The Use of the SSC as Reactive Power Compensator

The paper deals with the possibility of employing the Custom Power Static Series Compensator (SSC), whose primary aim is to compensate voltage sags, also as a Reactive Power Compensator. The idea arises from the observation that such device does not work for the majority of time and can therefore be usefully employed for other purposes, such as power factor corrections. To this aim, an “ad hoc” control algorithm is developed and thoroughly discussed in the paper. The effectiveness of such control scheme is then tested by applying the SSC to a load represented by an induction motor in order to improve its power factor. The whole system is modelled with the aid of the electromagnetic code PSCAD -EM TDC, which allows to describe with high detail all its components. The results of the simulations show the good response of the device, which enables to rapidly increase the power factor of the motor and maintains the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD ) of the injected phase voltages under the threshold value of 8%, as prescribed by CEI EN 50160 3.11.