ON THE SENSITIVITIES OF NETWORK VARIABLES FOR FACTS DEVICE

DAMPING CONTROL

Xuan Wei*, Joe H. Chow*, and Juan J. Sanchez-Gascat

*Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering Department
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590, USA
iPower Systems Energy Consulting
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY 12345, USA
email addresses: weix@rpi . edu, chowj @pi. edu, juan. sanchez@ps . ge . corn

Abstract- Feedback control of FACTS (flexible AC trans- The selection of suitable feedback variables has been
mission system) devices typically relies on network variables studied in [7] for SVC and in [8] for TCSC. It has been
because generator signals are not usually available locally.
Based on the multi-modal decomposition approach, a cru-
recommended in [7] that for SVC, the line current, and
cial factor in selecting a feedback variable is the impact of in [8] that for TCSC, the bus voltage be used as damping
the variable on the inner-loop gain, which consists of mostly control feedback variables. These variables are selected be-
the sensitivity of the network variable with respect to the
change in the control input variable. Recent investigations
cause their “inner-loop gains” are small. In the case of a
have shown that flow variables are more suitable for shunt swing mode damping controller, the inner-loop gain quanti-
control devices and nodal variables are more suitable for se- fies the effect of a controller output on its input, other than
ries control devices. In this paper, we use a simple system via the swing mode of interest. A signal with a smaller
to demonstrate this concept. In addition, the impact of the
interarea modes on the inner-loop gain is studied with a inner-loop gain would allow higher controller gains to be
system with two interarea modes. applied. This observation leads the authors of [8] to infer
the duality principle for FACTS devices, that is, shunt or
Keywords: FACTS controllers, interarea modes, multi-
nodal variables are preferred for series devices and series or
modal decomposition, network sensitivities, signal selection
flow variables are preferred for shunt devices.
I. INTRODUCTION The studies in [7] and [8] are based on modal analysis.
In this paper, we use the multi-modal decomposition ap-
In many power systems in which new transmission rights- proach in [9] to define the inner-loop gain, which contains
of-way are difficult to obtain, FACTS (flexible AC trans- the influence of the transmission network and the interarea
mission system) devices can potentially offer a viable op- modes. We use network sensitivities on a simple power sys-
tion for improving power transfer and system reliability tem to illustrate the duality principle. Then the impact of
[l]. FACTS systems that have been or are being deployed interarea modes on the inner-loop gain is demonstrated on
include Static Var Compensators (SVC) [a], Thyristor- a power system having two interarea modes.
Switched Series Compensators (TCSC) [3], Static Syn- The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we present
chronous Compensators (STATCOM) [4], Unified Power the multi-modal decomposition framework. Section 3 illus-
Flow Controllers (UPFC) [5], and Convertible Static Com- trates the network sensitivity functions for a two-machine
pensators (CSC) [6]. system. In Section 4, a six-machine system is used for
In addition to transient stability augmentation, supple- demonstrating the impact of interarea modes on the inner-
mentary control can be applied to FACTS devices to im- loop gain and the signal selection process with two interarea
prove power swing damping. FACTS devices located in modes.
critical power transfer paths can be very effective in en-
hancing the damping of interarea modes. FACTS devices II. MULTI-MODAL DECOMPOSITION
usually do not have generator signals such as machine
speeds available locally. Thus, barring the use of remote Although many sophisticated control design techniques
signals, feedback control design has to rely on local net- are available, the multi-modal decomposition framework [9]
work variables, such as the bus voltage, line power, and offers insights in both analysis and design, and in particu-
line current. lar, can be used as an assessment tool for selecting appro-
priate feedback signals. Consider the linearized model of a
multi-machine system in the state-space form

k=Acc+Bu, y=Cx+Du (1)

where x is the vector of state variables, and u and y are

the vectors of control and measurement variables, respec-
tively. This linear model can be generated using analytical
formulas [lo], perturbation methods [ll], or signal analysis
of the time response to a probing signal obtained from a
power system simulation program [la].

