An indirect UPFC model to enhance reusability of Newton power-flow codes

Power-flow modeling of a unified power-flow controller (UPFC) increases the complexities of the computer program codes for a Newton-Raphson load-flow (NRLF) analysis. This is due to the fact that modifications of the existing codes are needed for computing power injections, and the elements of the Jacobian matrix to take into account the contributions of the series and shunt voltage sources of the UPFC. Additionally, new codes for computing the UPFC real-power injection terms as well as the associated Jacobian matrix need to be developed. To reduce this complexity of programming codes, in this paper, an indirect yet exact UPFC model is proposed. In the proposed model, an existing power system installed with UPFC is transformed into an augmented equivalent network without any UPFC. Due to the absence of any UPFC, the augmented network can easily be solved by reusing the existing NRLF computer codes to obtain the solution of the original network containing UPFC(s). As a result, substantial reduction in the complexities of the computer program codes takes place. Additionally, the proposed model can also account for various practical device limit constraints of the UPFC. Index Terms--Flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS), Newton power flow, unified power-flow controller (UPFC).