406 IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 12, No.

1, January 1997

OLD-STATE
SMISSION LINES
. Schauder, Member IEEE Kalyan K. Sen, Member IEEE
Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Abstract - This paper describes an active approach to series line power, P, transmitted through the line is given by the expression:
compensation, in which a synchronous voltage source,
implemented by a gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) based voltage- P LLQ sin (6,-
= 63 (1)
XL
sourced inverter, is used to provide controllable series where V, and V, are the magnitudes and 6, and 6,are the angles of
compensation. This compensator, called Static Synchronous voltages of systems I and 2, respectively, and X, is the impedance
Series Compensator (SSSC), can provide controllable (assumed purely inductive) of the line. As shown, the shunt-
compensating voltage over an identical capacitive and inductive connected Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM can
range, independently of the magnitude o f the line current. It is control the transmission line voltage, the series-connected Static
immune to classical network resonances. In addition to series Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) the effective line
reactive compensation, with an external dc power supply it can impedance, and the Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) all of
also compensate the voltage drop across the resistive component the variables (voltage, impedance, and angle) [4], selectively or
of the line impedance. The compensation o f the real part of the concurrentlv.
impedance can maintain high X/R ratio even if the line has very
high degree of series compensation. Concurrent and coordinated
modulation of reactive and real compensation can greatly
increase power oscillation damping. The paper discusses the
basic operating and performance characteristics of the SSSC,
and compares them to those characterizing the more
conventional compensators based on thyristor-switched or
controlled series capacitors. It also presents some of the results
of TNA simulations carried out with an SSSC hardware model.
I INTRODUCTION
The possibility of using switching power converters for the
generation of controllable reactive power to provide shunt reactive
compensation for transmission and distribution lines has long been
realized [l] and recently a large prototype Static Synchronous
Compensator or STATCOM (also called Static Condenser or
STATCON) installation [ 2 ] , using a gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor-
based voltage-sourced inverter, has been commissioned at the
Sullivan substation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power
system.
A basic approach to the control of ac transmission systems,
which employs essentially the same voltage-sourced inverter as a
Synchronous Voltage Source (SVS) for reactive shunt compensation,
reactive series compensation and transmission angle adjustment, was Fig 1 The family of synchronous voltage source based
proposed [3] in 1989. Subsequently this approach was extended in power flow controllers
1991 to the concept of the Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) Whereas the basic operating characteristics of the STATCOM
[4] and then generalized for the comprehensive, dynamic control of and the W F C are well established in the literature, the SSSC has
active and reactive power flow [5-61. received relatively Iittle attention. The objective of this paper is to
The synchronous voltage source approach to transmission line focus on the SSSC with the intent of establishing its fundamental
compensation and control is illustrated symbolically in Fig. 1 for the operating characteristics and comparing them to those of the better
case of controlling the power flow in an elementary arrangement of known thyristor-switched and thyristor-controlled series compen-
two systems being intertied with a single transmission line. The sators (TSSC and TCSC). The paper also presents the results of
relevant simulations obtained by a TNA (Transient Network
Analyzer) hardware model to illustrate the operation and per-
96 VV?~ 120-6 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE formance of the SSSC.
Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering
Society for presentation at the 1996 IEEFPES Winter Meeting, January 21- II THE SYNCHRONOUSVOLTAGE SOURCE
25, 1996, Baltimore, MD. Manuscript submitted July 31, 1995; made The concept of synchronous voltage source and its solid-state
available for printing December 8, 1995. realization are delineated in [5] and a practical implementation for a
full scale utility application is described in [2]. In this section, the
basic characteristics of the solid-state, synchronous voltage source
are summarized for the reader's convenience.

0885-8977/97/$10.000 1996 IEEE

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The synchronous voltage source considered in this paper is
analogous to an ideal electro-magnetic generator: it can produce a
set of (three) alternating (almost sinusoidal) voltages at the desired
fundamental frequency with controllable amplitude and phase angle;
generate, or absorb, reactive power when tied to an electric power
system to function like a synchronous condenser (compensator);and
convert the active power it exchanges with the ac system into the
form (e.g., dc) that is compatible with an electric energy source or
storage. The SVS for power transmission applications can be
implemented by various, static switching power converters, using
semiconductor switching devices of suitable rating and charac-
teristics. Recent development efforts have focused on voltage-
sourced dc to ac inverters, using gate turn-o@(GTO) thyristors, in a
so-called multi-pulse circuit configuration. In this configuration a
number of identical, elementary (six-pulse) inverters are operated
from a common dc bus with selected time displacements, each to
produce a compatible set of three-phase, quasi-square output voltage
waves. These voltage waves are combined, via an appropriate mag-
netic structure, to produce the final output in which the major fa-
milies of harmonics, present in the constituent waves, cancel out [2].
&" g
)p
w
;o;
Transformer
Energy
Source
(Optional)
Fig 2. Synchronous voltage source employinga solid-state
voltage-sourced inverter
Thus, in the final analysis, the SVS is simply an array of static,
solid-state switches operated from a dc voltage source by an
electronic control so as to produce a three-phase set of synchronous,
nearly-sinusoidal output voltages with independently controllable
amplitude V and phase angle 4.By the nature of basic physical laws,
the amplitude and angle control implies the capability of the SVS to
exchange active and reactive power at its ac output terminals. Since
its input terminals are dc, it is evident that only the active power it
exchanges can be supplied from these terminals. Consequently, the
SVS must intemally generate the reactive power that it exchanges at
its ac terminals. Therefore, the SVS can be considered functionally
as an ideal generator that can be operated with a relatively small dc
storage capacitor in a self-sufficient manner to exchange reactive
power with the ac system or, with an extemal dc power supply or an
energy storage, to also exchange independently controllable active
power. A functional representation of the SVS is shown in Fig. 2.
References Qref and Pres(or other related parameters, such as the
desired compensating reactive impedance Xref and resistance Rref)
define the amplitude V and phase angle 4 of the generated output
voltage necessary to exchange the desired reactive and active power
at the ac output. If the SVS is operated strictly for reactive power
exchange, P,,(or R,,f) is set to zero.
IU FUNDAMENTAL PIUNCPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS
A conventional series capacitive compensation for the simple
system of Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 3, together with the relevant
voltage phasor diagram. Although series compensation is normally
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407
viewed as a means to decrease the reactive line impedance, in fact,
as can be observed, the series capacitor actually works by increasing
the voltage across the impedance of the given physical line and
thereby also increasing the line current and the transmitted power.
While this observation may appear trivial, it is important to note
that fiom the standpoint of power transmission, the important
parameter is the voltage across the physical line while the capacitor
itself is just a convenient means for increasing this voltage to the
necessary level to force the required current through the line. It
follows therefore that the same steady-state power transmission can
be established if the series compensation is provided by a
synchronous ac voltage source, as shown in Fig. 4, whose output
precisely matches the voltage of the series capacitor
-
(V,= @ = -j x c z>.
Fig. 3. Elementary two-machine system with a series compensating capacitor
and associated phasor diagram
.
I I
.L
I
Fig 4 Elementary two-machinesystem with a static synchronousseries
compensator and associated phasor diagram
It should be appreciated that, although an ideal voltage source
could be made to imitate the functional behavior of a series
capacitor, the inherent characteristics of the synchronous voltage
source type compensator, referred to as the static synchronous series
compensator (SSSC)* in this paper, are significantly different from
that of the series capacitor. These differences are summarized in the
following sections.
A. Transmitted power versus transmission angle characteristic.
The capacitor is a reactive impedance in series with the line.
Consequently,the voltage across it is proportional to the line current
which is a function of the transmission angle. With changing
transmission angle (and line current) the compensating voltage will
also change. The transmitted power P, is a parametric function of
the degree of series compensations (s = &/XJ, that is,
where V = VI = V2 and 6 = 6,- 6,.The normalized power P,versus
angle 6 plots as a function of parameters (s = 1/3 and s = 1/5) are
shown in Fig. 5.
The SSSC injects the compensating voltage in series with the
line irrespective of the line current. The transmitted power P,
therefore becomes a parametric function of the injected
* It is also called solid-state series compensator in the literature.
408
- -
voltage, V, = IV,I, where V, = V, { ? l ~ T ( ) e r ~ 9 0 0and
, it can be
expressed as follows: flow will reverse, as indicated in Fig. 6.
V The feasibility of reversing power flow by reactive compensation
p, sin s +-
=
v,cos ( 6 / 2 ) (3) is demonstrated in Fig. 7 by the results obtained from the TNA
XL XL simulation of a simple two machine system controlled by a precisely
The normalized power P, versus angle 6plots are shown in Fig. 6 as detailed SSSC hardware model. The plots in the figure show, at 6 =
a function of VT For comparison, the normalized voltage V, is lo", the line current i together with the receiving-end (1-n) voltage v2
chosen to give the same maximum power as the series capacitor with for phase A, the transmitted power P together with the reactive
the corresponding s. That is, at 6 = go", rX, = V, = 0.707 when power Q supplied by the receiving-end, the same line current i
s=1/3 and V, = 0.353 when s=1/5. together with the voltage v, injected by the SSSC in phase A, and
the reactive power the SSSC exchanged with the ac system for no
compensation (V, = 0), purely reactive compensation for positive
power flow (V, = Ur, - 171- 7 2 I),
and purely reactive com-
pensation for negative power flow (V, = Lu, + -V2 I). Apart
from the stable operation of the system with both positive and
negative power flows, it can also be observed that the SSSC has an
excellent (sub-cycle) response time and that the transition from
positive to negative power flow through zero voltage injection is
perfectly smooth and continuous.
No Compensation for Compensation for
n Y
0 goo
,x
180' "
Compensation
- -Positive Power Flow - - Negative Power Flow
_ /

