Optimal Placement and Sizing of SVC for Loss Minimization and Voltage Profile Improvement using ABC Algorithm

— The placement of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices in power system is of great significance to ensure the promising performance of the transmission network. The FACTS devices play an important role for power system security enhancement. The FACTS devices are used to regulate the active and reactive powers and to improve voltage profile, due to their robust, fast and flexible control characteristics. Due to their high capital cost, it is necessary to place these controllers optimally in a power system. Optimal placement of FACTS devices can control the line flows and can maintain the voltages at the desired level and so can improve the voltage stability. This paper presents Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm for finding the optimal location of Static Var Compensator (SVC) to reduce the real power losses and to improve the voltage profile of a power system during single line outage contingencies. ABC algorithm is an optimization technique based on the intelligent behavior of honey bee swarms for foraging. Firstly, contingency ranking is performed using voltage performance index to determine the most severe line outage contingencies. Considering most severe contingencies one at a time, ABC algorithm has been applied to determine the optimal location and size of SVC. Effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on IEEE 30- bus system .