COORDINATION CONTROL OF STATCOM AND ULTC OF POWER TRANSFORMERS

Mojtaba Khederzadeh (1)

(1) Power & Water University of Technology, IRAN
ABSTRACT
STATCOM provides the opportunity to improve power quality and reliability due to its fast response, and has the
functional capability to handle dynamic conditions, such as transient stability and power oscillation damping in addition
to providing voltage regulation. When both STATCOM and under-load tap changers (ULTCs) are used to control
system voltage, the STATCOM reacts to the voltage deviation faster than the ULTC. If the STATCOM output reaches
the maximum capacity limit, it loses active control and behaves similar to a shunt reactor/capacitor bank. Keeping
reactive power reserve in an STATCOM during steady-state operation is always needed to provide reactive power
requirements during emergencies.
This paper presents a new control strategy to limit the steady-state reactive-power output of the STATCOM to a desired
value during the steady-state voltage range based on a variable ULTC reference voltage control scheme. When
STATCOM settles to a new operating point following a disturbance, the reference voltage of ULTC will be effectively
changed based on the STATCOM output; thereby activates slow voltage regulators to return back and resetting the
STATCOM to be within the steady-state margin.
Keywords: STATCOM, Under-Load Tap Changer (ULTC), Power Transformer, Voltage Regulation.
1 INTRODUCTION
Voltage magnitude of a substation bus is generally
controlled by the under load tap changer (ULTC) of the
power transformer and several capacitor banks/reactors;
the transformer changes its tap position to control the
lower side voltage magnitude directly, whereas the
capacitor banks/reactors affect the higher side voltage
magnitude indirectly by changing the amount of
reactive power demand at the bus. Although
components of the ULTC control system are simple
devices, its overall system is complex due to the
presence of nonlinearity such as time delay, dead band,
etc., which is indispensable to limit the number of tap
changes [1].
The Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) is a
shunt device of the Flexible AC Transmission Systems
(FACTS) family using power electronics to control
power flow and improve transient stability on power
grids [2]. The STATCOM regulates voltage at its
terminal by controlling the amount of reactive power
injected into or absorbed from the power system. When
system voltage is low, the STATCOM generates
reactive power (STATCOM capacitive). When system
voltage is high, it absorbs reactive power (STATCOM
inductive).
While the application of continuously-controlled
reactive compensation can have many benefits for faster
phenomena in a power system, interaction of such a
device with ULTC as a slow response device creates
issues in steady-state and quasi steady-state operation.
When both STATCOM and ULTC are used to control

system voltage, the STATCOM reacts to the voltage

deviation faster than the ULTC. Therefore, if a bus
voltage is controlled by both a STATCOM and an
ULTC transformer without coordination, there is no
chance for the transformer to participate in controlling
the bus voltage, except when the STATCOM is in its
limit. This makes the coordination control between the
two devices complicated.
There has been an approach to improve the voltage
profile and reduce the number of tap operations by
coordinating the ULTC and STATCON (Static
Condensor) [3]. In [3] the concepts of coordinating a
STATCON as a fast reactive-power compensator with
local voltage-var control devices such as the ULTCs and
capacitor banks for long-term voltage-var management
are discussed. The authors introduce the three objectives
as the concepts of long-term voltage-var management;
the resetting a STATCON by simple reactive power
runback function so that it would be available for the
next dynamic event on the system; improving the
overall system voltage profile by coordinating the
STATCON with local ULTCs and/or capacitor banks;
and reducing the ULTC tap movements by coordinating
the STATCON with local ULTCs and/or capacitor
banks. They used a simple gain Kbias for ULTC control,
its value is chosen based on a complicated criterion
considering system short circuit MVA and transformer
leakage impedance.
Some references consider the coordination between
SVC and ULTC. It is worth noting that there is a
difference between STATCOM and SVC. Although, the
STATCOM performs the same function as the SVC, at

