PSO based tuning and optimal allocation of TCSC controllers to mitigate small-signal stability problem

The objective of the work reported in this paper is to select the optimal location and setting parameters of Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC) using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to mitigate small-signal oscillations in a multimachine power system. Nowadays Power System Stabilizers (PSS) being a mandatory controller associated with commercial generators, its performance still gets affected by network configurations and hence installation of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) device has been suggested in this paper to achieve appreciable damping of system oscillations. However the performance of FACTS devices highly depends upon its parameters and suitable location in the power network. In this paper the PSO based technique is used to investigate this problem in order to damp the small-signal oscillations. To show the validity of the proposed technique, simulation is carried out in a multimachine system and the results of small signal stability analysis have been represented employing eigenvalue and time domain simulation.