1734 IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 12, No.

4, November 1997
asic Control of Unifie Power Flow Controller

I. Papic, P. zunko, Member, IEEE D. Povh, Fellow, IEEE, M. Weinhold, Member, IEEE
Faculty o f Electrical Engineering Siemens AG, EV NP
University of Ljubljana Erlangen, Germany
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract - A Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is a typi-
cal FACTS device capable of instantaneous control of three
system parameters. This paper presents a basic control system
which enables the UPFC to follow the changes in reference val-
ues of the active and reactive power supplied from the outer
system controller. The analysis is based on the transformation
of the three-phase system to the rotating reference frame. As a
step closer to a practical application of the UPFC a modified
control structure with a predictive control loop and precontrol
signal for a dc-voltage control was designed. The new control
system offers better stability and transient performance in com-
parison with the classical decoupled strategy, especially consid-
ering the harmonic distortion of the current being controlled.
The derived basic control of the UPFC was tested with the
NETOMAC program system.
I. INTRODUCTION
Due to the rapid development of the power electronics in-
dustry, an increasing number of high power semiconductor
devices are available for power system applications. These
new devices have made it possible to consider new tech-
nologies such as the Flexible AC Transmission System
(FACTS) for power flow control, secure loading and damp-
ing of power system oscillations [l]. FACTS systems are an
attractive altemative for increasing the transmission capabil-
ity of existing transmission lines. A Unified Power Flow
Controller (UPFC) is a power electronics-based system
which can provide control of the transmission line imped-
ance, phase angle and reactive power [2].
The UPFC consists of two voltage sourced converters us-
ing gate tum-off thyristors (GTO) which operate from a
common dc-circuit consisting of a dc-storage capacitor (Fig.
PE-667-PWRS-0-01-1997 A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Power System Engineering Committee of the IEEE
Power Engineering Society for publication in the IEEE Transactions
on Power System. Manuscript submitted October 24, 1996; made
available for printing January 8, 1997
1). The UPFC could be described as consisting of a parallel
and a series branch. Each converter can independently gen-
erate or absorb reactive power. This arrangement enables free
flow of active power in either direction between the ac termi-
nals o f the two converters.
The function of the parallel converter is to supply or ab-
sorb the active power demanded by the series branch. This
converter is connected to the ac terminal through a parallel
connected transformer. If required, it may also generate or
absorb reactive power, which can provide independent paral-
lel reactive compensation for the line. The second series con-
nected converter provides the main function of the UPFC by
injecting an ac voltage with controllable magnitude and
phase angle. The transmission line current flows through this
voltage source resulting in an active and reactive power ex-
change with the ac system. The active power exchange at the
ac terminal is provided by the parallel branch, with the reac-
tive power exchange generated internally by the converter.
The term “basic control” denotes a control system which
enables the device to follow the changes in reference values
of the active and reactive power supplied from the outer-loop
control on the transmission system level. Two control pa-
rameters are required for simultaneous active and reactive
power control. In the case of the parallel UPFC branch the
active power exchange with the system primarily depends on
the phase shift o f the converter output voltage with respect to
the system voltage. The reactive power is controlled by
varying the amplitude of the converter output voltage.
However, in the case of the series UPFC branch the active
and reactive power flows in the transmission line are influ-
enced by the amplitude as well as the phase angle of the se-
ries injected voltage. Therefore, the active power controller
can significantly affect the level of reactive power flow and
us
+ (io
Parallel Scrm

Fig. 1. Basic Scheme of a UPFC

0885-8950/97/$10.00 0 1997 IEEE

 1735
vice versa. In order to improve the performance and reduce in series with the ac-lines to represent the converter and
the interaction between the active and reactive power control, transformer losses (R/X=O.1). The following per-unit system
a so-called decoupled watt-var control algorithm based on d- [3] has been adopted (2).
q axis theory was used [3,4].
The decoupling of the active and reactive current control is
! --
lx I x- ; v x = - vx ; e ‘ x -- -ex
+

