Techno-Economic Contribution of FACTS Devices to the Operation of Power Systems With High Level of Wind Power Integration

The wind power integration in power networks impacts the operation of power systems economically and technically. The sites where wind power can be economically generated are determined by environmental conditions, so transmission congestion in the network may arise during certain periods. The issue of transmission congestion can become more acute if the network load is assumed to be rapidly growing at different sites during different times. This paper proposes novel, comprehensive methodology for realistic assessment of techno-economic merits of placement of thyristor-controlled series capacitors (TCSCs) and static VAr compensators (SVCs) in a transmission network to facilitate wind power integration. Economic considerations take into account the cost of generated active and reactive power, the cost of wind power integrationm and the cost of allocated FACTS devices for a range of operating conditions for several probabilistically modeled load growth profiles and over the lifetime of FACTS devices. The identification of congested areas and assessment of the financial benefits are carried out using optimal power flow-based algorithms. The placement of the TCSCs and SVCs is performed using novel genetic algorithms-based optimization with the net present value calculation integrated into the objective function.