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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 21, NO. 1, JANUARY 2006

A Platform for Validation of FACTS Models

Shan Jiang, Student Member, IEEE, U. D. Annakkage, Senior Member, IEEE, and A. M. Gole, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractThe paper presents a platform system for the incorporation of flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) devices. The
platform permits detailed electromagnetic transients simulation as
it is of manageable size. It manifests some of the common problems
for which FACTS devices are used such as congestion management,
stability improvement, and voltage support. The platform can be
valuable for the validation of reduced order models such as small
signal or transient stability models. The paper presents details on
the development and validation of a small signal based model with
the inclusion of a Unified Power Flow Controller. The validated
model is then used successfully for the design of a feedback controller for improved damping.
Index TermsElectromagnetic transients simulation, FACTS,
Prony analysis, small signal analysis, test platform, validation,
UPFC.
Fig. 1. One line diagram of the 12-bus power system.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE expansion of power transfer capability of transmission systems has been a major problem over the past two
decades. This, together with the advancement of solid-state
technology, has paved way to a series of new Power Electronic
devices which are capable of extending the power transfer capability limits of transmission systems through their flexibility
and response speed. Among them, Static Var Compensators
(SVCs), static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs), and
Thyristor Controlled Series Compensators (TCSCs) have been
widely accepted in the industry; whereas applications using the
Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) are recently emerging
[1]. The most recent device in the family is the Interline Power
Flow Controller (IPFC), which has only been installed on an
experimental basis.
A large amount of research effort has gone into designing
these devices and studying the impact of these devices on the
performance of the power system. Modeling plays an important
role in such design and application studies. At the most detailed
level, electromagnetic transients simulation (emtp-type) based
models are used. In these models, the detailed three phase representation of the system is simulated using a 1050 s time-step.
The operation of individual switching elements and control systems in the FACTS device as well as all magnetic saturation in
transformers is also fully represented. This level of modeling
is useful for confirming the operation of the FACTS device in a
local setting but is often considered too detailed for investigating
the impact of the device on the wider electrical network. Likewise, it does not yield information about the damping and stability margins in a straightforward manner. On the other hand, in
Manuscript received November 29, 2004; revised February 22, 2005. Paper
no. TPWRD-00561-2004.
The authors are with the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2N2,
Canada.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2005.852301

transient stability modeling, only the electrical machines, controls, and prime movers are represented using time domain differential equations. A simplified fundamental frequency phasor
equivalent of the ac network is used, which permits larger timesteps of up to 10 ms, thereby making possible the representation
of larger networks. Alternatively, Small Signal Analysis takes a
markedly different approach in which the network and electromechanical device equations are converted at any given operating point into a set of linear differential equations. Eigenvalue
and Spectral Analysis applied to these equations yields useful
information on stability margins and damping and permits standard controller design techniques to be effectively applied.
One of the concerns that arises is whether the simplified
models such as the Small Signal or Transient Stability models
adequately represent the detailed system. Usually, simplified
representations are developed and benchmarked against a very
small emtp-type model, which essentially includes the device
connected to a single machine or an infinite bus [2]. Similarly
other comparisons have been made that benchmark a small signal
model with a transient stability model. This type of comparison is
of limited use as it compares two simplifications with each other
rather than with the most accurate (emtp-type) representation.
This paper aims to address the above concern of validation by
proposing a platform system which is large enough to demonstrate electromechanical oscillation modes; and is yet small
enough to be completely realizable in an emtp-type form. This
system can be represented in different levels of detail which can
then be compared. The proposed platform has been designed so
that it manifests typical transmission bottlenecks and interarea
oscillations that can be alleviated by FACTS devices. The
procedure for validation is elucidated by connecting a UPFC
into the platform (see Fig. 1) and comparing its small signal
representation against the detailed emtp-type representation
using the technique of Prony Analysis. The UPFC is installed
in line 78 of the platform system; its primary purpose is to
relieve congestion in line 16.

