Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis reports on an investigation of the impact of a limited number of D-FACTS devices on typical power lines that utilities have within their grids. The D-FACTS devices do not require space in a substation and have reduced costs compared to rewiring an existing line or installing a new line. The device is designed to clamp onto existing power lines and therefore assist in power flow without the necessity of redesigning existing power delivery systems.

The lines are modeled appropriately with existing data from the WECC. Then D-FACTS devices are modeled and integrated with line models for appropriate simulation studies. This process uses commercial software for simulation. Applying these models to existing operating conditions yields predictions of device performance within the grid and identifies appropriate degrees of compensation. Finally, analysis of these results will be used to give some recommendations for modifying the specific system at hand using D-FACTS devices.