Research on Power Flow Algorithm of Power
System with UPFC
Wen Jing, Tang Yong, Xie Chang, Chen Xinglei, Wang Yi, An Ning
 control of line transmission parameters, such as voltage, line
Abstract—The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is the
most complex and powerful FACTS device, which can provide full
or independent control of line transmission parameters, such as
voltage, line impedance and phase angle. In this paper,
steady-state model of unified power flow controller (UPFC) and
power flow algorithm of power system with UPFC were studied.
The parallel and series sides of UPFC were equivalent to separate
power injections, and an alternating iteration algorithm of power
flow for power system with UPFC was presented. In order to
improve the convergence of the algorithm, this paper analyzes the
impact of UPFC's various control strategies on the convergence of
power flow calculations, and proroses a control strategy for
converting constant power control to constant variable control
during the iterative process. Based on the actual project of
Nanjing Western UPFC, the correctness and effectiveness of the
model and algorithm are verified.
Index Terms—Unified power flow controller; equivalent node
injection; alternate iteration; power flow calculation
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE flexible alternative current transmission system
(FACTS) has been widely used in the power system which
can control the power system quickly and flexibly, improve the
transmission capacity of the power grid, and enhance the
economy, reliability and safety of the system. It mainly
includes several forms such as parallel, series, and combination
of both. Unified power flow controller(UPFC) is the earliest
series-parallel FACTS device and it also is the most
comprehensive and powerful controller in the FACTS
controller until now[1]. UPFC can provide full or independent
Manuscript received July 30, 2018.
Wen Jing is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (corresponding author to provide phone:
010-82813076; e-mail: wenjing@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
Tang Yong is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (e-mail: tangyong@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
Xie Chang is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (e-mail: xiechang@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
Chen Xinglei is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (e-mail: chenxl@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
Wang Yi is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (e-mail: wangyi@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
An Ning is is with the China Electric Power Research Institute, Haidian
District, Beijing 100192 China (e-mail: anning@epri.sgcc.com.cn).
POWERCON2018 Paper NO. 201804270000095
978-1-5386-6461-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
impedance and phase angle. It can quickly control the active
and reactive power of the transmission line and the bus voltage,
and improve the stability of the power system effectively[2].
With the development of power electronics technology and
control technology, UPFC is no longer limited to a classic
structure in which a parallel terminal and a series terminal are
separately coupled. The new UPFC tends to have a flexible
topology[3]. It can adjust the coupling relationship between the
series side and the parallel side through different connections of
switches and circuit breakers, and form multiple working
modes and control modes. Such as the Nanjing Western UPFC
project, it consists of two serial sides connected to the double
return line and one parallel side connected to the access
adjacent station.
At present, there have been some researches on the power
flow calculation of power systems containing UPFC at home
and abroad. The literature[4-5] proposes a unified solution
method which combines the UPFC control equation with the
power flow equation. This method completely considers the
coupling relationship between the UPFC variable and the
system variable, and the convergence is good, but the Jacobian
matrix needs to be modified. The literature[6-8] proposed an
alternative solution method which solves the network equation
and UPFC separately by equivalent to UPFC as node power
