
V.
i
)
2m
(9)
and
J
VS
= %
i =NS
i =1
W
i
(V
i
V.
i
)
2m
(10)
where V
i
is the voltage magnitude at busbar i, V.
i
is the
overvoltage or undervoltage limit at busbar i, W
i
is a
weighting factor, NL is the number of load busbars and
NS is the number of busbars.
A large value of J
V
and J
VS
indicates that one or
more of the system buses has a voltage magnitude
outside the desired limits. The weighting factors W
i
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 184
Fig. 7. Normal operation of 400 kV grid (case 1).
expresses the importance of avoiding voltage limits
violations on a bus. The parameter m is used so that
large violations make a large contribution to the value
of the index. In the following study cases the deviation
of bus voltages from 1 p.u. is calculated, while no
different weighting factors have been taken into consid-
eration and m is equal to unit. In addition to these two
indices, the power system losses (P
l
) and the 400 kV
subnetwork losses (P
l
400
) are calculated from the re-
sults of the load ow program for each case.
The power ows through the 400 kV transmission
lines to Athens, in a steady state operation with Lavrio
generation in operation and without any power ex-
change, are shown in Fig. 7.
It is observed that there is a balanced power ow
through the three 400 kV corridors from North to
South. It must be noticed that each line of the diagram
is a double circuit line with double bundle heavy type
conductors and they operate well below their thermal
limit of 1400 MVA. The four indices for the normal
operation of the power system are summarized in Table
1 (case 1), while the low voltage prole in the North-
Eastern region is shown in Table 2 (case 1).
If a contingency occurs like as an outage on the line
Ag, DemetriosLarisa, a substantial, but expected, im-
balance of 36.5% between the two remaining transmis-
sion lines is observed in Fig. 8.
The system power losses are signicantly increased
and a much larger violation of voltage limits occurs
(case 2 in Table 1). Also the voltage magnitudes in the
East Macedonia and Thrace region are decreased com-
pared with the normal operation of the system (case 2
in Table 2).
The power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid when
exports of 500 MW to Italy occur are presented in Fig.
9. The indices in Table 1, for this situation (case 3) are
increased compared with normal operation of the sys-
tem (case 1). Also, the low voltage prole in the East
Macedonia and Thrace region is presented in Table 2
(case 3).
For an outage on the transmission line Ag,
DemetriosLarisa results in no signicant imbalance
between the remaining 400 kV transmission lines, as
shown in Fig. 10, but the system is operating under
stressed conditions (case 4 in Table 1). The voltage
prole in the North-Eastern is out of the pre-specied
range, as shown in case 4 of Table 2.
The installation of TCSC and SVC for improvement
of power balance and voltage prole in the East Mace-
doniaThrace region is studied in the next cases.
In the case where no power exchanges and (n-l)
conditions in the system occur, the effect of TCSC (or
Table 1
Voltage indices and power system losses of the Hellenic system
J
v
J
vs
P
i
Study case P
i
400
0.496 Case 1 0.491 3.103 0.321
0.657 1.038 Case 2 3.990 1.005
Case 3 0.476 3.589 0.792 0.801
1.269 1.233 Case 4 4.090 0.598
Case 5 0.646 0.611 3.543 0.570
0.545 3.247 Case 6 0.527 0.550
0.710 3.655 Case 7 0.513 0.736
0.467 3.580 0.708 Case 8 0.713
Case 9 0.981 0.968 3.973 0.561
0.342 3.733 0.844 Case 10 0.852
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 185
Table 2
Voltage magnitudes of buses of the East MacedoniaThrace region
Case 1 Bus-name Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6 Case 7 Case 8 Case 9 Case 10
0.928 0.920 0.888 0.980 SERESA 1.010 0.933 0.965 1.019 0.931 1.012
0.896 0.883 0.852 0.976 1.010 0.900 0.957 DRAMAA 1.016 0.926 1.005
0.908 CFIPLA 0.904 0.892 0.860 0.990 1.025 0.970 1.030 0.940 1.018
IASMOA 0.855 0.852 0.832 0.799 0.953 0.990 0.933 0.995 0.903 0.983
0.867 0.845 0.812 0.970 0.999 0.869 0.949 ORESTA 1.012 0.920 1.000
0.863 DIDYMA 0.860 0.835 0.805 0.965 0.992 0.944 1.007 0.905 0.995
0.850 PROVTA 0.848 0.824 0.792 0.953 0.981 0.933 0.996 0.903 0.984
0.838 0.814 0.781 0.944 0.982 0.840 0.924 ALEXIA 0.986 0.894 0.975
0.843 KOMOTA 0.840 0.815 0.785 0.943 0.981 0.923 0.986 0.893 0.974
0.850 0.830 0.798 0.949 0.985 0.853 0.928 XANTHA 0.990 0.899 0.978
0.890 KAVALA 0.886 0.872 0.840 0.975 1.011 0.955 1.016 0.926 1.004
0.906 AMFIPLA 0.901 0.890 0.858 0.974 1.007 0.956 1.014 0.925 1.004
0.921 0.913 0.881 0.967 0.996 0.926 0.953 STAGIA 1.007 0.919 1.000
0.944 0.939 0.907 0.975 1.002 0.964 VAVDOA 1.014 0.948 0.927 1.009
0.947 0.942 0.910 0.975 1.001 0.964 0.952 1.014 MOUDAA 0.927 1.009
Fig. 8. Active power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid in (n-l) conditions (case 2).