1B VB VB
only useful if the system is linear and there are no uncertain-
ties in the system parameters. However, in the real system the - vB . ! WBL. R
Z B - -7 , L = - , R =- (2)
influence of the converters (especially harmonic distortion of ‘B =B ZB
controlled current) and discrete controllers reduce system x = a, b, c
performance. As a step closer to practical application of the In terms of the instantaneous variables shown in Fig. 2, an
UPFC a new modified control structure with a predictive ac-side circuit equation can be written (3), where p.=dldt and
control loop and precontrol signal for dc-voltage control was aBis the synchronous angular speed of the fundamental net-
designed. The new control system is more stable than the work voltage. Using the above mentioned transformation, (3)
classical decoupled strategy, especially considering the har- can be transformed to the system (4) in the synchronously-
monic distortion of the current being controlled. rotating reference frame. Both components of the current are
This control strategy is first implemented on a generalized cross-coupled through the term a. Usually the voltage sour-
mathematical model of a converter represented by sinusoidal ced converter is connected to the network by only three con-
voltage sources and connected to the system. With slight ductors. Therefore the device currents do not contain any
modifications the derived control system can be used to con- zero sequence system.
trol either the parallel or the series branch of the UPFC. r
Simulation results of the developed UPFC model based on
three level voltage sourced converters are presented at the
end of this paper. All simulations were performed in the
NETOMAC program system [SI.

11. MATHEMATICAL MODEL

The analysis of the basic control system is based on a

simplified mathematical model of the converter connected to
the system [3]. The converter, which is capable of active
power exchange between the system and the dc storage ca- 111. DECOUPLED WATT-VAR CONTROL SYSTEM
pacitor, is represented by sinusoidal voltage sources.
The balanced three-phase system can be transformed into a For the purposes of further derivation of the new control
synchronously-rotating orthogonal system. A new coordinate system, the classical decoupled watt-var algorithm is pre-
system is defined where the d-axis is always coincident with sented briefly [3]. The two new variables introduced in (5)
the instantaneous voltage vector (vd=IvI, vq=O). The d-axis represent the output from the control system (6,7) consisting
of two PI controllers. Additionally, a compensation for the
current component contributes to the instantaneous active
cross-coupling of both current components was made. The
power p(t) and the q-axis current component represents the
values id’* and is7* are the reference values of the active and
instantaneous reactive power q(t) (1).
reactive current, Vp is the gain in the proportional part and VI
3 3 is the gain in the integral part of an individual controller.
p(t)=-vdid ; q(t)=-Vdi, (1)
2 2
u)B @ B
Fig. 2 shows a generalized model of the converter with dc-
I
x1 = -(Vd
I
- ed) ., x2 = --e 9 (5)
circuit and series inductance in the three lines connecting the L L
converter to the system. The circuit also includes resistance
R L
a-
converter
R L with
dc (7)
R L circuit
If the Laplace transform of the above equations is used and
(5,6,7) are combined in (4), two equations for two independ-
ent systems with the transfer function of a closed loop are
obtained (8). The block diagram of the whale system is
Fig. 2. Equivalent Circuit Diagram of the Converter Connected to shown in Fig. 3. As mentioned above, the compensation for
the System
1736
the cross-coupling of both currents results in two separate
closed-loop systems, where the PI controller is used to con-
trol the system of the first order, represented here by a sim-
plified model of the converter connected to the system. The
control is optimal in relation to the square criterion of the
dynamic error if the gains V, and VI are maximal (9).
VPopt = VPmax ; VIopt = VI, (9)
In terms of the converter, the current overshoot should be
minimal. Therefore, by introducing the simple condition (1 0)
we obtain the transfer function in a form (1 1) which is actu-
ally the first order system with a time constant T=l/V,.
v,=- R o B VP
L rent space vector are filtered and compared to the reference
YP
F(s) = __
vp +s
Determination of the time constant T depends on the
maximum permissible changes in the controllable parameters
ed’ and eq’. Thus, if the value T is selected and considering
the equations (10) and (ll), the gains Vp and VI can be ob-
tained (12). The assumed value of the time constant T can
amount to 5ms or more.
IV. MODIFIED DECOUPLED CONTROL SYSTEM
The control system described above was derived by assum-
ing that the series and parallel converters are treated as ideal
controllable voltage sources, where the on-line values of the
fundamental components of the system current which enable
compensation of the cross-coupled currents are available. In
practice the system current is filtered, which means that its
fundamental components are processed by the control system
with a certain delay. The current compensation in this case is
not complete and the control performance is reduced.
A new control scheme based on the same generalized
model of the converter connected to the system is given in
Fig. 3. Block Diagram of Converter Connected to the System Includ-
ing Controller
Fig. 4. The decoupled watt-var control system is made with
an internal predictive control loop. At the output of the con-
trol system the values of the d- and q-axis components of the
required converter output voltage space vector are obtained.
According to these values in the control unit the switching
signals and the output to the power electronics devices are
derived. At the same time the information on the d- and q-
component of the output voltage can be used for infernal cal-
culation of the system current (idl’, iql’). This is achieved by
using two first-order system blocks in an internal predictive
loop (Fig. 4) representing the system response.
The calculated system current is free of harmonics and is a
good approximation to the fundamental component of the
actual system current. The external control loop enables
compensation of all uncertainties in the actual system and the
effects of the errors in the system parameters. As shown in
Fig. 4, the measured d- and q- components of the system cur-
values (id’*, is’*) of the external control loop. With the aid of
( 1 1)
two integrators, the reference values (idl’*, iql’*)for the inter-
nal predictive control loop can be obtained.
The response of the internal predictive loop (T=0.5ms, Vp
=2.103, V1=2.1O4~)is much faster than the response of the
external loop. This is possible due to the fact that the refer-
ence values for the internal loop change slowly, which means
that dynamically the converter can produce the voltage vec-
tor dictated by the control system. The integrator time con-
stant in the external control loop depends on the time delay
of the filter (estimated value is 1%” VI, =66.7).
The response time of the modified control system depends
on the maximum permissible magnitude of the vector x’. If
this quantity exceeds its maximum value (assumed to be
105% of the nominal value) the control action of both inte-
grators of the external control loop is blocked at the actual
output values. The test performed on the system, shown in
Fig. 4 with 20% error in the system parameter (R’wdL’),
indicated only small influence on the dynamic response.
Y,
-
1
I
J
$
I
predictive control loop
Fig. 4. Block Diagram o f Modified Decoupled Control System
 1737

