Implementation of reduced switch multilevel inverter topology for statcom to enhance reactive power compensation

Abstract

Power generation, transmission and distribution is a complex process which needs that total system has to maintain the stability with efficient power transfer. For that reason it is necessary to transfer the real power flow throughout the system and also manage reactive power without affecting system performance. This process of reactive power compensation plays a major role in all aspects of power transfer. The application of high power electronic devices has made the concept of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) feasible for power flow control, voltage control and additionally for enhancing the system performance by efficient reactive power compensation. newlineHere, Multi Level Inverter (MLI) based FACTS device, namely the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) has been used for analysis of reactive power compensation. A STATCOM is capable of exchanging both real and reactive power of the system based on the magnitude of voltage and phase angle of the system. Instead of normal Voltage Source Converter (VSC), a multilevel inverter has been merged into the structure in order to use it in high power applications. The basic topologies of multilevel structures are namely diode clamped multilevel inverter, flying capacitor multilevel inverter and cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverter newline newline