Global Minimization of Financial Losses Due to Voltage Sags With FACTS Based Devices

FACTS based devices are proven to be an efficient mitigation solution for voltage sag prevention. The high cost of FACTS based devices often prohibits their wider deployment within power networks. This paper presents an approach for comprehensively assessing the financial benefits to the network resulting from their use. The annual financial losses of the entire network due to voltage sags are used as a savings target. The three most widely used FACTS based devices for voltage sag mitigation, namely, static VAr compensator (SVC), static compensator (STATCOM) and dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) are then optimally placed using a Niching genetic algorithm (NGA). The aim is to reduce overall financial losses in the network due to voltage sags. The cost of the individual devices along with their installation costs and annual maintenance are taken into account in the optimization procedure. Since this methodology is largely based on an economic evaluation of the solution, several conventional economic analysis methods are utilized. Simulations are performed on a 295-bus generic distribution network (GDN).