ceiving end, the receiving end line current references isd*and

V. UPFC CONTROL AND MODELING iSq*can be calculated (15).

A. Control of Series UPFC Branch

The input values for the controller enabling independent

control of line active and reactive power (p, q) at the receiv-
ing end of the transmission system are: instantaneous values
of the sending- and receiving-end voltage (a,
Ur)and line
current &. Additionally, the reference values p* and q* are
also required. It is assumed that the impedance Z, and line
impedance & are known. From Fig. 5 a mathematical model
of the transmission system including the series part of the
UPFC can be derived. The following substitutions in (3) have
to be made: currents i, equal line currents is,; voltages v,
represent the difference between the sending- and receiving- The pu values of current references (isd’* and isq’*) are
end voltages ui-u,; e, represents the series injected voltages compared to the actual receiving-end line currents isd’ and isq7
us,; R and L represent the sum of R,+R, and Ls+L, respec- (pu values). Then the resulting current error is processed by
tively. The index x represents each of the three phases. the derived control scheme given in Fig. 4. The voltages usd’
For the purposes of series branch control a new d-q coor- and uSq’are obtained from the series converter which is con-
dinate system has been adopted where the d-axis coincides trolled by the control system, described above.
with the receiving-end voltage vector Y,. The so-called d-
component of this vector is represented by its magnitude B. Control of Parallel UPFC Branch
(urd),where the q-component equals zero (urq=O). The voltage
synchronization block based on sliding window integration The input values for the controller enabling independent
was used to determine the fundamental components of the control of the active and reactive power of the parallel UPFC
measured ac voltages. The voltage vector can be obtained branch (p, q,) are: instantaneous values of the sending-end
from the positive sequence components.
The three-phase description of the series UPFC branch can
voltage (u,) and the parallel current lp.
Additionally, the ref-
erence value qp* is required, where the parallel active power
consequently be transformed into d-q components by a syn- reference value pp* is dictated by the series branch and dc-
chronously-rotating reference frame. The equation (4) can be circuit controls. It is assumed that the impedance of the
rewritten in the form of a d-q system (13). From the instanta- UPFC parallel branch &, is known. For a mathematical model
neous power theory the instantaneous active and reactive of the UPFC parallel branch the following substitutions in
powers at the receiving end are given by (14). In a transmis- equation (3) have to be made: currents i, equal parallel cur-
sion system the desired values of the active and reactive rents i,; voltages v, represent the sending-end voltages uix; e,
power would usually be specified by the coordinating system represents the parallel converter output voltages up,; R and L
controller. Therefore, reference values for the desired active represent R, and L, respectively and x represents the three
and reactive power flows are used as the inputs to the series phases.
UPFC control system. By using the active and reactive power For parallel branch control purposes, the d-q coordinate
references p* and q* and by measuring voltage urd at the re- system was defined with reference to the sending-end voltage
vector U,. Again, the voltage synchronization block was
used. The so-called d-component of this vector is represented
by its magnitude (uia), where the q-component equals zero
(U,~=O). The three-phase description of the parallel UPFC
reference measured 1
system can be transformed into d-q components by a syn-
values quantities I chronously-rotating reference frame. The equation (4) can be
rewritten in the form of a d-q system (16). The instantaneous
andcontrol , active and reactive powers of the UPFC parallel branch are
I
given by (17). The reference value for the desired parallel
I
I
reactive power compensation and the reference value for the
UPFC
I parallel active power compensation dictated by the series
I branch operation are used as the inputs to the parallel UPFC
control system. By using the active and reactive power refer-
