The study of voltage problems in Polish power system

Voltage control and voltage stability problems are not new in planning and operating of electric power networks but are now receiving special attention in many countries because of a greater need for improving efficiency of usage of transmission capacity in the competitive electric energy market. Many European utilities have carried out the studies over the use of FACTS devices on their transmission system. Similar investigations were done in Poland. This paper presents the results of voltage problem analysis obtained in the EPRI project of application of FACTS technology to the Polish Power Grid. The IPFLOW and VSTAB programs have been used for contingency analysis and voltage stability study. The northeastern part of Polish power system was investigated in detail due to unacceptable voltage profiles and voltage stability problems under peak load scenario in the year 2000. Technical advantage of the SVC or STATCOM system over conventional solutions in resolving voltage stability problems was investigated.