Performance Comparison Between SSSC and STATCOM for Fault Current Reduction in EHV Transmission Lines

Abstract

The system stability is necessary to improve and to control the fault current due to increase the demand for electrical power and the expansion of Extra High Voltage (EHV) transmission systems. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two FACTS devices such as STATCOM and SSSC, to reduce the fault current and to improve the power flow of a 500 kV EHV transmission line. The system is modeled and then simulated in MATLAB/Simulink under various fault conditions such as SLG, LL, LLG, LLL, and LLLG faults at both sending and receiving ends. Simulation results about both FACTS devices effectively reduce the fault current and improve system performance. Approximately 31% fault current reduce through reactive power compensation and voltage support by using STATCOM, while SSSC provides the fault current reduction ranging from 38.43% to 43.99% by controlling line impedance and power flow. The results demonstrate that the fault current mitigation with SSSC is better and enhances transmission system stability than STATCOM. Therefore, the reliability, stability, and the performance of EHV transmission networks under fault conditions are improved by applying of FACTS devices due to reduce fault current.