UPEC 2007 - 613

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

voltages lower than the normal voltage regulation range,

the STATCOM can generate more reactive power than
the SVC. This is due to the fact that the maximum
capacitive power generated by a SVC is proportional to
the square of the system voltage (constant susceptance)
while the maximum capacitive power generated by a
STATCOM decreases linearly with voltage (constant
current). This ability to provide more capacitive reactive
power during a fault is one important advantage of the
STATCOM over the SVC. In addition, the STATCOM
will normally exhibits a faster response than the SVC
because with the Voltage-Sourced Converter (VSC), the
STATCOM has no delay associated with the thyristor
firing (in the order of 4 ms for a SVC). Reference [4]
proposes the coordinated control system between the
SVC and ULTC of the distribution substation. This
control reserves the SVC operating margin without
increasing the tap position; however, the resetting of
SVC output reactive power has not been taken into
consideration. In [5], the proposed SVC control strategy
is to limit the steady-state reactive-power output of the
SVC to a desired value during the steady-state voltage
range by using two regulation slopes and a combination
of the fixed-voltage reference control and floatingvoltage reference control. This method needs switching
points and different droop characteristics that are not
desirable for practical purposes. In [6] an artificial
neural network (ANN)-based coordination control
scheme for under load tap changing (ULTC)
transformer and STATCOM is proposed. The objective
of the coordination controller is to minimize both the
amount of tap changes of the transformer and
STATCOM output while maintaining an acceptable
voltage magnitude at the substation bus. The
coordination controller is designed to substitute for a
classical ULTC mechanism by utilizing active and
reactive powers, tap position, and STATCOM output.
An ANN is used as a classifier for tap positions and
trained by a proposed iterative condensed nearest
neighbor (ICNN) rule. This method needs a lot data for
training the ANN and is case-specific.
In this paper, a new simple and robust control strategy
to coordinate the STATCOM output and ULTC
operation is proposed to limit the steady-state reactivepower output of the STATCOM to a desired value
during the steady-state voltage range based on a variable
ULTC reference voltage control scheme. When
STATCOM settles to a new operating point following a
disturbance, the reference voltage of ULTC will be
effectively changed based on the STATCOM output,
hence the ULTC is forced to return back and supply the
required reactive power from the source and resetting
the STATCOM to be within the steady-state margin.
The simulation results show the potential of the method
to effectively make the STATCOM available for further
system dynamics.

2 COORDINATION CONTROLLER
Figure 1 shows the scheme of the proposed controller.
After a load change as a disturbance, the STATCOM
supplies/absorbs required reactive power very quickly
(nearly within 3 msec) to keep the load bus voltage at
the specified value, and then stabilizes at a steady-state
operating point.
In order to make the STATCOM available for further
system changes, the coordination controller forces the
ULTC to activate and be set at a tap position appropriate
to nearly zero STATCOM output, while keeping the
load bus voltage at the desired value.
Figure 2 shows the coordination controller flow
diagram. As can be seen from this figure, a dead zone
block is used to prevent oscillatory operation around the
desired operating point. The Dead Zone block generates
zero output within a specified region, called its dead
zone. The lower and upper limits of the dead zone are
specified as the Start of dead zone and End of dead zone
parameters. The block output depends on the input and
dead zone:
If the input is within the dead zone (greater than
the lower limit and less than the upper limit),
the output is zero.
If the input is greater than or equal to the upper
limit, the output is the input minus the upper
limit.
If the input is less than or equal to the lower
limit, the output is the input minus the lower
limit.
The reference voltage of the power transformer is the
load bus voltage that needs to be kept at a desired value,
for example 1 p.u.. When STATCOM output is nearly
zero, the reference voltage is the load bus voltage,
otherwise, the reference voltage is higher or lower than
the load bus voltage, and hence the ULTC is forced to
compensate the reactive power already supplied by
STATCOM. By each tap changing, STATCOM
decreases its output, so the final reference value
approaches the load bus voltage.

