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STATCOM on the Mexican power systems: Two case studies

Abstract:

Mexico, as other countries, has set targets for using renewable energy generation; however, because of its variability, it may affect the electricity system operation and lead to electrical breakdown. STATCOM is a power electronic device used to mitigate those risks. To analyze the STATCOM behavior for integrating wind generation into the Mexican Electrical System, without compromising its integrity, two cases were studied. In the first case a region of the Northeast of Mexico is analyzed, where there are two power plants with a total of 990, and 1,600 MW more will be added soon for wind generation. Under these circumstances, an electrical failure close to generator stations is risky for the system stability. For this reason, the behavior of the network was analyzed by incorporating a STATCOM to maintain the voltage values close to nominal, after introducing a three-phase fault at a bus bar near generation. In the second case, the Southeast region of Mexico is considered, where there are three parallel transmission lines of 243 km each. Capacitive reactance is presented because of the lines length, and it raises the voltage in bus bars during low demand. To avoid such overvoltage, currently one of the lines is disconnected. A STATCOM is proposed for absorbing reactive power to maintain the nominal voltage without disconnecting the transmission line during low demand.