Fig 5 Transmitted power P, versus transmission angle 6 as a parametric

function of the degree of series capacitive compensation

V* V 6
(PSI.) Vq = 0.707 Pq = -
XL
sin6 + - Vq cos -
XL 2
I Vq =0.353\ T Tiqno

1.o
U
- ! + ; ; I _ t

..ai
.L I time (26 msldiv)
- ~ ' : Qq

0.5
Fig 7 Oscillogramsfrom TNA simulation showing the capability of the
SSSC to establish positive and negative power flow

0
For applications requiring (steady-state or dynamic) power flow
90' 180' control, the basic P versus 6 characteristics shown in Figs. 5 and 6

-o,5

I /// Note A t and in the vicinity of zero line current, the SSSC
requires an external power source, for the supply of its
losses, to maintain operation

Fig 6 Transmittedpower P, versus transmission angle 6 as a parametric

function of the series compensatingvoltage V, provided by the SSSC
Comparison of Fig. 6 to Fig. 5 clearly shows that whereas the
series capacitor increases the transmitted power by a fixed
percentage of that transmitted by the uncompensated line at a given
8, the SSSC increases it by a fixedj?actzon of the maximum power
transmittable by the uncompensated line, independently of S in the
important angle range of 0 16 290".
An additional difference evident in these figures is that whereas
the capacitor can only increase the transmittable power, the SSSC
can also decrease it, simply by reversing the polarity of the injected
ac voltage. The reversed (180" phase-shifted) voltage adds directly
to the reactive voltage drop of the line as if the reactive line
impedance was increased. Furthermore, if this (reverse polarity)
injected voltage is made larger than the voltage impressed across the
uncompensated line by the sending- and receiving-end systems, that
suggest that the SSSC can have a significantly wider control range
than the series capacitor type compensator of the same VA rating.
B Capability to exchange active power
In contrast to the series capacitor, which functions in the
transmission circuit as a reactive impedance and as such is only able
to exchange reactive power, the SSSC can negotiate borh reactive
and active power with the ac system, simply by controlling the
angular position of the injected voltage with respect to the line
current (Recall that active power exchange i s possible only if the
SSSC is coupled to an energy source andor sink, or a suitable
energy storage.)
The capability of the SSSC to exchange active power has
significant application potential. One important application is the
simultaneous compensation of both the reactive and resistive
components of the series line impedance [7] in order to keep the
XL/R ratio high. In many applications, particularly at transmission
voltage levels of 115, 230, and even 340 kVs, where the XL/R ratio
is usually relatively low (in the range of 3 to lo), a high degree of
series capacitive compensation could further reduce the effective
reactive to resistive line impedance ratio to such low values at which

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 409
the progressively increasing reactive power demand of the line, and and independently controllable compensation of both the reactive
the associated line losses and possible voltage depression, would and real impedance of the line, in effect an ideal reactive line can be
start to limit the transmittable active power. This situation is created for maximum power transmission. It should be noted that the
illustrated with a phasor diagram in Fig. 8 for a line whose power Z2R would, of course, still be dissipated by the physical line.
uncompensated XJR ratio is 7.4. As seen, by applying increasing However, this dissipated power would be replenished by the SSSC
series capacitive compensation (for example, 50 and 75 per cent), from the auxiliary power supply.
the effective XhdR = (XL-Xc)/R ratio decreases (to 3.7 and 1.85,
respectively), As a result, the reactive component of the line current,
I sin(&2+#, supplied by the receiving-end system, progressively
increases and the real component, I cos(S/2+#, transmitted to the
receiving-end, progressively decreases with respect to those which
would be obtained with an ideal line (R=O).
1.5
'
>' x
I
.00
R
7

