Optimal placement and parameter setting of SVC and TCSC using PSO to mitigate small signal stability problem

This paper aims to select the optimal location and setting parameters of SVC (Static Var Compensator) and TCSC (Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator) controllers using PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) to mitigate small signal oscillations in a multimachine power system. Though Power System Stabilizers (PSSs) associated with generators are mandatory requirements for damping of oscillations in the power system, its performance still gets affected by changes in network configurations, load variations, etc. Hence installations of FACTS devices have been suggested in this paper to achieve appreciable damping of system oscillations. However the performance of FACTS devices highly depends upon its parameters and suitable location in the power network. In this paper the PSO based technique is used to investigate this problem in order to improve the small signal stability. An attempt has also been made to compare the performance of the TCSC controller with SVC in mitigating the small signal stability problem. To show the validity of the proposed techniques, simulations are carried out in a multimachine system for two common contingencies, e.g., load increase and transmission line outage. The results of small signal stability analysis have been represented employing eigenvalue as well as time domain response. It has been observed that the TCSC controller is more effective than SVC even during higher loading in mitigating the small signal stability problem.