English abstract
Over the past three decades, the electricity demand has risen dramatically. Therefore,
transmission lines operated at maximum capacity near thermal limitations to meet the load
requirements. Consequently, electrical utilities are more focused in controlling and
regulating the power flow via the main transmission lines. Flexible Alternating Current
Transmission System (FACTS) equipment can be used to expand transmission capacity,
improve dynamic behavior and stability, and limit power quality issues. Oman electricity
demand increases as well as global demand, which leads to operate the transmission lines
near thermal limitations. Therefore, the operating voltages of transmission lines should be
maintained within grid code limits which require both active and reactive power flow
control. A static VAR compensator (SVC) is one of the FACTS devices used to improve
voltage profile.
This thesis studies the Oman Main Interconnected System (MIS) with main focus on
the Muscat governorate and demonstrates the effect of SVC devices on the voltage profile
of the system. This study aims to find optimal locations and sizes of SVC by using Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO) which will improve the voltage profile at the area using
MATLAB software. Simulation results show that the voltage profile improved, and total
system losses decreased.
In addition, this thesis investigates the dynamic behavior of SVC on the MIS using
DigSILENT software. Therefore, load flow, voltage profile, harmonics and stability were
investigated. The simulation results show that integrating SVC in the MIS improves the
voltage profile and decreases losses. Also, system stability improved since the system
response due to connecting SVC become faster.
However, due to nonlinearity of SVC harmonics increased but still they are within
limits of the grid. Also, the loading of the system increased when SVC was connected to the
system as per reactive power to voltage (QV) curve simulation. Therefore, SVC can be one
of the solutions that improves voltage profile and enhances system loading and stability.