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 We assume that in (l), the states are arranged in x as
x = [ad1 ad2 . . . ad, awgl awg2 . . . aWgn Z]'
where the &i’s and awgi’s represent the generator angles
and speeds, respectively, and .z is the vector of all the other
states. Thus the system matrices A and B are in the form
where Ic,i and d,i are the approximate modal synchroniz-
ing and damping coefficients, respectively, and z,i consists
(2) of all the other state variables. The modal frequency is ap-
proximately given by wi = da rad/s.
System (7) resembles a single-mode system, allowing for
the construction of a block diagram to represent it with
transfer functions. It is shown in the Appendix that (7)
can be expressed in the frequency domain as

saw,i(s) = -~~mi(s)aw,,i(s) - Kci(s)U(s)(8a)

Y(s) = ~oi(s)aw,i(s) + KILi(S)U(S) (8b)

where I is the identity matrix, wb is the system frequency A block diagram of (8) is shown in Figure 1.
in rad/s, and A 21 represents the synchronizing torque ma-
trix normalized with respect to the machine inertias. This
ith Modal System
matrix relates the generator angles to the derivatives of the
/
speeds and contains the network synchronizing effect. The
machine interactions and swing modes are largely deter-
mined by AZ1 and A22, representing the synchronizing and
damping effects independent of any other state variables.
The multi-modal decomposition is a transformation
based on the modal decomposition of Azl. Let M be the
right eigenvector matrix of AZ1 such that Mp1A21 M = A,
where A is a diagonal matrix whose non-zero entries are
the normalized modal synchronizing coefficients. Then the
transformation
M 0 0

[ 1
PCWer
Xm =T-lx, T = 0 MO (4 System
0 0 I B=@ ith
Mode )

applied to (3) yields

L-i:, = &A, + Bmu, y=C,x,+Du

---
1
(5) u
PCWer
where System
Damping

I cidmoller

1
0 WbI 0
A, = T-lAT = A Am22 Amz3 (6)
[ A m31 Am32 Am33 Effective Control Action

B, = T-IB, and C, = CT. Fig. 1. Multi-Modal Decomposition

The multi-modal decomposition can be applied to any

We denote Ei,i(s), Ei,i(s), Ei,i(s), and KILO as the
subset of the swing modes to study one mode at a time. For
modal, controllability, observability, and inner-loop transfer
each swing mode Xi with modal frequency wi, the states can
functions, respectively. These quantities when evaluated
be rearranged such that the modal angle a&i and speed
at s = jw, are complex, providing both gain and phase
aw,i corresponding to Xi become the first and second state
information, which can be used to select the most effective
variables, resulting in
signals for damping control.
The effective control action (see Figure 1)
[ ;;I = [---if; --jll --Jtz3] [ ;;I KPSDC (3)
&i(S) = &i(S)

+[-Bd2
%1u ah (74
&i(s) (9)
1 - Eir~i(s)K~s~c(s)
0
describes the impact of a given damping controller
K~SDC(S) on the ith swing mode. Thus Kei(s) is directly
proportional to the controllability function Ei,i(s), which

[ 1
for FACTS devices, depends mostly on their locations and
Y = [ cdl cd2 cd3 ] hrni the loads. When evaluated at s = jwi, K,i(jwi) provides
&ni a measure of how controllable the ith mode is by the con-
+ Du (7b) trol input U. Kei(s) is also directly proportional to the

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 (4
Fig. 2. Two-machine System
observability function Koi(s). When evaluated at s = jwi,
Ei,i(jwi) gives an indication of the modal content of the ith
swing mode in the measured signal y. For effective control
IK,i(jwi)I should be large.
As indicated in (9), the inner-loop gain KILO places
a stability constraint on the feedback controller. Ideally,
the gain of Kps~c(s) is limited to maintain a 6 to 10 dB
gain margin. KILO consists of many components such
as the network and machine electrical variables and the
effect of the other interarea modes and all the intra-area
modes. In the time scale of the interarea modes, for net-
work variables such as the bus voltage and the line current,
the transmission network and the interarea modes are the
most important parts of the inner-loop gain. An analytical
derivation of network sensitivities would be quite involved.
In the next section, we will illustrate the sensitivities for a
variety of network variables for a simple two-machine sys-
tem by performing a numerical approximation.
III. NETWORK VARIABLE SENSITIVITIES
Consider the two-machine power system shown in Figure
2a, where each machine may represent an aggregate of the
machines in a coherent area. Using the internal voltages
of the machines as sources, a system impedance diagram
of the system is shown in Figure 2b, where xi is the ma-
chine transient reactance, XT is the transformer reactance,
and x, the transmission system reactance. For simplicity,
all resistances and, in this time scale, other machine reac-
tances, such as subtransient reactance, are neglected. The
power and current variables are denoted by S = P+jQ and
I, respectively, where P and Q are the active and reactive
power flow at Bus 3, and the voltage at Bus 3 is denoted
by V.
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To study the impact of SVC and TCSC on the network
variables, we insert a shunt capacitor admittance Y, on
Bus 3 (Figure 2c) and a capacitor reactance X, in series
with x,2 (Figure 2d). The sensitivities of a network vari-
able y are given by ay/aY, and dy/dX, for the SVC and
the TCSC, respectively. Instead of performing an analyti-
cal derivation of these sensitivities, we pursue a numerical
evaluation. In the notation of Figure 2, the SVC sensitivity
quantities are
dY - YS - Yo _ AYS
ax, - ax, ax,
(10)
and the TCSC sensitivity quantities are
(11)
where AX, and aY, are small perturbations and the sub-
script “0” denotes the pre-insertion nominal values. In per-
forming the calculation of ys and YT, the complex voltages
El and EZ are held constant (both magnitude and phase)
because they are state variables.
Using the parameters xii = xi2 = 0.18 pu, XT1 = 2~2 =
0.1 pu, x,1 = x,2 = 0.1 pu, IElI = [Ez[ = 1.06 pu, and
PO = 0.5 pu, the angular separation of the system in Fig-
ure 2b is determined to be 19.767” and the other computed
quantities are shown in Table I, where ISI is the complex
power magnitude, I, is the active current, and ]I] is the
current magnitude. Based on the values in Table I, the
sensitivities are computed in Table II, where u denotes ei-
ther X, or Y,. These sensitivities are consistent with the
inner-loop gain results in [7] for SVC and in [8] for TCSC.
The sensitivities in Table II are quite revealing. An SVC
is intended to regulate the bus voltage. Thus it is expected
to have a relatively high AV/AY,. The SVC also affects,
to a lesser degree, the line power flow. As AlIl/AY, shows,
 TABLE I
NETWORK VARIABLES BEFORE
(ALL
AND AFTER
VALUES IN P.U.)
CAPACITOR INSERTION
#8
0 B