1.o

0.5

Fig. 8. Effect of line resistanceon series capacitivecompensation
The transmittable active power, P, and the reactive power, Q,
supplied by the receiving end bus can be expressed for the simple
two-machine system as functions of the (actual or effective) reactive
line impedance,XL,the line resistance, R, and transmission angle, 6,
as follows:
V2
P = [XLsin 6- R(I - cos 191
0
Fig. 9 Transmitted real power P and reactive power Q versus transmission
angle d as a parametric function of the XdR ratio
The recordings, obtained from the TNA simulation of a two
machine system compensated by the SSSC with a dc power supply,
illustrate the combined compensation of the line reactance and
resistance in Fig. 10. The plots show the line current i in phase A
together with the corresponding receiving-end (1-n) voltage v2, the
transmitted power P together with the reactive power Q supplied by
the receiving-end, the line current i again in phase A together with
the voltage vq injected by the SSSC, and the active and reactive
power the SSSC exchanged with the ac system via the series voltage
injection for no compensation (vq=O),purely reactive compensation,
and reactive plus resistive compensation. (The system was operated
at S = 20' with XJR = 6.) It can be observed that the additional
resistive compensation increases the transmitted power significantly,
while it also decreases the reactive power demand on the receiving-
end.
No Capacitive Capacitive and Resistive
c
Compensation Compensation ---- Compensation
(4)
* -

xL2+
R~

Q = xL2+ R~
v2
[R sin 6+&(I - cos 41 (5)

The normalized active power P and reactive power Q versus angle S

transmission characteristics described by equations (4) and (5) are
plotted as a parametric function of the XJR ratio for XJR = w, 7.4,
3.7, 1.85 in Fig. 9. These plots clearly show that the maximum
transmittable active power decreases, and the ratio of active to
reactive power increases, rapidly with decreasingXL/R ratio.
The SSSC with an appropriate dc supply (which could be *U
powered simply, for example, from an accessible bus or from the
tertiary of a conveniently located transformer) would be able to
.--Y&-
- ' "

time (26 msldiv) 2

inject, in addition to the reactive compensating voltage, a Fig. 10. Oscillograms from TNA simulation showing the capability of the
component of voltage in anti-phase with that developed across the SSSC to provide both reactive and resistive series line compensation
line resistance to counteract the effect of the resistive voltage drop From the standpoint of dynamic system stability, reactive line
on the power transmission. In this way, by providing simultaneous, compensation combined with simultaneous active power exchange

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410
can be extremely effective in damping power oscillation. For
example, during the periods of angular acceleration, the SSSC with
a suitable energy storage can apply maximum capacitive line
compensation to increase the transmitted active power and
concurrently absorb active power to provide the effect of a damping
resistor in series with the line. During the periods of angular
deceleration, the SSSC can execute opposite compensating actions,
that is, apply maximum inductive compensation to decrease the
transmitted active power and concurrently provide the effect of a
negative resistance (i.e., a generator) to supply additional active
power for the line (negative damping). (Although an energy storage
is required for the ideal damping obtained by injecting an alternating
positive and negative damping resistors, a more economical and still
effective damping can be provided with just an energy sink, e.g., a
high energy resistor, tied to the dc terminal of the SSSC. With this
arrangement the SSSC would be able to absorb active power during
the periods of angular accelerations, which then would be dissipated
by the energy sink.)
C. Immunity to resonance
The desired function of the series capacitor is to provide a
compensating voltage opposite to that which develops across the
reactive line impedance at the fundamental system frequency (60 or
50 Hz)to increase the transmitted power. However, the impedance
of the series capacitor is a function of frequency and thus it may
cause resonances at various frequencies with other reactive
impedances present in the network. The resonance of greatest
concern is that occurring with the series reactive impedance of the
system at a frequency below the fundamental. At this frequency the
electrical system may reinforce one of the mechanical resonances of
certain turbine-generators,causing the well-understood phenomenon
of subsynchronous resonance (SSR), which may result in serious
damage to the generator.
In recent years, there has been considerable effort spent, and
progress made, to modify the inherent frequency characteristic of the
series capacitor in the dominant subsynchronous frequency band by
a parallel connected thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) to make it,
with electronic control, immune to subsynchronousresonance [S-91.
In contrast to a series capacitor or to the combination of a series
capacitor and a TCR, the static synchronous series compensator is
essentially an ac voltage source which, with fixed control inputs,
would operate only at the selected (fundamental) output frequency,
and its output impedance at other frequencies would theoretically be
zero. In practice, the SSSC does have a relatively small inductive
output impedance provided by the leakage inductance of the series
insertion transformer. The voltage drop across this impedance is
automatically compensated at the fundamental frequency when the
SSSC provides capacitive line compensation. Thus, the effective
output impedance versus frequency characteristic of the SSSC
remains that of a small inductor at all but its fundamental operating
frequency. Consequently, the SSSC is unable to form a classical
series resonant circuit with the inductive line impedance to initiate
subsynchronous system oscillations. On the other hand, the SSSC
has a very fast (almost instantaneous) response and thus it can be
very effective in the damping of subsynchronous oscillations (which
may be present due to existing series capacitors) if the electronic
control i s structured to provide this function. (In discussing dynamic
interactions, it is of course true that the SSSC, like all actively
controlled equipment, could under abnormal conditions exhibit
instability or oscillatory interaction with the ac system if, for
example, its closed-loop gains, providing automatic power flow
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control or other regulative functions, are improperly set, or if the
electronic control itself malfunctions. However, these considerations
are generic to all actively controlled systems and involve other
subjects like control robustness, control redundancy, and protection,
which are out of the scope of this paper.)
Apart from the immunity to subsynchronous resonances, the
behavior of the SSSC in the transmission network is also different
from that of the series capacitor at the fundamental frequency. The
compensating voltage of the SSSC is set by the control and it is
independent of network impedance (and, consequently, line current)
changes. This means that the SSSC could not be tuned with any
finite line inductance to have a classical series resonance (at which
the capacitive and inductive voltages would be equal) at the
fundamental frequency, because the voltage across the line reactance
would, in all practical cases, be greater than, and limited by, the
voltage of the SSSC. That is, the voltage V, across an ideal line of
reactance XL (R=0) at a fixed 6 is the function of onZy the
compensatingvoltage V, injected by the SSSC, that is,
VX = U T L = v,+2V sin(6/2) (6)
where again V is the ac system (1-n) voltage, and 6 is the
transmission angle. As equation (6) shows, yycan be equal to Vq
only if 6 = 0,in which case the transmission would be controlled
entirely by the SSSC as if it were a generator and the line current
would be restricted to the operating range of 0 II I ViX' . (It
should be noted that the SSSC would require an external dc power
supply for the replenishment of its internal losses to be able to
establish power transmission at zero transmission angle.)
D Control range and VA rating
The SSSC can provide capacitive or inductive compensating
voltage independent of the line current up to its specified current
rating at which its voltage would be reduced to zero (by-pass
operation), as illustrated in Fig. 11. The VA rating of the SSSC
(solid-state inverter and coupling transformer) is simply the product
of the maximum line current (at which compensation is still desired)
and the maximum series compensating voltage: VA,=, Z Vqma.
Current
Steady-State
SSSC requires an external power
+ source to maintain operation
(b)
/ /I '
I
I
-L--_---------------------------J
Fig 11 The static synchronous series compensator(a) and the correspond-
ing attainable range of series compensatingvoltage versus h e current @)
Note that in practical applications
, ,Z may represent the rated
maximum steady-state line current or a specified short duration
overcurrent. However, in the comparison of different series
compensator schemes, I,,, is assumed to represent the maximum
steady-state line current. The basic VA rating of the major
constituents used in different schemes will uniformly be established
 41 1

