Dynamic Reactive Power Characteristics Analysis and Optimization of Synchronous Condensers

In the current context of widespread adoption of new energy sources and the prevalence of weak AC power systems in the grid, it is of significant importance to investigate the dynamic response characteristics and fully exploit the reactive power potential of synchronous condensers, which are essential reactive power compensation devices addressing voltage stability. In this paper, a mathematical model is firstly built for synchronous condensers, based on which the effective reactive current gain is introduced as a performance metric. The dominant motor and excitation parameters of synchronous condensers along with their optimization directions are then determined by applying the frequency-domain sensitivity analysis. Using the average effective reactive current gain as the objective function, a joint optimization model for motor and excitation parameters is established, and it is solved using the Artificial Fish Swarm (AFS) algorithm. Taking a 4-machine 2-area system as an example, the effectiveness of the joint optimization approach is validated. The simulation results demonstrate that the optimized synchronous condenser exhibits superior steady-state and transient reactive power support capabilities, thus confirming the feasibility of the parameter optimization method proposed in this paper.