Optimal placement and sizing of FACTS device to overcome contingencies in power systems

Inpower systems because of uncertainty of the load curve and transfer of power between various utilities and loads block out situations will be created. In these situations the Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers play an important role in power system security enhancement. As the capital cost of these controllers is high, these controllers must be placed optimally. FACTS devices can regulate the active and reactive power control as well as adaptive to voltage-magnitude control simultaneously because of their flexibility and fast control characteristics. Placement of these devices at optimal location can lead to control in line flow and maintain bus voltages at required level and so improve the voltage profile, to improve load transfer capability, decreasing the losses in the system and operate the system within stable regions. This paper proposes a systematic method for finding optimal location of SVC to improve voltage profile of a power system under normal conditions and under contingency conditions with Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm. An OPF with/without SVC using ABC algorithm is considered for healthy conditions and also for contingency conditions in simulation and compared with existing literature. Effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on IEEE 30-bus test system.