Optimal STATCOM Placement for Enhanced Voltage Stability and Power Factor Improvement

Abstract

The diverse and rapidly varying reactive power requirements in power systems pose significant threats to system security and
stability. To mitigate these challenges, the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), a shunt device, is employed for rapid
reactive power compensation. However, due to its high cost, deploying a STATCOM at every bus is impractical, necessitating
an optimal strategy for its placement and sizing to maximize system performance. This study adopts the Invasive Weed
Optimization (IWO) algorithm to determine the optimal size and location of multiple STATCOM units in a medium-voltage
distribution network, focusing on enhancing voltage stability and overall power factor. The proposed method is validated on the
IEEE 33-bus system, achieving a voltage deviation reduction of 32.60% (from 0.9413pu to 0.6344pu, an improvement in the
average power factor from 0.8147 to 0.9576, representing a 17.54% enhancement and Total Harmonic Distortion reduction
from 0.7118 to 0.3009 resulting into a reduction of 57.73%. Application of the Invasive Weed Optimization technique to the
Eastern Jinja DN in Uganda demonstrates significant improvements, with the average power factor increasing from 0.8505 to
0.9688 (a 13.91% improvement), Total Harmonic Distortion reduction from 0.7118 to 0.3009 resulting into a reduction of
58.64% and the voltage deviation reduced by 37.97% (from 1.7720pu to 1.0991pu). These results underscore the effectiveness
of the proposed optimization approach in achieving improved voltage stability and power factor performance in real-world and
analytical systems.