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485

II. SMALL POWER SYSTEM FOR MODEL VALIDATION

The proposed test system, shown in Fig. 1, consists of 12
busses (six 230 kV busses, two 345-kV buses and four 22-kV
buses). The test system covers three geographical areas (Area
1, 2, and 3). Area 1 is predominantly a generation area with
most of its generation coming from hydro power. Area 2, situated between the main generation area (Area 1) and the main
load center (Area 3), has some hydro generation available but is
insufficient to meet local demand. Area 3, situated about 500 km
from Area 1, is a load center with some thermal generation
available. Furthermore, as Area 2 generation has limited energy
availability, the system demand must often be satisfied through
transmission. The transmission system consists of 230 kV transmission lines with the exception of one 345-kV link between
areas 1 and 3 (between busses 7 and 8). Areas 2 and 3 have
switched shunt capacitors to support the voltage.
Power flow studies reveal that in the event of a loss of generation in area 3, or a loss of the transmission line between busses 4
and 5, line 16 is overloaded while the transmission capacity of
the parallel path through the 345 kV transmission line 78 is underutilized. This congestion can be relieved by various FACTS
solutions such as TCSCs or SSSCs on line 12 or line 78;
IPFCs on lines 16 and 78; or, as in the example presented
here, a UPFC on line 78.
Further, the load center (Area 3) suffers from under-voltage
problems, which makes this test system suitable for studies on
application of SVC or STATCOM.
Small signal stability studies presented in Section IV show
that the platform system has poorly damped inter-area oscillation modes which can be improved by FACTS devices at various
locations. The study presented later in this paper shows one such
application.
It is also possible to use the platform to investigate the use of
FACTS devices to strengthen the network for the integration of
wind generation in Area 2. For example series FACTS devices
on lines 16 and/or line 64 and/or line 78 could make stronger
connections from Area 2 (with wind generation) to the other
areas.
Thus, it can be seen that the proposed platform can be useful
for studying FACTS device applications for congestion relief,
voltage support, transmission stability and integration of wind
generation. One such application, that of designing a UPFCbased damping controller is discussed in this paper. It also becomes possible to validate reduced models such as Small Signal
Stability models against detailed emtp-type simulation for such
FACTS applications. These aspects will be covered in the remainder of the paper.
III. DETAILED ELECTROMAGNETIC TRANSIENT SIMULATION
MODEL OF UPFC
Because the electromagnetic transient simulation model
represents the system in extreme detail, it provides a means for
validating the small signal and other reduced models for the
network. For this purpose, the system in Fig. 1 is represented
in full, with detailed models for the synchronous machines
(including full representation of sub-transient effects), exciters.
The lines can be represented with distributed parameters or as

Fig. 2.

Emtp-type UPFC Model.

Fig. 3. Decoupled controller of shunt converter.

lumped pi-sections. The representation for the UPFC in the line

connecting busses 7 and 8 is shown schematically in Fig. 2.
Every switching device in each of the series and shunt converters is modeled individually. Firing pulses for the converters
switches are generated by the sinusoidal pulse width modulator
(SPWM) that eliminates low-frequency harmonics and makes
the output waveform conform to the desired fundamental
frequency voltage waveform. The reference waveform for the
SPWM modulator is generated from direct and quadrature
components Vd, Vq. As shown in Fig. 3, in the shunt converter,
they are selected to provide the appropriate real and reactive
powers from the shunt element using a decoupled controller
[3]. The real power order is generated from a dc bus voltage
controller and the reactive power is directly ordered (often set
to zero for unity power factor operation). The decoupled control
system ensures that a change in the real power order can be
implemented without any transient in the reactive power and
vice versa. The series converters controller can be modeled in
similar detail if necessary; however in this particular study, the
d and q components of the series injected voltage are directly
ordered to ensure the required load flow.
IV. SMALL SIGNAL STABILITY MODEL
A. Generator Model
In the small signal model, the generators with their exciters
are represented by the typical fourth-order dynamic model
(third-order generator plus a first-order exciter)
(1)
(2)

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 21, NO. 1, JANUARY 2006

(3)
(4)
These equations can be linearized and expressed in the compact form for number of generators, as shown in (5) and (6).
The derivation of this model is found in [4] and [5]
(5)

Fig. 4. UPFC small signal model.

(6)

The voltage and current relationship for the UPFC are given by
(10)

is the change in current injected by generator to the

is the voltage of the network node to which
network, and
the generator is connected.

(10)

where

B. UPFC Model
Charging of the capacitor on the dc link of UPFC is modeled
as
(7)
is the capacitance of the dc bus capacitor,
is
where
is the real power drawn into the
the voltage of the dc bus,
is the
dc link from the shunt (exciter) branch of UPFC, and
real power flowing out of the dc link into the transmission line
through the booster side of UPFC. The PI Controller that mainat the reference setting of
is modeled as
tains

and
are, respectively,
where
the sending end and receiving end line currents expressed as
two-dimensional (2-D) vectors consisting of the real and imagand
are 2-D
inary parts of the current phasor. Similarly,
vectors representing the sending and receiving end voltages, and
is a 2-D vector representing the boost voltage or the voltage
in
injected in series with the transmission line. The matrix
(10) is the dq to xy transformation matrix. Equations (7)(10)
can be linearized to obtain the set of differential and algebraic
equations (11)(13). A detailed derivation of the elements of all
coefficient matrices is given in [5]
(11)
(12)
(13)

(8)
where
is the d component of the shunt current that is in
are PI conphase with the voltage Vs (see Fig. 4), and
troller gains. Any time delays in PWM and associated controls
are modeled as

where

is a state variable associated with the PI controller.