with this current, and with the voltages corresponding to this conduct 1- current. (The double voltage is due to the fact that the
current. In other words, short duration surge currents and conventional thyristor can only be turned off at zero current, which
corresponding possible overvoltages will not be considered in the forces a zero voltage initial condition for the capacitor bank(s) being
present comparison. energized at a line current zero where the steady-state capacitor
It is seen in Fig. 11 that an SSSC of 1 p.u. VA rating covers a voltage is at its crest. This results in an initial VCmavoltage off-set,
control range correspondingto 2p.u. compensating VARs, that is the doubling the required voltage rating of the thyristor switch.)
control range is continuous from -1 p.u. (inductive) VARs to +1 p.u.
(capacitive) VARs. In many practical applications, only capacitive
-Vc= -ji-kXc(k30, I , ...,n) -
series line compensation is required. In these applications, as well as
in those which already use or plan to use series capacitors as part of
the overall series compensation scheme, the SSSC may be combined
cost effectively with a fixed capacitor, as illustrated in Fig. 12a,
where an SSSC of ?4 p.u. VA rating is combined with a fixed
capacitor of ?4 p.u. VAC rating to form a continuously controllable
overall series compensator with a maximum compensating range of
zero to 1 p.u. capacitive. However, since the fixed capacitor
produces a compensating voltage that is proportional to the line
current, the controllable compensating voltage range of the overall
compensator also becomes, to some degree, a function of the line
Maximum Steady-State Cur&/ I
current, as illustrated in Fig. 12b. Short DurationOvercurrent
In order to compare the compensation range versus line current
characteristics and the corresponding VA requirements of the above Fig. 13. Thyristor switched series compensator (TSSC) employing a string of
SSSC schemes to those pertinent to the conventional thyristor- n series capacitor banks with thyristor bypass switches (a) and the corres-
switched and thyristor-controlledseries compensators, first the basic ponding attainablerange of series compensating voltage vs. line current (b)
implementations and the related operating characteristics of the In the implementation of the TCSC, one [ll] or more [12]
TSSC and TCSC schemes are reviewed. capacitor banks, each shunted with a thyristor-controlled reactor
(TCR), are employed. Here, for generality, only the compensator
Vh,,=-jTxCt& VL
A - consisting of m identical elementary TCSC modules in series, as
4'
1
#XC
[ 0.5 P.U.
X,
shown in Fig. 14a, is considered. In this arrangement the TCR has
SSSC
[ 0.5P.U.l

vcanpnu

,J Steady-State
Current

/
,
,
I I Maximum
Steadv-State

+ source to maintain operation

Fig. 12. A hybrid compensator scheme consisting of a fixed capacitor and an

SSSC (a) and the corresponding attainable range of series compensating
voltage versus line current (b)
The basic implementation of the TSSC [lo] is shown in Fig.
13a. In this approach a string of n capacitor banks, each shunted by
a bidirectional thyristor bypass switch (usually via a small current
limiting reactor, not shown), is employed. The series compensation
is varied in a step-like manner by "opening" and "closing" the
thyristor switches: For minimum compensation, all switches are
"closed; for maximum compensation, all switches are "open". The
series compensating impedance varies in XC increments up to the
maximum value of nX,. The compensatingvoltage produced by this
compensator scheme is directly proportional to the line current as
shown in Fig. 13b, but at any line current in the range of 0 < ZSZ-,
the maximum compensating voltage attainable at that current with
the full nX, compensating impedance can be decreased to zero in n
steps. The total VA rating of the capacitor banks is (ZmA2 nX, =
V,,, I-. The total VA rating of the n thyristor switches is 2VC-
Z-, because they have to be able to block 2Vc- voltage and
Fig. 14. Thyristor controlled series compensator (TCSC) employing series m
capacitor banks each with a parallel-connected TCR (a) and the corres-
ponding attainablerange of series compensating voltage vs. line current (b)
three basic functions: (1) provide a bypass switch, (2) circulate a
variable current through the associated capacitor bank and thereby
control the compensating voltage, and (3) alter the low frequency
(below fundamental) impedance versus frequency characteristic of
the capacitor to prevent subsynchronous resonance. The TCSC
modules are operated in two regions: one is the inductive region, in
which the conduction angle of the thyristor switch, a, is controlled
from 180" (full conduction for bypass) to a limit given by q for
minimum conduction; the other is the capacitive region, in which a
is controlled from 0" (thyristor switch is non-conducting) to ac
given for maximum conduction (note that OC < q).The two
regions are separated by a mid-region, ac Ia Ia,in which the
TCR would be at, or close to, resonance with the parallel capacitor
and therefore its operation is inhibited by the control. The actual

