Optimal placement of synchronous condensers based on Benders decomposition with taking into account short-circuit and network constraints
Shota Omi, Yasuaki Nakayama, Naoki Kawamoto · 2023
Implementation of inverter-based resources (IBRs) accompanied with phasing out of unabated thermal power plants for decarbonisation brings stability challenges to future power grids. For ensuring the stable operation of IBRs, short-circuit level is a key criterion. Short-circuit level can be improved by installing synchronous condensers, which provide short-circuit current, reactive power, and inertia to the power system. The installation place of synchronous condensers affects the improvement of short circuit level and voltage profile of the power grid. However, the optimal placement problem of synchronous condensers becomes a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming problem, which is too complex to be solved directly, due to the nonlinearity of the short circuit level and reactive power flow. To solve this complex problem, we applied Benders decomposition with a linearisation of the short circuit constraint. Preliminary evaluation with WSCC 9-bus and IEEE 118-bus standard system models on single period ensures that the proposed approach can provide a solution for improving short circuit level and reducing total expenditure.