The voltage-current relation of the network is modeled as
(9)
where we have the following.
1)
, and
are the reference control settings of the
UPFC, namely, the in-phase injected voltage, quadrature
injected voltage, and shunt current, respectively.
, and
are the in-phase injected voltage,
2)
quadrature injected voltage, and quadrature shunt current, respectively.
, and
are the time constants used to model
3)
, and
.
the PWM time delay associated with

(14)
The state-space representation of the complete power system
can be obtained in the standard format of (15) and (16) by elimand
from the differential-algebraic equations
inating
of the dynamic devices (5), (6) and (11)(13) and the network
equations (14).
(15)
(16)

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TABLE I
MODES OF OSCILLATION

TABLE II
PARTICIPATION FACTORS

Fig. 5. Mode shape of 0.75-Hz mode.

V. ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION OF SMALL SIGNAL MODEL

The small signal model yields important information about
the oscillation modes and damping. This information is validated for accuracy using the full emtp-type representation.
A. Small Signal Eigenvalues
The system has three generators with each equipped with an
exciter. Each generator introduces three state variables, and each
exciter introduces one state variable. The UPFC introduces five
state variables. Therefore, the order of the system matrix is
17. The complex conjugate pairs of eigenvalues of system matrix correspond to oscillation modes. Table I shows the eigenvalues corresponding to electromechanical oscillation modes
for the selected operating point of the power system. Note that
the oscillation frequencies of the three modes are 0.75, 0.85, and
1.12 Hz.
Further information about the oscillation modes can be obtained from the participation factors and mode shapes. The participation factors represent the activity of state variables in a
given mode [4]. Table II shows the participation factors of the
state variables in the three modes of oscillation. Each column
of Table II gives the participation factors for a given mode. It
can be noticed that the activity of generator G2 dominates in
0.85 Hz, as indicated by the relatively large participation factor
. Similarly, G3 dominates in the 1.12-Hz
(0.4632) of state
mode, and G4 dominates in the 0.75-Hz mode.
The elements of the right eigenvector indicate the response of
state variables when the corresponding mode is excited. Therefore, by observing the magnitude and phase of the elements of
,
the eigenvector corresponding to the state variables
and
, one can predict the relative magnitudes and phase angles of the rotor oscillations when the particular mode is excited.
This information can be plotted on the complex plane to obtain
what is known as the mode shape [4]. The modes shapes of the
three oscillatory modes are shown in Figs. 57.

Fig. 6. Mode shape of 0.85-Hz mode.

Fig. 7. Mode shape of 1.12-Hz mode.

In Section VI, a damping controller for the UPFC is designed

in order to improve the damping of oscillations. Considering
the topology of the network in Fig. 1, the UPFC is directly in
the path between the infinite bus and generator G3, and thus a
damping controller for the UPFC can be expected to be most effective in improving the damping of modes related to G3. Partic-

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Fig. 8. Dominant mode of G2 from Prony analysis.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 9. Dominant mode of G3 from Prony analysis.

Fig. 11. Comparison of sending end real power of small signal model versus
emtp-type model.

ipation factors suggest that this mode is the 1.12-Hz mode. The
mode shape diagrams also suggest similar conclusions. It is evident from these diagrams that the rotor angle of Generator 3 oscillates when the 0.75-Hz mode is excited (Fig. 5) and when the
1.12-Hz mode is excited (Fig. 7). On the other hand, Fig. 6 indicates that there is negligible influence on Generator 3 when the
0.85-Hz mode is excited. As the UPFC in line 78 primarily affects the power in Generator 3, this suggests that the damping of
the 1.12-Hz mode and/or the 0.75-Hz mode could be improved
with its installation. A more quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of controllers is presented in Section VI. The frequency
information obtained from the eigen-analysys is verified against
the simulation results from a detailed electromagnetic transient
simulation model in Section V-B.
B. Validation Using Electromagnetic Transients Simulation
An electromagnetic transient simulation of the power system
with a switching level detailed model of the UPFC was performed using PSCAD/EMTDC. The disturbance applied was a
1% increase of the reference setting of the quadrature injected
voltage of the UPFC for a period of 100 ms. Figs. 811 show
the simulated waveforms for the speeds
of generators 24 and the sending end power, respectively. Superposed
on the emtp-type simulations are the waveforms obtained from
time-domain simulation of the linearized Small Signal Analysis

Dominant mode of G4 from Prony analysis.