TCPAR) installation at KardiaTrikala transmission
line is presented in Fig. 11.
The apparent impedance of TCSC is controlled so as
active power to be distributed between the remaining
transmission lines. A nal rate of 26% series compensa-
tor is required.
In the case of TCPAR installation, a similar active
distribution is achieved with a phase sift angle equal to
5. The indices corresponding to this case (case 6 in
Table 1) show that, the voltage prole is signicantly
improved compared with indices of case 2, while total
power losses are slightly decreased. The voltage magni-
tudes of remote buses of the East Macedonia and
Thrace region are signicantly improved (case 6 in
Table 2). This is achieved by means of 114.9 MVAr
reactive power injection from SVC to CFIPLA-bus.
Also, the voltage magnitudes at the above remote
buses are achieved within the specied ranges, by the
autotransformer tap changing voltage control at the
CTHESE-bus of Thessaloniki, as shown in case 5 of
Table 2. The voltage magnitude of the CTHESE-bus
(Fig. 6) before and after the in-phase tap changing
control is 0.975 and 1.1 p.u., respectively. The initial
and the nal tap off-nominal tap ratio is 1.2 and 1.25
(maximum tap-position), respectively. The autotrans-
former reactance, by means of implementation of auto-
transformer model developed in [5,10], is altered 24.6%
less than the specied value. The decrease of the reac-
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 186
tance increases the voltage drop at buses of East Mace-
doniaThrace region.
The indices of the Hellenic system with TCSC (TC-
PAR) and SVC installation, when exports of 500 MW
to Italy occur, are presented in Table 1 (case 8). For
this situation, the indices are substantially improved,
compared with indices of case 3. The 124.1 MVAr
reactive power injection by the SVC is capable of
keeping the voltage magnitudes within the pre-specied
range (case 8 in Table 2). Case 7 in Table 1 shows the
indices of the system, when the tap changing voltage
control is implemented at the CTHESE-bus instead of
SVC installation at CFIPLA-bus. In spite of the off-
nominal tap ratio (equal to 1.25) at the maximum
position, the voltage magnitudes partially attained the
specied range (case 7 in Table 2).
When power exchanges and (n-l) conditions occur at
the system, TCSC installed at the same position may
operate to facilitate the transit power transmission from
the northern interconnection lines of Greece to Italy.
The opposite power ow may be achieved by the
installation of a TCPAR. In Fig. 12 the power ows in
the Hellenic 400 kV grid, under the above conditions,
are presented. The indices in Table 1 (case 10) indicate
that the network is relieved, while the total power losses
have signicantly changed from that of case 4 and
Fig. 9. Active power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid with 500 MW exports to Italy (case 3).
Fig. 10. Active power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid in (n-l) condition with 500 MW exports to Italy (case 4).
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 187
Fig. 11. Active power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid in (n-l) condition with TCSC (or TCPAR) and SVC installation (case 6).
Fig. 12. Active power ows in the Hellenic 400 kV grid in (n-l) conditions with TCSC (or TCPAR) and SVC installation and 500 MW exports
to Italy (case 10).
regain their value of case 3. In the case of TCSC
installation, a nal rate of 40% series compensator is
required, while in the case of TCPAR, a similar active
power distribution is achieved, with a phase sift angle
equal to 9. For this case, the SVC is capable of
keeping the voltage prole in the North-Eastern region
within the specied range (case 10 in Table 2). The
required reactive injection from SVC is equal to 136.7
MVAr.
The tap changing voltage control with the above
conditions of the system does not keep the voltage
magnitudes in the East Macedonia and Thrace in an
acceptable range (case 9 of Table 2).
It must be noticed that, the installation of additional
natural gas generators of 550 MW at Lavrio is very
important for removing the risk of blackout in the
Athens region and relieving the rest of the Hellenic
power system for all above study cases.
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 188
4.2. Performance e6aluation of n-FDLF program
In order to estimate the performance of enhancement
package of n-FDLF, it has been tested on the Hellenic
and other large-scale systems of several utilities.