1 Nominal 1 Y, = 0.01 1 X, = -0.01

#7
AB 0 A

V 1 1.044268 1 1.046256 1 1.044271 #11 Swing

6
l-o

TABLE II
SENSITIVITIES OF NETWORK VARIABLES
(ALL VALUES IN P.U.)

Sensitivities Y, = 0.01 X, = -0.01

AV/AU 0.1988 0.0002818
AP/AU 0.09518 0.6667
WI/au 0.09817 0.6668
aqau 0 0.6383
WI/au 0.002858 0.6384
the change in power is achieved not by increasing the cur-
rent, but by changing the phase relationship of I with re-
spect to V.l On the other hand, a TCSC is intended to
regulate the line power flow. Thus its insertion is expected
to have a relatively high AP/AXc. This increase in power
is achieved by increasing II], which follows from the fact
that the overall line reactance has decreased. However,
with the increased current magnitude, the voltage drops
at a higher rate per unit reactance. Thus the net effect is
that the voltage magnitude on the transmission line before
and after the insertion of X, remains virtually the same.
From these results, we conclude that for SVC, I, and ]I]
are good candidates for feedback control, and for TCSC,
V is a good candidate.
Note that the SVC sensitivity values in Table II depend
significantly on where the SVC is located, whereas the
TCSC sensitivity values are independent of its location,
because this TCSC is a series device in a radial system.
IV. ANALYSIS OF A TWO-INTERAREA-MODE SYSTEM
In addition to the network, the interarea mode dynamics
can also play an important role in the inner-loop gain. To
illustrate the impact of these dynamics on the inner-loop
gain, we use a three-area, six-machine power system shown
in Figure 3. All generators in the system are modeled with
six state variables and all exciters are represented by 2 state
variables with identical parameters. The data for the sys-
tem can be found in [13]. The system has two interarea
modes of oscillations arising from three coherent groups:
Machines 1 and 2 form the first coherent Area C, Machines
3 and 4 form the second coherent Area B, and Machines
5 and 6 form the third coherent Area A. The first inter-
lIn this example, 1, remains unchanged after the SVC insertion be-
cause of the network symmetry condition such as El = E2. Without
this symmetry, the sensitivity will be non-zero, but small.
Fig. 3. Three-Area Six-Machine System
area mode (Mode 1) wi = 3.24 rad/s (0.52 Hz) consists of
the machines of Area A oscillating against the machines of
Areas B and C, and the second interarea mode (Mode 2)
w2 = 3.66 rad/s (0.58 Hz) consists of the machines of Area
C oscillating against the machines of Area B. Within each
coherent area there is a local mode of oscillation between
the machines. To increase the power transfer between the
areas, an SVC and a TCSC are applied to the system, as
shown in Figure 3.
For this system, we perform the modal decomposition
(5) and apply it to each of the interarea modes. For the
inner-loop calculation, instead of computing KILO (jw) at
the interarea mode frequency only, we compute Kiwi
for w ranging from 2 to 6 rad/s (0.32-0.95 Hz) and use the
value with the maximum magnitude to assess the potential
effectiveness for damping control of different network vari-
ables. The rational is that the electromechanical modes
will produce peaks in the frequency response that are im-
portant in the feedback system (9). As an illustration, the
inner-loop gain magnitude for the TCSC is shown in Figure
4 for wi and in Figure 5 for ~2.
Inspection of the frequency response in Figures 4 and 5
shows that the presence of w2 in the inner-loop gain KILO
of wi is minor, but the presence of wi in K~LZ of w2 is sig-
nificant. The results are more systematically summarized
in Table III for the SVC and in Table IV for the TCSC. We
have included the bus frequency f as an additional candi-
date feedback signal.
Several observations are evident from Tables III and IV.
1. The SVC has a higher controllability for w2 than wi
by almost a factor of 2, whereas the TCSC has a higher
controllability for wi than w2 by a factor of 10.
2. The observability of the different variables depends on
their locations in the network and the modeshapes of the
interarea modes. The observability of w2 is mostly higher
than wi for the SVC, and that of wi is higher than w2 for
the TCSC.
3. The controllability and observability of the interarea