TABLE III
PRONY ANALYSIS OF PSCAD WAVEFORMS

equations. The close agreement validates the Small Signal Analysis model.
The electromagnetic simulation can also be used to verify
the modal frequencies, damping and participation factor information. Prony Analysis was performed in order to validate the
small signal model. Results of Prony analysis on the waveforms
from emtp-type simulation of the speed of three machines
, and the sending end power of the transmission
line on which the UPFC is located (line 78) are tabulated in
Table III. The following observations can be made by comparing this information with the eigenvalues given in Tables I
and II, which were obtained from the small signal model.
1) Although the 1.12-Hz mode is presented in all four waveforms (Prony analysis estimates in the range 1.11 Hz to

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TABLE IV
CONTROLLABILITY INDEX

1.13 Hz), as expected from the participation factor analysis in Table II, it is most prominent in . The damping
) is 3.74%, which compares well
for this mode (in
with the 3.30% damping calculated from the small signal
model in Table I.
2) As expected from the theoretical participation factors, the
0.85-Hz mode (estimated by Prony Analysis as 0.79 Hz)
is prominent in . Although both Prony analysis based
observation and models attribute the poorest damping to
this mode, the observed value of 3.56% is significantly
different from the 1.07% predicted by theory. However,
this error may be due to the small magnitude of the observed signal and due to interference with the relatively
close 0.75-Hz mode.
3) Again, as predicted by Small Signal theory, Prony analysis confirms that the 0.75-Hz mode is prominent in ,
with an observed damping of 8.245%, in comparison
to the 7.17% from Small Signal Analysis. Both theory
and simulation observations show that this mode has the
highest damping.
With the confidence in accuracy gained from the above analysis, the small signal model can now be used effectively for Controller Design, as described in the next section.
VI. DESIGN OF DAMPING CONTROLLER
The question arises as to whether the UPFC placed in line
78 for transmission congestion relief can also be modulated to
damp system oscillations. Ideally one would like to increase the
damping of the poorly damped 0.85- and 1.12-Hz modes. Controllability analysis performed on the small signal model can determine if such modes can be damped at all, after which linear
control design theory can be used to select the optimal feedback
controller. There are three reference control settings available
, and
.
in the UPFC for damping control. These are
The effectiveness of using these inputs can be evaluated by calculating the controllability indices of the modes [4]. These indices are easily obtained once the eigenvalues and eigenvectors
of the small signal system are evaluated. The controllability indices are given in Table IV. The relatively large magnitude of
and
indithe indices for the 1.12-Hz mode using inputs
cate the suitability of using these inputs to improve the damping
of that mode. Very small indices for the 0.85-Hz mode indicate
that this mode is not controllable using any of the control inputs
of the UPFC. These findings are consistent with the mode shape
based arguments made in Section V-A.
Based on the above analysis, an output feedback damping
controller is designed to improve the damping of the 1.12-Hz
or
input. The feedback
mode by modulating either the
signal is generated by multiplying the selected output marked
for feedback with a simple proportional gain. The outputs
(real power of generator G1, G2, G3), and

489

TABLE V
EIGENVALUE SENSITIVITY TO FEEDBACK GAIN

TABLE VI
MODES OF OSCILLATION: WITH FEEDBACK CONTROL

Fig. 12. Damping effect on the sending end real power. Small signal model.

(real power of UPFC sending end) are considered as feedback

candidates. The effectiveness of each of these signals is evaluated by calculating the eigenvalue sensitivity to feedback gain
[6]. These sensitivities are given in Table V. As the objective
is to move the real part of eigenvalue in order to improve the
damping, the sensitivity index with the largest real part identifies the most effective feedback signal, which is
. However,
in a practical controller, it is usually desirable to choose a
is selected. The
local signal, hence the second best signal
than
larger sensitivity of the real part of the eigenvalue with
implies that
is the better choice for the controller
with
input. Once the feedback structure (i.e., feedback and input) is
identified, the gain of the feedback controller can be selected.
Using a feedback gain of 0.3 produces a new set of eigenvalues
for the system, with the three poorly damped ones shown in
Table VI. Note the slight change in the frequency from 1.12
to 1.10 Hz and the improved damping of this mode from 3.30
(as in Table I) to 4.35. Time domain simulation of the small
signal model with and without feedback as in Fig. 12 shows
this additional damping.
Once again, as shown in Fig. 13, detailed emtp-type simulation produces nearly identical responses to those obtained in
Fig. 12 for the small signal model. Using Prony Analysis on the
detailed simulation waveforms the frequencies and damping are
determined, as in Table VII. The damping as observed from the
for this mode is improved from 3.74
most prominent signal
to 4.92, which compares well with the theoretical value of 4.35.