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412
values of q and oc are determined by component (capacitor and
thyristor) voltage and current rating constraints. Using sufficient
number (in 2 4 ) of series connected modules, and controlling them
appropriately both in their capacitive and inductive regions, the
TCSC can approximate an overall compensating voltage versus line
current characteristicshown in Fig. 14b.
The total VA rating of the m series connected capacitor banks is
( I d 2 in& = V,,, I,, (assuming that the TCR in the multi-module
configuration is not used to increase the capacitor voltage by current
circulation once the line current has reached its maximum value).
The in thyristor switches of the TCRs have to be rated 2Vc,, ,,,Z
due to the off-set voltage obtained at the energization of the
capacitor banks (in spite of the TCR's capability to reduce this off-
set within a few cycles). The VA rating of the reactor employed in
the TCR is simply Vc,, I-.
E. Comparison of the SSSC to TSSC and TCSC
The SSSC offers inherent functional characteristics and
compensation features, stemming from the unique attributes of a
solid-state voltage source, for series line compensation not
achievable by thyristor-controlled series capacitor schemes. These
characteristics and features can be summarized as follows:
1. It is capable of intemally generating a controllable
compensating voltage over an identical capacitive and inductive
range independently of the magnitude of the line current.
2. With the ability to interface with an extemal dc power supply
it can provide compensation for the line resistance, as well as for the
line reactance, for the purpose of keeping the effective XtedR ratio
high, independently of the degree of series compensation.
3. With an energy storage (or sink), highly effective damping of
power oscillation is possible by modulating the series reactive
compensation to increase and decrease the transmitted power, and
by concurrently injecting an altemating virtual positive and negative
real impedance in sympathy with the prevalent machine swings.
4. It has a substantially voltage source type impedance versus
frequency characteristics which excludes classical series resonance
with the reactive line impedance.
Notwithstanding the operating and performance benefits, it is
recognized that the cost o f a given compensator scheme is often the
main factor determining its practical application. The most
significant indicator for the ultimate cost effectiveness of a
compensator is the ratio o f the maximum range of attainable VAR
output to the VA rating of the equipment. This ratio is clearly
impressively high for the SSSC: 1 p.u. VA equipment can produce
*1 p.u. series VAR compensation, that is, the maximum range of
reactive compensation is 2 p.u. This bi-directional compensating
capability can, of course, also be utilized in applications requiring
only capacitive compensation by combining an SSSC of only ?hp.u.
VA rating with a fixed capacitor of ?h p a . VAC rating to obtain a
continuously variable series compensator with a maximum
compensating range of zero to 1 p.u. capacitive.
Neither the TSSC nor the TCSC would, without additional
power circuit elements, be able to provide symmetrical, capacitive
and inductive, series compensation. Thus, for comparison only
capacitive compensation with a maximum range of zero to 1 p.u. is
considered. For this range the capacitor banks are rated for 1 p.u.
VAC and the thyristor switches for 2 p.u. VA in both the TSSC and
TCSC schemes, which makes the overall equipment rating
significantly higher than that required for the SSSC (1 p.u. vs. %
p a . VAC for the capacitor bank, and 2 p.u. vs. % p.u. VA for the
semiconductor power circuit).
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It is understood that the VA rating alone does not determine the
cost of the equipment. The synchronous voltage source and the
thyristor-switched or controlled types of series compensator employ
different semiconductors and power circuits, different auxiliary
power components, and different installation structures. Thus, for a
realistic assessment of relative costs, both the necessary VA ratings
and at least the major differences in hardware have to be considered.
Apart from the power semiconductors (GTO vs. conventional
thyristors), the greatest difference from the standpoint of cost is in
the auxiliary power components and installation structure. The
SSSC requires a coupling transformer (rated for one half of the
maximum series var compensatingrange) and a dc storage capacitor.
However, it is installed in a building at ground potential and
operated at a relatively low (below 20 kV) voltage. Thus this
installation needs only relatively low voltage insulation for the
cooling system and a relatively inexpensive interface infrastructure
between the semiconductor power circuit and control. The
equipment is largely factory assembled and therefore the on-site
labor requirements are relatively low. It's operation is readily
observable and has easy access for service.
The TSSC and TCSC are coupled directly to the transmission
line and therefore are installed on a high voltage platform. The
installation necessarily involves considerable on-site labor. The
cooling system and control are located on the ground with greatly
increased insulation requirements and control interface complexity.
The equipment is not visually observable in operation and its
maintenance and servicing are relatively cumbersome.
Thus, in the final analysis, the economic comparison between
the two types of series compensators comes down to establishing
whether the additional costs of major hardware items in the SSSC
(coupling transformers, GTO-based power circuit, and dc storage
capacitor) are off-set by the SSSC's lower installation cost, overall
ease and convenience of maintenance and service, plus by the
additional costs inherent in the TSSC/TCSC approach. These costs
are attributable to the higher VA ratings of the capacitor banks and
thyristor switches; the reactors required for VAR control or bypass;
the high voltage platform and the complications for the cooling
system and control interface arising from operating the
semiconductor power circuit at a voltage level high above ground;
the overall higher labor costs related to a relatively complex
installation, and more involved maintenance and service.
It is evident that precise cost comparison based on the above
consideration is complex and application dependent; and it
obviously could not be done within the scope of this paper.
However, a preliminary cost evaluation carried out by the authors,
using the cost figures based on the similar power circuit strucme of
the &lo0 WAR.STATCON installation at TVA, indicate that the
SSSC would generally be cost competitive with both the TSSC and
TCSC.
IV CONCLUSIONS
The static synchronous series compensator offers an alternative
to conventional series capacitive line compensation. Whereas the
series capacitor is an impedance that produces the required
compensating voltage as the line current flows through it, the SSSC
is a solid-state voltage source that internally generates the desired
compensating voltage independent of the line current. The voltage
source nature of the SSSC provides the basis for its superior
operating and performance characteristics not achievable by series
capacitor type compensators: Intemal reactive power generation and
absorption without ac capacitors or reactors; control of reactive
 413