Tap

Coordination
Controller

Load Bus Voltage

STATCOM

Load
STATCOM Reactive Power

Figure 1 Proposed Controller Scheme

UPEC 2007 - 614

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

positions, including tap 0, allow a voltage variation

from 0.85 pu (102 kV) to 1.15 pu (138 kV) by steps of
0.01875 pu (2.25 kV). The positive-sequence voltage
measured at bus B2 is provided as input to the voltage
regulator (input 'Vmeas' of the transformer blocks). The
reference voltage is set to 1.0 pu. In order to start
simulation with 25-KV voltages close to 1.0 pu at bus
B4, the initial tap position is set at -1, so that the
transformer is boosting the voltage by a factor 1/(10.01875)=1.019. The tap transition is performed by
temporarily short-circuiting two adjacent transformer
taps through resistors (5 ohm resistances and 60 ms
transition time). The phasor model is built with current
sources emulating the transformer impedance which
depends on winding resistances, leakage reactances and
tap position. The model use a voltage regulator that
generates pulses at the 'Up' or 'Down' outputs and
orders a tap change either in the positive or negative
direction. The voltage regulation depends on the
specified dead band (DB = two times the voltage step or
0.0375 pu). This means that the maximum voltage error
at bus B4 should be 0.01875 pu. As long as the
maximum tap number is not reached (-8 or +8), voltage
should stay in the range: (Vref-DB/2< V<1.04+DB/2) =
(1.021< V< 1.059).
As tap selection is a relatively slow mechanical process
(4 sec per tap as specified in the 'Tap selection time'
parameter of the block menus), the simulation Stop time
is set to 2 minutes (120 s). STATCOM rating is 15
MVA and its droop is 3%.
Figure 4 shows the simulation results of the sample
network without the fixed capacitors. At t=20 Sec, the
breaker closes and a 18MW/5Mvar load connects to the
load bus; this causes the voltage of bus B4 decreases
and STATCOM generates the required capacitive
reactive power to keep the bus voltage at the desired
value. After some delay, the coordination controller
instructs ULTC to change and STATCOM decreases its
output.

ULTC
Reference
Voltage

Dead Zone Block

STATCOM Reactive
Power Output in p.u.

Figure 2 Coordination Controller Flow Diagram

3 SIMULATION RESULTS
In order to show the efficiency of the coordination
controller, a sample power system as Figure 3 is used.
The simulation is done by MATLAB/Simulink ver. 7.4.
As can be seen from this figure, a 25 kV distribution
network supplies power to a 36 MW /10 Mvar load
(0.964 PF lagging) from a 120 kV, 1000 MVA system
and a 120kV/25 kV ULTC regulating transformer.
Reactive power compensation is provided at load bus by
a 15 Mvar capacitor bank. ULTC transformer
implements a three-phase regulating transformer rated
47 MVA, 120 kV/25 kV, Wye/ Delta, with the ULTC
connected on the high voltage side (120 kV). The ULTC
transformer is used to regulate system voltage at 25 kV
bus B4. Voltage regulation is performed by varying the
transformer turn ratio. This is obtained by connecting on
each phase, a tapped winding (regulation winding) in
series with each 120/sqrt(3) kV winding. Nine (9)
ULTC switches allow selection of 8 different taps (tap
positions 1 to 8, plus tap 0 which provides nominal
120kV/25 kV ratio). A reversing switch included in the
ULTC allows reversing connections of the regulation
winding so that it is connected either additive (positive
tap positions) or subtractive (negative tap positions). For
a fixed 25 kV secondary voltage, each tap provides a
voltage correction of +/-0.01875 pu or +/-1.875% of
nominal 120 kV voltage. Therefore, a total of 17 tap

Yg/Delta (D1)
47 MVA 120/25 kV

cC

1000 MVA

B3

A
B
C

aA
bB
cC

B4

Three-Phase OLTC
Regulating Transformer
(Phasor Type)
[V1_B4]

V_REF

Phasors

100 MVA
STATCOM1

STATCOM

A
B
C

pow ergui

Trip

Three-Phase
Breaker

Scope1
[m1]

25 kV
18 MW
5 Mvar 1

<Qm (pu)>

m1

Dead Zone

Figure 3 Sample system set-up in Simulink

UPEC 2007 - 615

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

A
B
C

120 kV

bB

aA

B
C

25 kV
10 Mvar 1

Tap2

<Tap>

A
B

A
N

Vm (pu)

[V_REF]

Tap2

Load Bus Voltage in p.u.

25 kV
36 MW
10 Mvar

Tap #

-4
-6
-8

20

40

60
Q_STATCOM

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B4 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B3 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
Time

80

100

120

1
0
-1
2
1
0
1

0.95

Figure 4 Coordination of STATCOM and ULTC without fixed capacitor

This procedure continues until the STATCOM output
reaches to nearly zero. As can be seen from Figure 4,
the voltage of bus B4 is kept constant due to the
STATCOM fast operation, while the voltage of HV
changes for voltage regulation. At t=60 Sec, the breaker
opens and the load is disconnected, STATCOM absorbs
reactive power, and avoids voltage increase at the bus
B4. In this case, ULTC also operates and helps
STATCOM to return back to the standby condition. In
this case, the initial tap position for nearly zero
STATCOM output at the start of simulation is -4.

