Benefits of FACTS for Power System Enhancement

The performance of power systems decreases with the size, the loading and the complexity of the networks. This is related to problems with load flow, power oscillations and voltage quality. Such problems are even deepened by the changing situations resulting from deregulation of the electrical power markets. The power systems have not been designed for wide-area power trading with daily varying load patterns where power flows do no more follow the initial planning criteria of the existing network configuration. Large blackouts in America and Europe confirmed clearly, that the favorable close electrical coupling might also include risk of uncontrollable cascading effects in large and heavily loaded interconnected systems. FACTS (flexible AC transmission systems), however, provide the necessary features to avoid technical problems in the power systems and they increase the transmission efficiency