Simulation-Based performance analysis of three-level 48-pulse STATCOM with constant DC link voltage for reactive power compensation

Sudden change in reactive power demand from load side leads to the voltage instability problem of the power system. This disturbance can be tackled by the proposed STATCOM (static synchronous compensator) model. It consists of four three-level VSC (voltage source converter) along with four zigzag transformers to form 48-pulse VSC. To reduce the voltage stress on the switching devices the DC link voltage is maintained constant which is not found in the common STATCOM operation. The proposed model of STATCOM is built using MATLAB/SimPowerSystems Toolbox. The performance is analyzed by switching the leading and lagging loads.