A state of the art STATCON for instantaneous VAr compensation and harmonic suppression to enhance power quality

Reactive power compensation is increasingly becoming one of the most economic and effective solution to both traditional and new problems in power transmission systems. With the continuous proliferation of nonlinear loads, which have high harmonic content and poor powerfactor, the traditional methods of reactive power compensation have been increasingly suppressed by new approaches like static condenser (STATCON). The STATCON is gaining an important role in the provision of reactive power in electric power network. This paper presents the design and simulation of a 5kVAr, STATCON and its control algorithm. The control algorithm developed is based on /spl delta/ phase shift angle control which makes compensation instantaneous, maintain unity powerfactor without sensing associated reactive power components and substantially reduce the amplitude of line current harmonics. The results show satisfactory performance of designed STATCON which can be best suited for tomorrow's custom energy center to enhance power quality.