injection This method does not need to change the admittance
matrix of the network equation, and can be constructed by using
the existing power flow program with the UPFC solution part,
and the convergence is also satisfactory.
In this paper, steady-state model of unified power flow
controller (UPFC) and power flow algorithm of power system
with UPFC were studied. The parallel and series sides of UPFC
were equivalent to separate power injections, and an alternating
iteration algorithm of power flow for power system with UPFC
was presented. Based on the actual project of Nanjing Western
UPFC, the correctness and effectiveness of the model and
algorithm are verified.
II. BASIC STRUCTURE OF UPFC
The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is the most
complex and powerful FACTS device. It is a comprehensive
Page1/5 2453
compensation device consisting of a parallel static compensator *
(STATCOM) and a series static synchronous series
§S ·
I z = ¨ j ¸ +U j u jbiji 0 (3)
compensator (SSSC) through DC coupling. It has the function ¨U ¸
of controlling node voltage and regulating the active and
© j¹
reactive current of the line[9]. Ui  U se I z u Z L  U j (4)
For active power, the UPFC parallel converter absorbs or
emits active power from the access point through the parallel
I se I z  (Ui  U se ) u jbiij 0 (5)
transformer. The active power flows through the series side Substituting equations (1) and (2) into the above equations,
converter through the DC side and is finally delivered to the the voltage and current of series side can be obtained:
*
line side through the series side transformer. The UPFC § P  jQsec ·
provides an active power transmission channel for the line. For I z = ¨ sec
¨ ¸¸ +U j u jbiji 0
reactive power, the UPFC parallel converter and the series © Uj ¹
converter respectively exchange reactive power with the node
through the transformer. Due to the DC capacitor, the reactive ª (U jx Psec  U jyQsec ) º ª (U P  U jxQsec ) º
«  U jy bij 0 »  j « jy sec2  U jx bij 0
power exchange does not occur between the parallel side and «¬ U jx  U jy
2 2
»¼ «¬ U jx  U jy
2
¼
the series side.
The basic structure of typical UPFC is shown in Figure 1. It =I zx  jI zy
is composed of two back-to-back voltage source converters. (6)
The two converters share the DC bus, one of them is connected U se I z u Z L  U j  Ui
to the AC node through a parallel transformer, and the other is
connected to the AC line through a series transformer. Each =( I zx RL  I zy X L  U jx  U ix )  j( I zy RL  I zx X L  U jy  U iy )
converter can individually emit or absorb active and reactive
power. The active power can be bi-directionally flowed
=U sex  jU sey
between the two converters through a DC link. (7)
澳
I se ( I zx  jI zy )  (U ix  jU iy  U sex  jU sey ) u jbij 0
( I zx  U iy bij 0  U sey bij 0 )  j( I zy  U ix bij 0  U sexbij 0 )
DC
Converter
DC
Converter
I sex  jI sey
(8)
Parallel side Series side
(2) Giving control variable
Fig. 1 Structure of typical UPFC When the control objective is the amplitude and phase angle
of the ideal voltage source U se , there is:
III. MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF UPFC
A. Equivalent Power Injection Model of Series Side
U se U sex  jU sey (9)
The UPFC series side can be equivalent to an ideal voltage According to equivalent circuit, we can know that:
source U se . By controlling the amplitude and phase angle of Ui  U se I z u ZL  U j (10)
the ideal voltage source, the active power and reactive power of I se I z  (Ui  U se ) u jbiij 0 (11)
the control line can be achieved. The control variable is the
Substituting equations (9) into the above equations, the
amplitude and phase angle of the ideal voltage source, and the
current of series side can be obtained:
control target is the active power and reactive power of the
transmission line[10]. I se ( I zx  jI zy )  (U ix  jU iy  U sex  jU sey ) u jbij 0
The UPFC series side can be divided into the following two ( I zx  U iy bij 0  U sey bij 0 )  j( I zy  U ix bij 0  U sexbij 0 )
control modes according to different control objectives.
(1) Giving control power I sex  jI sey
When the control objective is the active power and reactive (12)
power of transmission line, there is: The UPFC series side is equivalent to the node injection
Pj Psec (1) power at both ends of the line, as shown in Fig. 2.