compensating voltage independent of the magnitude of line current [IO] Ken, A F J , et al , "Improving Transmission System Performance Using Controlled
Series Capacitors," C E R E Paper 14/37/38-07, 1992
over identical capacitive and inductive operating regions; immunity
to classical subsynchronous and other network resonances; ability to [I I] Christl, N , et al , "Advanced Series Compensation (ASC) w t h Thynstor-Controlled
Impedance," C E R E Paper 14/37/38-07, 1992
interface with an electric power supply, sink, or storage for the
[I21 Urbanek R , et al , "Thynstor-Controlled Senes Compensaaon - Prototype
purpose of providing active as well as reactive line compensation; Installation at the Slatt 500 kV Substation," IEEE Transactions on Power delivery, Vol
fast, almost instantaneous response to control commands. 8,No 3,1993
The capability of the SSSC to exchange both reactive and active
power m&es it possible to compensate both the reactive and the Laszlo Gyugyi (IEE F' 1976) received his
resistive line voltage drops and thereby maintain a high effective undergraduate education at the University of
X/R ratio for the line independently of the degree of series Technology, Budapest, further studied
compensation. In this way, optimal power transmission (high active mathematics at the University of London,
to reactive power ratio) can be attained even at a high degree of England, and electrical engineering both at the
series compensation. Similarly, combined reactive and real University of Pittsburgh, PA (M.S E E 1967)
compensation can provide highly effective damping of power and at the University of Salford, England
oscillation when the reactive line impedance is modulated, and (PhD 1970) He joined the Westinghouse
Science & Technology Center in 1963, where
concurrently a virtual damping resistor with alternating maximum for the last 15 years he has been the Manager
and minimum (positive/negative or positive/zero) values is injected, of the Power Electronics Department and
to oppose prevalent machine swings. responsible for power electronics based
The results of TNA simulations presented in the paper technology and product development. Since 1995 he is Technical Director
substantiate the theoretical predictions regarding the operating and for the Corporation's power eIectronics activity. Dr Gyugyi has a broad
performance characteristics of the SSSC. experience in all areas of power conversion and control, and has been
The non-capacitor like behavior, the superior operating pioneering advanced power electronic-based compensation and control
characteristics, and hitherto unattainable application flexibility that techniques for utility applications, for which effort in 1992 he received the
the SSSC offers, may provide a sufficient basis to reconsider the Westinghouse Order of Merit (the Corporation'shighest honor) In 1994 he
received the William E Newell Power Electronics Award that the IEEE
general applicability of series compensation for power flow control Power Electronics Society presents annually for outstanding achievement m
and system stability improvements. For example, the SSSC may power electronics
represent an attractive option for systems which, for various reasons, Colin D. Schauder (M' 1981) was bom m
do not presently use series capacitors but which require the solution Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1952 He was
to increasingly difficult power flow control problems. The SSSC is awarded the B Sc. Engineering and PhD
also likely to be advantageous for use with existing series capacitors, degrees by the University of Cape Town, South
as a vemier control, where its plus/minus reactive compensation Africa, in 1972 and 1978 respectively From
capability can be readily accommodated with significant cost 1978 to 1983 he was employed by GEC
Electrical Projects and GEC Electrical Controls
savings.
in Rugby, England In 1983 he jomed Westmg-
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT house Science and Technology Center where
The authors would like to recognize the substantial contribution made he now holds the position of Consultmg
by M r M Lund of Westinghouse STC in the preparation of this paper Engineer for the Power Electronics
Department His work in the past has been
REFERENCES involved with h rmance ac motor drives Recently he has been
[I] Gyugyi, L , "Reactive Power Generation and Control by Thynstor Circuits," Power actively involved in the development of new concepts for Flexible AC
Electronics Specialist Conference, Cleveland, OH, June 8-10, 1976 IEEE Transactions Transmission Systems (FACTS) and other utility applicationsof high power
on Industry Applications, vol IA-15,No 5, September/October 1979 electronics He is the Technical Coordinator of the 100 MVAR TVA
121 Schauder, C D , et al , "Development of a a100 MVAR Static Condenser for Voltage STATCOMproject and has been responsiblefor much of the system design
Control of Transmission Systems," IEEE, PES Summer Power Meeting, Paper No 94
SM 419-6 PWRD, 1994 Kalyan K. Sen (S' 1983, M' 1988) received a
[3] Gyugyi, L , "Solid-State Control of Electric Power in AC Transmission Systems," B E E (1982), a M S E E (1983), and a Ph.D
International Symposium on "Electric Energy Conversion in Power systems," Invited (I 987) degrees, all in Electrical Engmeering,
paper, No T-IP 4, Capn, Italy, 1989 from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India,
[4] Gyugyi, L "A Unified Power Flow Control Concept for Flexible AC Transmission
I Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, USA, and
Systems," IEE Proceedings-C, Vol 139, No 4, July 1992 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester,
[5] Gyugyi, L , "Dynamic Compensation of AC Transmission Lines by Solid-state USA, respectively He held a tenure track
Synchronous Voltage Sources," IEEE Transactrons on Power Delivery, Vol 9, No 2, assistant professor level position at Prairie
Apnl 1994 ViewRexas A&M University for 3 years before
[6] Gyugyi, L , et al , "The Unified Power Flow Controller A New Approach to Power joining Westinghouse Electric Corporation's
Transmission Control,'' IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol IO, No 2, Aprrl Science & Technology Center m Pittsburgh,
1995 USA in 1990. His interests are in Power Converter Topologies, Elecfrzcal
171 Ramey, D G , et a l , "Use of FACTS Power Flow Controllers to Enhance Machines, Numerical Computations, and Microprocessor based hardware
Transmission Transfer Limits," Proceedings of the Amencan power Conference, 1994 implementations
[SI Nyati, S , et al , "Effectiveness of Thyristor-Controlled Series Capacitor in Enhancing
Power System Dynamics An Analog Simulator Study," IEEE Transactions on Power
Delivery, Vol 9 No 2, Apnl 1994
[9] Agrawal, B L , et al , "Advanced Senes Compensation (ASC) Steady-State, Transient
Stability, and Subsynchronous Resonance Studies," FACTS Conference 2, EPRl TR-101
784, Boston, MA, May 1992

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414

Discussion values of approximately 35% given in Table 1 in [l]. This

level of compensation is safe from the SSR standpoint, as
D.N.Kosterev (Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR), indicated in Figure 2A, and is used as the reference for
W.A.Mittelstadt (Bonneville Power Administration, Port- judging SSR performance.
land, OR ): The authors are to be congratulated for an Next, we simulated the system under increased
excellent paper representing potential benefits of a Static loading conditions of 3000MW. It was necessary to increase
Synchronous Series Compensators (SSSC) for power utility the series compensation as indicated in paper [l]. The
applications. Among other SSSC benefits, the authors have following series compensator designs were considered:
acknowledged the sub-synchronous resonance (SSR) perfor- Design 1. The entire series compensation is fixed at the
mance of the device. We would like to illustrate and to values given in Table 3 in [l]. This design results in SSR as
support their statement with our recent study. shown in Figure 2B. The resonant frequency is 20.6 Hz
In our IEEE paper [l],we presented an application which was predicted by analytical studies [2].
study for rating and sizing controlled series compensation Design 2. The series compensation is a combination of fixed
using an example of the Montana system. The main reason capacitors and thyristor-controlled series capacitors (TCSCs)
to use controlled compensation in the system is the with capacitor bank sizes taken from Table 6 in [l].The
concern at the Colstrip coal-fired units. Comprehensive TCSC design is similar to that used at Kayenta, and all six
analytical studies have been performed by Keith Stump and TCSC units are modeled at a constant fiiing angle of 155
Ronald Hedin and presented in [2]. Recently, we performed degrees. The TCSC provides excellent damping of the SSR
time-domain SSR studies for the Colstrip system using modes, as seen in Figure 2C.
EMTP (BPA-ATP version). The 500kV transmission
system is re-presented in a great detail from Colstrip to Taft,
as shown in Figure 1, including six series compensators.
The underlying 230kV system is modeled by equivalent
circuits. The Colstrip generators are represented by full
models including multi-mass shafts for units #3 and #4.
The considered disturbance is opening of the 230kV line to
the Miles City DC link.
The analytical studies [2] demonstrated that SSR
modes of concern are 18.2 Hz and 20.6 Hz mechanical
shaft frequencies of Colstrip units #3 and #4. Since these
modes are most observable at the HP-turbine mass, the w
speed of this mass is used for comparison. First, the 2.
%
system is simulated at the present 2200MW loading in the " 0
west-of-Garrison cutplane with fixed compensation having d
Ya
I
-0.5' I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time [sec]

Miles City

Broadview \ f
"."
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

(D)
0.5

aft "-0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time [sec]

Figure 1:EMTP model of Montana 500kV Transmission

System. Figure 2: High-speed turbine speed.