Figure 5 shows another case with fixed capacitors. In

this case, the initial tap position is -1.
As can be deduced from this figure, the ULTC and
STATCOM perfectly operate in coordination with each
other.
Figure 6 shows the STATCOM and ULTC operation
without coordination. As can be seen from this figure,
STATCOM remains at its limit and jumps from a high
capacitive to a high inductive value at t=60 Sec. This
indicates the necessity to coordinate the ULTC
operation with STATCOM.
Tap #

0
-5
-10

20

40

60
Q_STATCOM

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B4 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B3 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
Time (Sec)

80

100

120

1
0
-1
2
1
0
1

0.95

Figure 5 Coordination of STATCOM and ULTC with fixed capacitor

UPEC 2007 - 616

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

Tap #

-1
-2
-3

20

40

60
Q_STATCOM

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B4 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B3 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
Time

80

100

120

1
0
-1
2
1
0
1

0.95

Figure 6 Operation of STATCOM and ULTC without coordination (with fixed capacitor)
Figure 7 shows the independent operation of
STATCOM and ULTC of the sample network without
the fixed capacitor bank. The initial tap is -4 in order to
provide the required reactive power. At t=20 Sec. the
breaker closes and the bus load increases, and
motivating the STATCOM to operate. STATCOM can
not supply the required reactive power, so ULTC
operates and moves to tap -6. STATCOM output

decreases a small value, but not to standby condition.

Figure 8 shows the STATCOM and ULTC coordinated
operation for a light load change. The tap initial position
is -4 and changes to -5 in order to compensate for
STATCOM to return to standby condition. The role of
dead zone block is salient here, to avoid oscillatory
operation of ULTC around the desired value.

Tap #

-4
-5
-6

20

40

60
Q_STATCOM

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B4 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B3 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
Time

80

100

120

1
0
-1
2
1
0
1

0.95

Figure 7 Operation of STATCOM and ULTC without coordination (without fixed capacitor)

UPEC 2007 - 617

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

Tap #

-4
-4.5
-5

20

40

60
Q_STATCOM

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B4 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
V B3 (pu)

80

100

120

20

40

60
Time (Sec)

80

100

120

0.5
0
-0.5
1.5
1
0.5
1
0.98
0.96

Figure 8 Coordination of STATCOM and ULTC for a light load change (without fixed capacitor)

4 CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposes a new control scheme for the
coordination of a ULTC transformer and a STATCOM
installed at the same bus and has the merit of reserving
the STATCOM operating margin for emergencies. The
proposed coordination controller controls the ULTC in
maximizing the capacity margin of the STATCOM
without increasing the tap operation and improving the
load voltage profile and quality. The coordinated control
avoids ULTC oscillatory operation by applying a dead
zone block.

management, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 9, no.

2, pp. 10341040, Apr. 1994.
4. Son, K. M., Moon, K. S., Lee, S. K., and Park, J. K.,
Coordination of an SVC with a ULTC reserving
compensation margin for emergency control, IEEE
Trans. Power Del., vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 11931198,
Oct. 2000.
5. Kim, G. W. and Lee, K. Y., Coordination Control
of ULTC Transformer and STATCOM Based on an
Artificial Neural Network, IEEE Trans. Power
Sys., vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 580-586, May 2005.
6. Abdel-Rahman, M. H., Youssef, F. M. H., Saber, A.
A., New Static Var Compensator Control Strategy
and Coordination with an Under-Load Tap
Changer, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 21, no. 3,
pp. 16301635, July 2006.

5 REFERENCES
1. Calovic, M. S., Modeling and analysis of underload tap-changing transformer control system,
IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol.
PAS-103, no. 7, pp. 19091915, 1984.
2. Hingorani, N. G. and Gyugy, L., "Understanding
FACTS", Concepts and Technology of Flexible AC
Transmission System. New York: Inst. Elect.
Electron. Eng., Inc., 2000.
3. Paserba, J. J., Leonard, D. J., Miller, N. W.,
Naumann, S. T., Lauby, M. G., and Sener, F. P.,
"Coordination of a distribution level continuously
controlled compensation device with existing
substation equipment for long term var

AUTHOR'S ADDRESS
Dr. Mojtaba Khederzadeh can be contacted at
Electrical Engineering Department,
Power & Water University of Technology,
Tehranpars, Vafadar Bldv.,
P. O. Box: 16765-1719,
Tehran,
IRAN.
Email: khederzadeh@pwut.ac.ir

UPEC 2007 - 618

Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSITATSBIBLIOTHEK DORTMUND. Downloaded on September 10, 2009 at 15:49 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.