Fig. 5. Equivalent Circuit of UPFC System
1738
ences pp*and qp* and measuring voltage Uid at the sending
end, the parallel branch current references ipd*and ipq* can be
calculated (18).
The pu values of current references (ipd’* and ips’*) are
compared to the actual parallel branch currents ipd’and ipq’
(pu values). Again, the resulting current error can be proc-
essed by the derived control scheme given in Fig. 4. The
voltages upd7and ups’ are obtained from the parallel converter
controlled by the above-mentioned control system.
C. DC-Bus Voltage Control System
The common connection between the two converters is
formed by a dc-voltage bus. A dc-voltage controller can
regulate the active power flow between the two converters
and maintain the required voltage level across the capacitor.
Using the precontrol signal can improve controller perform-
ance. When the line current reference values (1 5) change, the
expected values usd)’ and us;’ of the series injected voltage
can be calculated (19). Thus the estimated steady-state ex-
change of the active power between the series converter and
the system represents the precontrol signal (20).
Fig. 6 illustrates the dc-voltage control scheme. By sensing
and filtering the voltage across the capacitor and comparing
it to the optimal reference voltage u d c * , the dc-voltage error
can be obtained. Due to the precontrol signal p s the resulting
dc-voltage error is small and can be processed by a propor-
tional controller (Vpd,=l) which keeps the dc-voltage within
the prescribed limits. The output signal of this control system
represents the reference value for the active power exchange
of the UPFC parallel branch.
‘dc PP
Fig. 6 . DC-Voltage Control System
D. UPFC Modeling
A three-level voltage sourced converter with one pulse
modulation was used for UPFC system modeling. The angle
a represents the phase displacement from the reference posi-
tion. At the same time the angle E enables control of the volt-
age effective magnitude. Neglecting the voltage harmonics
produced by the converter, we can write a pair of equations
(21) and (22), where k is a factor for the converter which
relates the dc-side voltage Udc’ to the amplitude A of the
phase-to-neutral voltage of the converter (pu values).
e: = Acosa = kU,, COSE cosa (21)
e, = Asina = kU&,COSE sina (22)
Both system-side voltages of the series and parallel con-
verter depend on the dc-voltage. At the output of the series
or parallel UPFC control system the magnitude A and phase
displacement c1 of the desired converter voltage are obtained.
The angle a is the first controllable parameter. The second
controllable parameter - the angle E - can be calculated on the
basis of the magnitude A (23).
E = arccos AI
, A0 (23)
udc lu;c
The term A, = kUd,* represents the base maximum value
of the magnitude A taking into consideration the specified
value of the dc-voltage Udc*.The influence of dc-voltage
variations can be partly compensated by the term Udc’/Udc*.
VI. SIMULATION RESULTS
The derived basic control of the UPFC was tested in the
NETOMAC program system. A simplified network with two
slacks (S=2Oo) connected by the line was used (Fig. 5 ) . The
UPFC model is located at the sending end of the transmission
line and follows the changes in reference values of the line
active and reactive power, and the reactive power of its paral-
lel branch. The traces of some characteristic values of the
series and parallel UPFC branch are represented in Fig. 7.
At the time instant 32 ms after the beginning of the simu-
lation the parallel branch of the device is connected to the
system. The injected series voltage equals zero and the paral-
lel voltage up coincides with the sending end voltage U,.
Theoretically, no power should be exchanged between the
parallel branch and the system. However, because of the
simple 6-pulse three level converter (harmonic distortions)
used, a small power exchange occurs in the first moment
after the connection. The device operates in the neutral posi-
tion up to 50 ms when the series branch of the device is
switched on into the transmission line. In the interval be-
tween 50ms and 150ms the line reactive and parallel reactive
power are controlled to zero; the line active power flow is
reduced with respect to its value before the control action. In
the interval between 150ms and 250ms the line active power

