Reliability evaluation of bulk power systems incorporating UPFC

Unified power flow controller (UPFC) is one of the most advanced flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices that can simultaneously and independently control both the real and reactive power flow in a transmission line. The utilization of UPFC can result in significant reliability benefits in modern power systems. This paper proposes a novel reliability network model for a UPFC, which incorporates the logical structure and the distinct operating modes of a UPFC. Two-state or three-state models have been used for UPFC by previous researchers. The proposed model divides the UPFC operating modes into four states, namely the UPFC up state, STATCOM state, SSSC state and UPFC down state, in order to improve the accuracy of the model by recognizing the practical operating states of a UPFC. The new model also incorporates an AC flow-based optimal load shedding approach to assess the impact of bus voltages and reactive power flow on UPFC in order to decide appropriate load curtailment in the reliability evaluation process. The performance of the proposed model is verified using a test system, and compared with different reliability models of UPFC. Various operating schemes, such as different placement locations of UPFC, and different capacities of UPFC are used to illustrate the advantages of the developed models, and to examine the impacts of UPFC on the system reliability.