Extended reliability model of a unified power flow controller

One of the most important aspects in evaluating system reliability is to have a complete understanding of the engineering implications of the system and its associated components. The next step involved in reliability assessment is to appropriately model the system components to represent their characteristics and functions in the overall system. The unified power flow controller (UPFC) is an important flexible AC transmission system controller that can be used to enhance power system reliability. A complete reliability model of a UPFC is developed. A UPFC consists of three subsystems, and a reliability model associated with each subsystem is developed. The individual equivalent models are then combined to form a complete state-space model that represents the UPFC. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to illustrate the impacts on UPFC availability of variations in the key component failure rates.