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Design 3. The series compensation is a combination of
fixed capacitors and SSSCs. The fixed compensation is
35%, and the rest of the compensation requirement (Table 3
[l]) is made up by the SSSC. The SSSC is modeled as a
syn-chronous voltage source ( type 60 source in ATP )
connected in series with line via a coupling transformer.
The SSSC inserts voltage in quadrature with the line
current and of magnitude independent on the line current.
From Figure 2D, it is evident that the SSSC does not
participate in sub-synchronous oscillations, i.e. SSR neutral.
This is because the modeled series synchronous voltage
source has zero impedance, and consequently acts as a
short circuit to the sub-synchronous frequencies.
In the presented study, the SSSC is modeled as an
ideal voltage source independent of line current. In reality,
the sub- and super- synchronous components of ac line
current produced by a generator shaft mechanical frequency
fm (fsub=60-fm, f&=60+fm) will appear at the SSSC dc bus at
fm frequency. These dc current components will modulate
dc-capacitor voltage at fm frequency, and consequently the ac
side voltage at f&, and f&,frequencies. More studies are
required to determine impact of these interactions on the SSR
performance of the SSSC.
The Bonneville Power Administration uses single
phase tripping for single line-to-ground faults on many of its
500kV lines, when the faulted phase remains open for about
40 cycles before autoreclosing. Could you comment on how
these unbalanced conditions affect the SSSC operation ?
[l] D.N.Kosterev, W.A.Mittelstadt, R.R.Mohler, W.J.Kolo-
dziej, “An Application Study for Rating and Sizing
Controlled and Conventional Series Compensation,”
presented at 1995 Summer IEEE Power Engineering
Society Meeting, paper 95SM401-0 PWRD, Portland OR,
1995.
[2] K.B.Stump, R.A.Hedin, W.A.Mittelstadt, D.N.Kosterev,
“Preliminary Analysis of Subsynchronous Resonance in the
Colstrip West 500kV Transmission System,” scheduled for
EPRI: Future of Power Delivery Conference, Washington DC,
April 9-11, 1996.
Manuscript received February 20, 1996.
W. F. Long (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison,
Wisconsin) and L. A. S. Pilotto (CEPEL, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil):
The authors have presented a most interesting paper on the proposed use
of a voltage-source converter as an alternative to conventional series
capacitor compensationof transmission lines. The work is a natural
outgrowth of the shunt-connected Static Synchronous Compensator or
STATCOMas it is now called. It‘s advantages are analogous to those of the
STATCOM as an alternativeto the Static Var Compensator(SVC). But this
then leads to several questions that were not covered in the paper.
First, how do the authorsenvision the performanceof the SSSC during and
following a single line-to-ground fault? In the case of the STATCOMthere
may be significantovercurrents,and converter blocking has been
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415
suggested as one response. But this removes the compensatingdevice
when it is needed most. Pulse-width modulation has been proposed as a
temporary operating condition for the STATCOM. Do the authors have a
technique in mind for the SSSC?
Second, the authors state that there is a natural immunity to
subsynchronousoscillationsinherentin the SSSC. Have they examined,
say, the performance of the SSSC in the First IEEE SSR Benchmark Model to
verify this? What kinds of supplementarycontrol loops would be
required, if any?
Finally, while we recognizethe advantages of TNA simulation in
developing control strategies, we believe that EMTP simulation offers a
better opportunity to examine system-related operation in examples like
those mentioned above.
Manuscript received February 20, 1996.
L Gyugyi. C.D. Schauder, K.K. Sen: We wish to thank the
discussers for their interesting comments and questions.
The answers to some of these questions lead to the very
fundamental physical laws governing the operation of the
inverter-based Static Synchronous Series Compensator
(SSSC). Although this forum clearly does not allow a
comprehensive treatment of the issues raised, we attempt
to summarized the underlying principles which determine
the operation of the SSSC under those abnormal system
conditions the discussers consider.
The focus of the discussers is on the behavior of the SSSC
during fault imposed gross system unbalances and on its
immunity to classical subsynchronousoscillations. Naturally,
the behavior of the SSSC under these (as well as all other)
conditions is governed by its control system and the type of
inverter used in a particular installation. However, the main
objective under these conditions is generally to maintain
useful operation of the equipment and, at the same time,
avoid possible damage to the inverter.
For the purpose of this discussion let us assume that the
SSSC has no source or sink of power attached to its dc
terminals, and furthermore let us neglect the power losses
of the inverter. The dc terminal voltage is thus supported
entirely by a dc capacitor bank. With perfectly balanced
sinusoidal line currents, the inverter (with sufficiently large
pulse number) will produce balanced, sinusoidal voltages in
quadrature with the line current, and the de capacitor bank
will experience no charging current since no real power is
exchanged at the ac terminals of the inverter. If the
inverter is controlled to produce these same voltages while
additional negative sequence, sub- and super-synchronous
components, and harmonics are introduced into the line
current, then alternating power components will appear at
the ac terminals of the inverter and these will be matched
by alternating charging currents in the de capacitor,
producing in turn an associated alternating voltage
component on the capacitor. This is because the energy
transfer through the inverter is absolutely direct, and thus
the net instantaneous power at the input terminals must
416
always be equal to the net instantaneous power at the
output terminals. In view of this, let us now consider the
SSR example of Messrs. Kosterev and Mittelstadt. If the
line current contains sub- and super-synchronous compo-
nents with frequencies of fd=f,-f, and f,=f,+f,, respec-
tively, in addition to the synchronous component of
frequency&, due to the modulation process taking place at
the mechanical system frequency f, during the sub-
synchronous resonance stipulated in the example, then an
ac current component of frequencyf, will flow through the
dc terminals to balance the fluctuating power appearing at
the ac terminals of the inverter. As a result, the dc terminal
voltage of the SSSC inverter (which is supported only by a
finite capacitor) will have a superimposed ac component
with frequencyf,. If the inverter control ignores this ac
component, that is, if it is operated to produce the ac
output voltage as if the dc terminal voltage was constant,
then the SSSCwill have sub- and super-synchronousvoltage
components with the same fd=&-f, and f,=f,+f,
frequencies, as Messrs. Kosterev and Mittelstadt indicated
in their discussion. However, it should be recognized that
the variation in dc link voltage does not inherently affect
the ability of the inverter to produce the designated output
voltages unless the dc voltage dips too low, or rises too high
for the safe operation of the inverter valves. That is, it is
possible to produce the designated sinusoidal output
voltages at the wanted single synchronous frequency by
appropriately controlling the (instantaneous) magnitude of
the inverter's output voltage. In this way the inverter can
maintain ideal terminal characteristics: the positive
sequence synchronous line currents would flow through the
inverter valves, bypassing the dc terminals (while the
inverter would be exchanging reactive power at the
synchronous frequency with the line), and the sub- and
super-synchronous (as well as negative sequence) line
current components would circulate through the inverter
valves and the dc capacitor as if the ac terminals were
shunted by ideal, fundamental frequency voltage sources.
Thus, in spite of the modulated dc terminal voltage, the
power system would "see" the SSSC as a perfect synchro-
nous voltage source, which acts as a short circuit at non-
synchronous frequencies. In other words, from the
standpoint of the power system, this SSSC would exhibit ac
terminal characteristics identical to those obtained with an
inverter whose dc terminal voltage is provided by an infinite
source of zero impedance, which, as Messrs. Kosterev and
Mittelstadt verified, ensure SSR neutrality.
For inverters not having suitable output control capability,
an obvious but costly strategy to limit the dc bus voltage
excursions, and the corresponding effects on the ac output
voltage, is to increase the amount of installed capacitance.
This may not always be cost effective, but for completeness
it must be stated that with sufficient dc bus capacitance the
SSSC can produce ideal output voltages irrespective of the
line current. In this case the SSSC can be operated under
severely unbalanced line current conditions and it will
clearly be neutral to SSR.
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Without increasing the dc capacitor size, or establishing an
internal voltage control capability in the inverter, there
exists a more practical method of operating the SSSC
usefully in the presence of abnormal line currents. This
approach makes use of the intrinsic ability of the inverter
to change the phase angle of its output voltages very
rapidly. The technique is best explained using instantaneous
vectors [l]to represent the three phase voltage and current
sets. By this method, each three phase set (excluding zero
sequence components) is entirely represented at each
instant of time by a single two-dimensional vector. The
vector representing the inverter terminal voltages can be
controlled in magnitude (constant, for example) and can be
assigned any angle virtually instantaneously. By the simple
strategy of keeping the inverter voltage vector instanta-
neously and continuously in quadrature with the line current
vector, the ac terminal power of the SSSC can be
maintained precisely at zero, absolutely irrespective of the
nature of the line current. The dc capacitor thus sees no
charging currents during abnormal line conditions, and the
dc voltage stays constant.
This control technique has some interesting consequences.
Consider first a seriously unbalanced line where, for
example, single phase tripping has left only two of the three
phases in conduction. When the SSSC is controlled, as
described, to keep its terminal power instantaneously at
zero, an unavoidable phase modulation is introduced in the
SSSC terminal voltage. The terminal voltage will contain
the original positive sequence fundamental component, plus
additional distortion components comprising predominantly
a negative sequence fundamental and a positive sequence
third harmonic voltage. This is thought to be an acceptable
compromise for a condition lasting about forty cycles, since
the basic action of the SSSC is not interrupted. It is
anticipated that the line currents will be higher than normal
during this condition, but this should be accommodated by
the short term overload capability of the inverter.
Now consider the consequence of the prescribed control
technique in the presence of SSR on the line. In this case
too, the magnitude of the voltage vector, representing the
output voltages of the SSSC, is freely controlled according
to the compensation requirements of the line, but its angle
is kept precisely at 90 degrees with respect to the vector
representing the three line currents, which are now
modulated by the torsional machine oscillations. Thus, by
definition, the instantaneous total power at the terminals of
the SSSC will be maintained at zero. The SSSC therefore
appears in series with the line as an "energy-neutral" device,
since at no instant in time does it ever deliver any energy
to the network nor absorb any energy from it. It must be
noted that this energy-neutral condition is unique to the
SSSC. Other passive reactive components such as series
capacitor banks do store energy and their total instanta-
neous terminal power is typically not zero during transient
conditions. The authors postulate that an energy-neutral
device cannot contribute in any way to the occurrence of an