Qj Qsec (2)
According to equivalent circuit, we can know that:

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 The UPFC parallel side also can be divided into the
Ui ZL Uj
following two control modes according to different control
objectives.
jbij 0 jbij 0 (1) Giving reactive power
Siic S jjc When the reactive power of UPFC parallel side injected into
the system is given, there is:
Fig. 2 Equivalent power injection model of UPFC series side
When the UPFC series side is installed on the line, the
Q pa =Q pac (23)
injection power to both sides of the line is: In this control mode, the reactive power of the parallel side
Si U I * injected into the system is controlled, and the node where the
i se
parallel side located is a PQ node..
*
U i ª¬ I z  (U i  U se ) u jbiji 0 º¼ (2) Giving node voltage
(13) When the voltage of the node where the UPFC parallel side
*
ªU  U se  U j º located is given, there is:
U i « i  (U i  U se ) u jbiij 0 » U n =U pac (24)
¬ ZL ¼ In this control mode, the voltage of the node where the
*
Sj U jI j parallel side located is controlled, and the node is a PV node. So,
the reactive power injected into the system is calculated by the
U j ( I z  U j u jbij 0 )* power flow.
(14)
U i  U se  U j C. DC Link Relationship Between Serial and Parallel Sides
U j( U
 U j u jbij 0 )* The inverters of the series and parallel sides of the UPFC are
ZL
connected via a DC bus, and each converter can inject or absorb
When the line does not include UPFC, the injection power to
active power to the DC side. The DC link relationship of the
both sides of the line is:
UPFC can be abstracted into an algebraic relationship of the
Ui  U j power which converter injected into the DC bus.
Si0
i0 Ui I ii0*0 U i (  U i u jbij 0 )* (15) In order to ensure the active power balance between the
ZL
parallel side and the series side, the power balance equations for
Ui  U j the DC bus is:
S j0 U j I *j 0 U j(  U j u jbij 0 )* (16)
j0
ZL PtoDC ¦P SEtoDC +¦ PPAtoDC =0 (25)
So, the equivalent injection power of the UPFC series side to
the both sides of the line is: IV. POWER FLOW ALGOTIEHM OF POWER SYSTEM WITH UPFC
*
ª 1 º After the UPFC is equivalent to the node injection power, the
Siic Si  Si 0 U i «U se (  jbij 0 ) » (17) power flow equation does not contain the control parameters of
¬ ZL ¼ the UPFC, so that the system and the UPFC can be decoupled,
U and the power system flow containing the UPFC can be solved
S jjc S j  S j0
j0 U j ( se )* (18) iteratively and alternately. When solving the system power
ZL flow equation, The UPFC equivalent is the active and reactive
The active power absorbed by the series side from the DC power injected into the corresponding node. When solving the
side is: UPFC power flow equation, the system is replaced by a
Pse Re(U se I se* ) (19) constant voltage source. The flow of the alternating current
iteration algorithm for power system with UPFC is shown in
PSEtoDC Pse  KvSE Pse  I se2 RtSE (20) Fig. 3.
B. Equivalent Power Injection Model of Parallel Side
The UPFC parallel side can be equivalent to an ideal current
source I pa . According to equivalent circuit, we can know that:
S pa =U n I *pa =Ppa  jQpa (21)

