Utilization of FACTS devices in power systems: A review

Abstract

Electricity demand has been increasing over the last three decades, while the expansion of generation and transmission networks has been limited due to environmental and economic constraints of building new generating plants and transmission lines. Consequently, transmission networks are at times driven close to their thermal and stability limits. Over the years, attention has been shifting towards better utilization of existing power system infrastructure, which can be achieved through employment of power electronic technologies such as flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices. FACTS devices have been used to solve various power system problems such as voltage regulation, power flow control, transfer capability enhancement, damping inter area modes and enhancing power system stability. This paper presents a literature survey of FACTS devices and their applications in power systems.