-
(pu) “3 series voltage
- vol. 139, no. 4, July 1992, pp. 323-331.
q (Mv’r) line reactive power flow
qr-I -w
P‘d ] September 1991, pp. 266-272.
Time (ms)
50 100 150 200
Fig. 7. Traces of some characteristic UPFC values
exceeds its precontrol value. Both the line reactive and paral-
lel reactive power remain zero.
During simulation the active power exchange between the
series branch and the system is compensated by the active
power exchange of the parallel branch, which, using the dc-
control system, also makes it possible to maintain the dc-
voltage at the specified value. The UPFC can change the
point of operation in less than two cycles.
VII. CONCLUSION
The basic control of the device is very important for the
full utilization of the UPFC. Applying the decoupled control
with the internal predictive loop, the operation of the UPFC
is stable even if simple three-level converters are used, which
represents the worst case for the decoupled control consider-
ing the harmonic distortion. The operation of the device us-
ing the classical decoupled control is not stable in this case.
The voltage control at the sending- or receiving-end of the
line in a weak system may replace the line or parallel reactive
power control. A performance test of the proposed basic
control on an IGBT-based UPFC model and study of the
protection system are planned for the near future.
1739
VIII. REFERENCES
N. G. Hingorani, “Flexible ac transmission,” IEEE
Spectrum, April 1993, pp. 40-45.
L. Gyugyi, “A unified power flow control concept for
flexible ac transmission systems,” ZEE Proceedings-C,
C. Schauder and H. Mehta, “Vector analysis and control
of advanced static var compensators,” in Conference
Publication no. 345 of the IEE Fifth International Con-
ference on AC and DC Power Transmission, London,
S . D. Rund, Q. Yu, L. E. Norum and T. M. Undeland,
“Performance of a unified power flow controller using a
d-q control system,” in Conference Publication no. 423
of the IEE Sixth International Conference on AC and
DC Power Transmission, London, April-May 1996, pp.
3 57-362.
B Kulicke, “Digitalprogramm Netomac zur Simulation
elektromechanischer und -magnetischer Ausgleichs-
Vorgtinge in Drehstromnetzen,” Elektrizitatswirtschaft,
Heft 1, 1979, pp. 18-23.
250
Igor PapiE received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees, both in electrical engi-
neering, from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1992 and 1995.
From 1994 to 1996 he was with Siemens Power Transmission and Distribu-
tion Group in Erlangen, Germany. He is currently a Ph.D student at the
Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Ljubljana. His research interests in-
clude control and modeling of FACTS devices.
Peter h n k o received his M.Sc. degree in 1974, and a Ph.D in 1978, from
the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is a Professor at the Faculty of
Electrical Engineering in Ljubljana. He is also a member of an advisory
group at the Slovenian Board of Energy, and a Research Fellow of the Joief
Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. His research interests are Transformation and
Transmission Equipment, Transients Analysis and Switching Devices.
DuSan Povh (M’83, S’88, F’94) received his B.Sc. degree in 1959 from the
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a Ph.D from TH Darmstadt, Ger-
many in 1972. He is a Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in
Ljubljana, and Head of the Department of System Planning at Siemens
Power Transmission and Distribution Group in Erlangen, Germany. He
works in a number of committees and is active in the working groups of
CIGRE and IEEE. He is also the Chairman of the CIGRE Study Comittee
on HVDC and FACTS. His research interests are system analysis, network
planning, insulation coordination and FACTS devices.
Michael Weinhold studied electrical engineering at the Ruhr-University
Bochum, Germany, and the Purdue University, USA, receiving his B.Sc.
degree in 1988 and Ph.D in 1993 from the Ruhr-University. Since 1993 he
is with Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Group in Erlangen,
Germany. His main activity is research and development of power electron-
ics-based equipment for power quality improvement in transmission and
distribution networks.