PPAtoDC Ppa  KvPAPpa  I pa

2
RtPA (22)

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 Start
power Q pa
(k )
or node voltage U n( k ) of the parallel side
according to the control mode.
(2) Solving power flow equation. Modifing the injection
power of corresponding node according to the equivalent
InItialization, let k 1 .
Set S (1) (1) (1) (1) power injection of the UPFC series and parallel sides obtained
j ǃU i ǃU j ǃU s
in the second step. Solving the system power flow equation and
obtaining the voltage phasor of the terminal node U i( k 1) and
( k 1)
Solve the UPFC section. the end node U j of the line where the series side located, as
Get Siic( k )ǃS (jjck )ǃPpa( k )ǃQ (pak )
well as the voltage phasor of the node U n(1) where the parallel
side located.
(3) Determining whether it converges. Stopping iteration
Solve system power flow equation. when the trend converges or reaches the iteration limit. If not
k k 1 Get U i( k 1)ǃU (j k 11))ǃU s( k 1)
converges, setting k k  1 and going to the second step.
The alternating iterative method is solved separately by the
system power flow equation and the UPFC power flow
equation, and the existing power flow calculation program can
No
Convergence? be used to solve the power flow equation of the system, which
is easy to implement.
Yes
V. CONTROL STRATEGY OF UPFC FOR IMPROVING
CONVERGENCE
End
In order to improve the convergence of the algorithm, this
Fig. 3 The flow of the alternating current iteration algorithm for power system paper analyzes the impact of UPFC's various control modes on
with UPFC the convergence of power flow calculations, and proroses a
The steps of alternating iterations algorithm are as follows: converting constant power control to constant variable control
(1) Initialization. Setting the power of the UPFC series side during the iterative process.
S (1)
j according to the control power of transmission The specific control strategy is as follows:
(1) When the number of iterations is k , calculating the
line.Setting the voltage phasor of the terminal node U i(1) and
(1)
voltage U se( k ) amplitude and phase angle T se( k ) of the ideal
the end node U j of the line where the series side located voltage source which UPFC series side equivalent to according
according to the initial value of the tidal current. Setting the (k ) (k )
to S j and U j . Then, calculating the voltage phasor of the
(1)
voltage phasor of the node U where the parallel side
n
terminal node U i( k 1) and the end node U (j k 1) of the line
located according to the control mode. Setting the number of
iterations k 1 . where the series side located according to iterative solution.
(2) When the number of iterations is k +1 , calculating the
(2) Solving UPFC. Calculating the voltage phasor U se( k ) of ( k +1) ( k 1)
line power of the UPFC series side S j according to U j
the ideal voltage source which UPFC series side equivalent to
and the current I se( k ) flowing through the UPFC series side and U se( k ) .
( k 1)
according to S j
(k )
and U j
(k )
. Calculating the equivalent (3) Calculating difference 'S j between the line power
of the UPFC series side and the control power of transmission
injection power Siic( k ) and S (jcj k ) of the UPFC series side.
(k )
line. If 'S (j k 1) d H , changing the control mode to constant
Calculating the power P SEtoDC absorbed by the UPFC series
(k ) variable control, and setting the voltage U se( k ) amplitude and
side from the DC side. Calculate the active power Ppa of the
UPFC parallel side injected to system. Calculating the reactive phase angle T se( k ) of the ideal voltage source as the control
objective, and keepping on the iterative calculation.

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 VI. SIMULATION ANALYSIS the controlled bus can satisfy the control targets. Through the
In this paper, the simulation and analysis of the actual project example verification, this method is fast and easy to program.
of Nanjing Western UPFC is verified the rationality and
effectiveness of the algorithm. There are 5,967 nodes, 5,500 REFERENCES
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line and the voltage is set in parallel side. The results are shown
in Table 1.
TABLE 1
CONTROL OBJECTIVES AND POWER FLOW RESULT
Control objectives(p.u.) Power flow result(p.u.) Wen Jing received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from North China
N Electric Power University, Beijing, China, in 2015. She is a member of China
o Pc1 Qc1 Pc2 Qc2 Ucs Qcs P1 Q1 P2 Q2 Us Qs Electric Power Research Institute. Her research interests are power system
1 1.8 0.9 1.8 0.9 / 0.0 1.8 0.9 1.8 0.9 0.97 0.0
operation, analysis and control. Email: wenjing@epri.sgcc.com.cn.
2 2.0 1.2 1.6 0.8 1.0 / 2.0 1.2 1.6 0.8 1.0 0.1
It can be seen from Table 1 that under the two control modes,
the line current can meet the control requirements. Applying
the algorithm of this paper, after 4~5 times of alternating
iterations, the power flow of both modes can converge, and the
power flow of the controlled line and the voltage and injection
reactive power of the controlled bus can satisfy the control
targets.

VII. CONCLUSION
Based on the analysis of the basic structure and equivalent
circuit of UPFC, this paper proposes a power injection model of
UPFC and an alternative iteration algorithm for power flow
with UPFC. The algorithm can converge within a limited
number of alternating iterations, and the power flow of the
controlled line and the voltage and injection reactive power of

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