Transmission Line Loss Minimization & Voltage Profile Improvement Using Distributed Power Flow Controller (A case study on 230KV Transmission Line in Ethiopia)

Electrical power demand is increasing at a relatively fast rate over the last few years. Because of power system expansion to meet this increasing demand, the power system is becoming very complex. Both electric utilities and end-users of electric power are becoming increasingly concerned about quality of power. Modern power electronics technologies have been used to maintain the quality, controllability and power transfer capability of the electrical power systems. Flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) device is one of the modern power electronics technologies which are used in power systems for the aforementioned purposes. The Distributed Power Flow Controller (DPFC) is a new type of FACT device; its structure is similar to a unified power flow controller (UPFC). This paper presented the performance analysis, design, and incorporation of the FACT control device, DPFC in an existing 230KV transmission network by identifying first the transmission line losses and voltage regulation problems. This research result showed that the arrangement of DPFC present the best benefit on power losses minimization, improvement of bus voltage profile and power flow. The result clearly demonstrated the performance of the transmission line under the case study with and without DPFC. The real power loss on the transmission line was decreased from 23.13 MW to 16.58 MW while the line’s power transfer capability improved from 91.23%, to 93.72%.