SSR which is, after all, a power oscillation between a
generator and various energy storage components.
From the above argument it is evident that, due to
fundamental physical laws, a su&ient condition for the
SSSC to remain neutral to subsynchronous oscillations,
independently of system conditions, is to keep its instanta-
neous output voltage vector (representing the output
voltages of the inverter) in quadrature with the instanta-
neous line current vector.
While the generality of the above postulated sufficient
condition is supported by basic engineering definitions, it
should be recognized that other methods may lead to other
conditions (for example, the previously established voltage
control method) which would exclude the SSSC's active
participation in subsynchronous oscillation. It is also very
likely that the SSSC can be controlled to be highly effective
in the active damping of prevailing subsynchronous
oscillations brought about by conventional series capacitive
compensation. There is a considerable opportunity for
original research to explore the total potential of the SSSC
and we welcome the active participation of the discussers,
who have considerable expertise in this field, and look
forward to hear about the results of their own studies and
the conclusions they reach. We also plan more publications
on this subject in the near future.
Before concluding this discussion, it may be appropriate to
make a few comments about the practicality of the
proposed control methods from the standpoint of the
expectable capabilities a high power inverter. After all, it
would be a legitimate question by the discussers whether a
practical high power inverter would have the controllability
and speed of response to implement the above proposed
control techniques.
From the standpoint of controllability, inverters may be
categorized as Type 1 and Type 2 inverters. For Type 1
inverters both the angular position and the magnitude of
the output voltage are controllable by appropriate valve (on
and off) gating. For Type 2 inverters only the angular
position of the output voltage is controllable by valve
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417
gating; the magnitude remains proportional to the dc
terminalvoltage. (Note, however, that when the dc terminal
voltage is provided by a charged capacitor, the magnitude
of the output voltage can be varied by angle control which
establishes momentary real power exchange at the ac
terminals to charge or discharge the dc capacitor.)
The control method of maintaining a quadrature relation-
ship between the instantaneous inverter voltage and line
current vectors, we propose to handle large unbalances and
SSR, requires only a Type 2 inverter. The method of
maintaining a single frequency synchronous output
independently of dc terminal voltage variation, requires a
Type 1inverter. Although high power Type 1 inverters are
more difficult to implement than Type 2 inverters (because
their greater control flexibility is usually associated with
some penalty in terms of increased losses, greater circuit
complexity, and/or increased harmonic content in the
output), nevertheless they can be realized to meet practical
utility requirements. The authors have been closely
associated with the development of both types of inverters
for output ratings of over 100 MVA. These inverters
employ harmonic neutralization techniques with an overall
48-pulse structure using two- and three-level switchingpoles
comprising series connected GTO thyristors. Both types of
inverters are "vector" controlled. Although the switching
poles are operated at the fundamental frequency to keep
the losses low, the evaluation of these inverters has verified
that the magnitude and/or phase of the output voltage can
be controlled very rapidly (phase control is practically
instantaneous, magnitude control is about one msec),
certainly rapidly enough to implement the above control
methods with sufficient accuracy to handle the frequency
band of interest (SSR).
Reference
[l] Schauder, C.D. and Mehta, H., Vector Analysis and
Control of Advanced Static Var Compensators," IEE Fifth
International Conference on AC and DC Transmission,
Conference Publication No. 345, pp 266-272, 1991.
Manuscript received March 20, 1996.