Multimachine stability enhancement with hybrid PSO-BFOA based PV-STATCOM

The article explores the mitigating capabilities of a large PV-farm as a PV-STATCOM (Static synchronous compensator) in quenching the power system oscillations in a multimachine power system. Power system oscillations include fluctuation in the rotor dynamics (generator speed and angle), coupling voltage, and shaft torsions. At dusk, the PV-farm starts operating as VSC (Voltage Source Converter)-STATCOM deploying its entire inverting capabilities for suppressing the oscillations. While at the full sun during the faults, the solar-farm instantly ceases the real power generation and, operating as a PV-STATCOM until the normal operating states are resumed. The paper demonstrates the optimizing capabilities of a Bacterial Swarm Optimization (BSO), a hybrid of particle swarm and bacterial foraging optimizations in controlling the power flow of PV-STATCOM deployed in the literature. Kundur's modified two-area model integrated with a largescale PV-farm is designed in Matlab to probe the rotor swings with torsional deviations in the interconnected shaft segments. The results for several test cases including without-with and BSO-tuned PV-STATCOM reveal the optimizing capabilities of the proposed BSO-based controller in alleviating the power system oscillations in the multi-machine power system.

Automated summary

This article investigates the mitigating capabilities of a large PV-farm as a PV-STATCOM in quenching power system oscillations in a multimachine power system. The study explores the operational modes of the PV-farm at different times, as well as the role of Bacterial Swarm Optimization in the controller, ultimately demonstrating the optimizing capabilities of the BSO-based controller in alleviating power system oscillations.