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 5 , , , , , , ,
TABLE III
SVC OBSERVABILITY AND INNER-LOOP GAIN FOR THE INTERAREA

-5_--.-- _J/ __--.--- -- --

MODES (11(,11 = 0.0039 AND IKc21 = 0.0063)

Mode l&l IEir~il IKoiIIKilllK~~il

I
-10
P,Ia, II I
\ 3.3708 0.8454 0.0156
76.407 4.5578 0.0654
1 6.3698 2.3218 0.0107
25.646 6.2267 0.0161
5.6080 2.1570 0.0101
4.7187 2.5572 0.0072
1.1890 0.9023 0.0083
21.511 4.8343 0.0280
2 74.106 0.4888 0.9551
24.114 6.4595 0.0235
71.158 0.3339 1.3426
6
68.317 0.9587 0.4489

Fig. 4. Frequency Response Magnitude of KILO for TCSC TABLE IV

TCSC OBSERVABILITY AND INNER-LOOP GAIN FORTHE INTERAREA
5, , , , , , , ,
MODES (lKcll = 0.0047 AND IKc21 = 4.07 x 10V4)
-_
0 -.-._- - _,-.- _ - - - - -.-
A ‘\

-5
Mode l&l IEir~il IKoiIIEi,il/lK~~il
19.544 0.0222 4.1377
72.413 1.1580 0.2939
1 39.133 0.2335 0.7877
28.573 0.2208 0.6082
ISI 43.248 0.2256 0.9010
51.387 0.2298 1.0510
1.3090 0.3306 0.0016
-3o- 11.252 1.3699 0.0033
2 5.6360 0.7490 0.0031
-35-
4.6948 0.6379 0.0030
40- 6.2069 0.8115 0.0031
5.9423 0.9473 0.0026
2 2.5 3 3.5
Frequ& (rad$ 5 5.5 6

Fig. 5. Frequency Response Magnitude of KILO for TCSC be controlled by the SVC using la, P, or III.
The observations above are consistent with the location
of the FACTS devices. The SVC is located in the middle
modes can contribute to the inner-loop gains. For the SVC, of the North-South transmission corridor and thus has a
w2 has a higher controllability and observability than wi. greater effect on the North-South oscillations associated
This effect will increase the inner-loop gain for wi, which is with the interarea mode 2. Likewise, the TCSC is located
evident from the [KIL~[ column in Table III. Thus for most in the East-West transmission corridor and it mainly affects
of the variables, the [KIL~[ values for wi are higher than the the oscillations associated with the interarea mode 1.
corresponding values for ~2. Similarly, for the TCSC, wi
Although this analysis is presented for a small system
has a significantly higher controllability and observability with only two interarea modes, the technique can be ex-
than w2 in most of the variables, which tends to increase
tended to systems with many interarea modes. The abil-
the inner-loop gain for ~2, as evident from Table IV. Thus
ity of a FACTS device using a particular network variable
for the variables, the IKIL~I values for w2 are higher than
to damp an interarea mode not only depends on the net-
the corresponding values for wi .
work sensitivity, but also on the impact of other interarea
4. The control effectiveness of a feedback signal is approx- modes. Without careful considerations of the other inter-
imately proportional to the expression area modes, a controller adding damping to a target inter-
area mode may destabilize some other interarea modes.
Ei, = lEi,ill~cil/lEilLil (12)
V. CONCLUSIONS
which favors a small [KIL~[. As indicated in Tables III and
IV, wi should be controlled by the TCSC using V, although In this paper we have provided additional insight for ap-
111would also be acceptable. On the other hand, w2 should plying the multi-modal decomposition to select appropri-

