Abstract

The deregulated power sectors suffer from congestion management problems. The congestion occurs when the generation and consumption of electric power causes the transmission system to operate beyond transfer limits. Flexible alternative current transmission system (FACTS) devices can be used to reduce the flows in heavily loaded lines, resulting in low power loss and improved stability of the system. In this paper, a fuzzy technique is proposed in determining the optimal location of thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) to control active power flows and reduction of congestion in a transmission line. A line utilization factor (LUF) and real power performance index (RPPI) factor is used to determine the level of congestion in a transmission line. Sensitivity parameters for the total system losses are derived as a function of the real power at the individual load points in the presence of TCSC. These sensitivity parameters are used to compare the alternative locations available for allocating generation and percentage of congestion. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm has been simulated on IEEE 14-bus system. The fuzzy based results have been compared with the solution given by sensitivity method. The simulation results proved the efficiency of the proposed approach by optimal placement of the FACTS device to minimize congestion in a power system network.

Key words: Flexible alternative current transmission system (FACTS), thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC), congestion management, line utilization factor (LUF), real power performance index (RPPI), fuzzy logic controller.