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TABLE IX
CONFIGURATION OF TRANSMISSION LINE

Fig. 13.

Damping effect on the sending end real power. emtp-type model.

TABLE VII
PRONY ANALYSIS OF PSCAD WAVEFORMS: WITH FEEDBACK CONTROL

TABLE VIII
BUS DATA

Fig. 14.

Transmission line structure.

TABLE X
BRANCH DATA (SYSTEM BASE: 100 MVA)

The Platform can be extended to the study of other FACTS

devices in a similar manner.
VII. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

The paper presents a platform that can be used for FACTS

controller studies. The platform has been selected to demonstrate a number of problems for which FACTS devices offer potential solutions. These include congestion relief, voltage support, and stability improvement. The system was selected so that
it is large enough to show interarea oscillations and yet manageable so that detailed electromagnetic transients solutions are
possible.
The platform provides a valuable tool for benchmarking reduced-order models. The example in the paper shows how the
small signal model developed for a UPFC is incorporated into
the small signal framework. Detailed comparisons with emtptype simulations show close agreements with the Small Signal
Analysis in the time domain and in the observed frequencies and
damping as determined by Prony Analysis.

The data pertaining to the power system shown in Fig. 1 are

given in the following tables.
Table VIII(a) shows the loads and shunt compensation at load
buses 18, and Table VIII(b) shows the specified voltage and
real power generation at generator buses 912. In the transient
model, the loads are represented as fixed impedances.
The geometrical and physical parameters for the transmission
lines are as shown in Table IX and Fig. 14. All 230-kV lines are
assumed to have the same geometrical and physical parameters
(except for different lengths). The 230-kV line is based on Manitoba Hydros Glenboro-South to Rugby line, and the 345-kV
line has a typical structure selected from Table 2.7.1 of the EPRI
transmission line reference book [7]. Table X shows the line
lengths for each of the 230- and 345-kV lines, as well as the series impedances and shunt reactances resulting from the above

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TABLE XI
TRANSFORMER DATA (SYSTEM BASE: 100 MVA)

TABLE XII
GENERATOR AND EXCITER DATA

TABLE XIII
UPFC DATA

line geometries for an equivalent- representation, corrected for

long-line effects (see also Tables XIXIII).

491

[4] P. Kundur, Power System Stability and Control. New York: McGrawHill, 1994.
[5] S. Limyingcharoen, Application of Unified Power Flow Controllers in
Power System Stability Enhancement, Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect.
Electron. Eng., Univ. Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, Mar. 1999.
[6] F. L. Pagola, I. J. Perez-Arriaga, and G. C. Verghese, On sensitivities,
residues, and participations: Applications to oscillatory stability analsis
and control, IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 4, pp. 278285, 1989.
[7] Transmission Line Reference Book (345 kV and Above), Second ed.
Palo Alto, CA: Elect. Power Res. Inst., 1987, p. 39.

Shan Jiang (S04) received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Eng.) degrees in electrical
engineering from Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, in 1989 and 1993,
respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the University of
Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
His research interests are FACTs and power system control.

U. D. Annakkage (M95SM04) received the B.Sc. (Eng.) degree in electrical

engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1982
and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Manchester Institute
of Science and Technology (UMIST), Manchester, U.K., in 1984 and 1987, respectively.
He is presently a Professor with the University of Manitoba, Winipeg, MB,
Canada. His research interests include power system stability and control, security assessment and control, operation of restructured power systems, and power
system simulation.

REFERENCES
[1] L. Gyugyi, Unified power-flow control concept for flexible ac transmission systems, in Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 139, 1992, pp. 323331.
[2] L. Y. Dong, L. Zhang, and M. L. Crow, A new control strategy for the
unified controller, in Proc. IEEE PES Winter Meet., vol. 1, Jan. 2002,
pp. 562566.
[3] I. Papic, P. Zunko, D. Povh, and M. Weinhold, Basic control of unified power flow controller, IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 12, no. 4, pp.
17341739, Nov. 1997.

A. M. Gole (M82SM04) received the B.Tech. degree in electrical engineering

from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, in 1978 and the Ph.D.
degree from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,MB, Canada, in 1982.
He currently holds the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Power System
Simulation at the University of Manitoba. His research interests include transients simulation and power electronics applications in transmission.
Prof. Gole is a Professional Engineer in the Province of Manitoba.