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ate damping signals for FACTS. Considering only network [51 A.-A. Edris, A. S. Ben Mehraban, M. Rahman, L. Gyugyi, S.
sensitivities, we show via a small example that nodal vari- Arabi, and T. R. Reitman, “Controlling the Flow of Real and
Reactive Power,” IEEE Computer Applications in Power, pp.
ables are more suitable for series devices and flow variables 20-25, Jan. 1998.
are more suitable for shunt devices. For a two-interarea- PI B. Fardanesh, B. Shperling, E. Uzunovic, and S. Zelingher,
mode system, we show the impact of the interarea modes “Multi-Converter FACTS Devices: the Generalized Unified
Power Flow Controller (GUPFC),” Proc. Winter Power Meet-
in the inner-loop calculation. Topics not covered in this ing, vol. 4, pp. 2511-2513, 2000. ’
paper include practical aspects of using network variables [71 E. V. Larsen and J. H. Chow, “SVC Control Design Concepts
for System Dynamic Performance,” in IEEE Power Engineering
for damping control [14], which will be considered in future Societv Publication 87TH0187-5-PWR Avvlication of Static Var
research. Systems for System Dynamic Performance, 1987. -
PI S. Zelingher, B. Shperling, J. D. Mountford, and R. J. Kiessler,
“Analytical Studies for Thyristor-Controlled Series Compensa-
Acknowledgements tion in New York State, Part II - Dynamic Stability Analysis,”
EPRI FACTS 2 Conferenece, Mav 1992, Boston.
The work of X. Wei and J. Chow is supported in part PI E. V. Larsen, J. J. Sanchez&as&, and’J. H. Chow, “Concepts
by the EPRI/DoD Complex Interactive Network Initiative for Design of FACTS Controllers to Damn Power Swings.” IEEE
Transac%ons on Power Systems, vol. 10; pp. 948-956,-1995.
Program through Carnegie-Mellon University.
[W P. Kundur, G. J. Rogers, D. Y. Wong, L. Wang, and M. G.
Lauby, “A Comprehensive Computer Program Package for Small
Appendix Signal Stability Analysis of Power Systems,” vol. 5, pp. 1076-
1083, 1990.
The transfer function from the modal speed to the modal [111J. H: Chow and K. W. Cheung, “A Toolbox for Power System
torque is Dvnamics and Control Engineering Education.” IEEE Transac-
tions on Power Systems, yol. 7, pp’. 1559-1564, 1992.
sdmi S&32 [121J. J. Sanchez-Gasca and J. H. Chow, “Performance Comparison
l&i(S) = Ic,i+- wb +&m(S~-&# Ad31 + ~ of Three Identification Methods for the Analysis of Electrome-
( 1 chanical Oscillations,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems,
wb(13) vol. 14, pp. 995-1002, 1999.
The modal controllability Kci(s) is the transfer function [I31 G. N. Taianto, J. H. Chow, and H. A. Othman, “Robust Re-
design of Power System Damping Controllers,” IEEE Transac-
from u to L&i tions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 3, pp. 290-298, 1995.
[I41 K. Clark. B. Fardanesh. and R. Adana. “Thvristor Controller
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&(S) = &z(SI - A&&%3 + Bd2 (14 Considerations,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 10,
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The modal observability of a measurement KOi(s) is the
transfer function from the modal speed to y
Biographies
&i(S) = cd3(sI - Ad33)-l (TAd31 + Ad32)
Xuan Wei was born in China in 1978. She received her B.S. degree
in electrical engineering from the Huazhong University of Science and
wb
+ $dl+Cd2 (15) Technology, Wuhan, China in 1996. She is currently a Ph.D. student
( > of Dept. of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rens-
The inner-loop gain is given by the transfer function from selaer Polytechnic Institute. Her interests include large-scale systems
and power system dynamics and control.
u to y, with no change in aw,i or &,i
Joe H. Chow (F) received his B.S. degrees in electrical engineering
and mathematics from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and
Km(S) = cd3(SI - Ad33)-lBd3 + D (16) his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Univer-
sity of Illinois, Urbana. jFrom 1978 to 1987, he was with GE Power
REFERENCES Systems working on power system dynamics and control design. He
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[31
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