Abstract

Congestion management is one of the technical challenges in power system deregulation. In deregulated electricity market transmission congestion occurs when there is insufficient transmission capacity to simultaneously accommodate all constraints for transmission of a line. Flexible alternative current transmission system (FACTS) devices can be an alternative to reduce the flows in heavily loaded lines, resulting in an increased loadability, low system loss, improved stability of the network, reduced cost of production and fulfilled contractual requirement by controlling the power flow in the network. Proper location of a FACTS controller is key to maximize its benefits. This paper also demonstrates the ability of FACTS devices to reduce the overall operating cost and their impact on transmission pricing. A sensitivity factor based approach is used for the optimal placement of the thyrister controlled series capacitors (TCSC) to minimize the congestion cost. The sensitivity of the congested line flow with respect to flow in other lines has been used for the placement of the TCSC. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated on IEEE 14-bus system.

Key words: Congestion management, flexible alternative current transmission system (FACTS), thyrister controlled series capacitors (TCSC), sensitivity analysis, matpower