Table 3 summarizes the characteristics of the large-
scale systems. For each system the number of buses
(NB), branches (NL), PV buses (NPV), transformers
(LTC), buses with switchable capacitors (NCP), areas
(NA) and iterations for the unadjusted solutions (IT) is
shown. All test results were obtained using at-start
conditions and 0.1 MW/MVAr maximum bus mis-
matches tolerances. In the enhancement package of
n-FDLF the starting criteria for the sensitivity based
and injection-based adjustments are 500 and 5 MW/
MVAr, respectively.
The combined effect, of different adjustments on the
convergence of the large-scale systems A and B, is
shown in Table 4. From these results, it is seen that
when the use of the automatic scaling method is imple-
mented together with the two-pass solution method, all
systems are converged in the same number of iterations
as the unadjusted solutions (Table 3). The effectiveness
of the above methods is particularly noticeable in sys-
tem A, in which strong cross-type interactions between
the different types of adjustments exist.
Moreover, the n-FDLF program is compared with
the enhancement package of GINA [11,12] (graphics
aided interactive network analysis) on the study cases
of the Hellenic system, which were discussed in the
previous section. The enhancement package of GINA
has been developed at the National Technical Univer-
sity of Athens and it has been a powerful tool for
analytical studies and educational purposes for the last
10 years. In order to simulate the control strategies, the
enhancement program of GINA uses automatic adjust-
ments schemes for TCSC and SVC which are proposed
in [13], or error-feedback scheme for tap changing
control and TCPAR without implementation of start-
ing criteria [3] or second solution after adjustments [3].
Also it does not use any refactorization method [7], or
the two-pass solution method [2], after Q-limit
enforcement.
The combined effect, of different adjustments on the
convergence of the Hellenic transmission system, using
the program of GINA and the enhancement n-FDLF
program, is shown in columns 2 and 3 of Table 5,
respectively. In this test, the combined effects of area
interchange control, FACTS control, Q-limiting and
tap changing control were checked for the ten study
cases of the Hellenic system, which were examined in
the previous section. It must be noticed that ve itera-
tions are required for the unadjusted solution of the
Hellenic system.
The results indicate that the automatic adjustments
or the error feedback scheme without implementation
of second solution, or the lack of any refactorization
method after Q-limit enforcement have limited appli-
cability to practical systems, such as the Hellenic sys-
tem. In general, its efciency decreases with an
increasing number of controls. In many cases (Table 5),
the overall number of iterations required to obtain an
adjusted solution does not differ from the unadjusted
solution. Nevertheless, the use of automatic scaling
method in the error feedback scheme for FACTS
devices, the implementation of second solution after
each adjustment and the two-pass solution method
after the Q-limit enforcement, greatly improve the ef-
ciency of the enhancement n-FDLF in the adjusted
solutions.
5. Conclusions
In order to study the Hellenic power system under
stressed conditions several cases are investigated, with
implementation of a new enhancement version of
FDLF program (n-FDLF). It is shown that the instal-
Table 3
Charactenistics of the test systems
System NA IT NL NB NCP LTC NPV
246 A 1847 2956 375 114 9 4
136 200 79 B 27 8 3
Table 4
Results of n-FDLF [3] in comparison with the results of enhancement
n-FDLF method
System n-FDLF [3] Enhancement (n-FDLF)
5 10 A
6 4 B
Table 5
Comparision of GINA load ow program with the enhancement
n-FDLF for the Hellenic system
a
Study case Number of Number of iteration
(enhancement n-FDLF) iteration
(GINA)
Case 1 12 5
Case 2 6 44
Case 3 19 5
Case 4 6 38
Case 5 6
6 Case 6
32 Case 7 6
31 Case 8 6
Case 9 7
Case 10 7
a
For cases the solution diverges.
J.G. Vlachogiannis / Electric Power Systems Research 55 (2000) 179189 189
lation of FACTS, such as TCSC (or TCPAR) may
contribute to balance power ows in a steady state
operation, especially in (n-l) conditions, improves the
voltage prole of the system and reduces power sys-
tem losses. In this way, the Hellenic system is capable
of transporting additional power, between countries
without the risk of overloads or even blackout.
Therefore, the upcoming interconnection between
Greece and Italy system will be achieved with the
installation of a TCSC or a TCPAR.
Furthermore, the installation of SVC highly im-
proves the voltage prole in North-Eastern Greece
(East Macedonia and Thrace region). The enhance-
ment n-FDLF program is tested on the Hellenic and
other realistic systems. By the use of this program the
adjusted solutions of the systems can be obtained in
practically the same number of iterations as the unad-
justed solutions. The methods incorporated in the n-
FDLF for the FACTS devices are applicable to other
load ow type problems such as voltage collapse and
optimal power ow.
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the models of
large-scale systems given by Professor A.G. Bakirtzis
of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki/Greece. He
also wish to express his appreciation to Professor
N.D. Hatziargyriou of the NTUA/Greece for granting
him the right to use the load ow package of GINA
and the realistic model of the Hellenic system.
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