STATCOM based Power Quality Improvement in a Hybrid System

With the conventional energy depleting very fast and the power demand increasing every passing day, it has become absolute necessary to focus on renewable energy. Lots and lots of project are being undertaken which are able to harness power from the renewable energy sources like, sun, wind, water, etc. The integration of these systems (wind energy, hydro energy, solar power etc. ) created different kinds of problems in the grid like system stability problems or power quality issues which needs to be resolved. Conventionally passive filters were used but nowadays active filters such as Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) and Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) are chosen for the task. STATCOM is a device that regulates the voltage level or the reactive power in the system. It is used to maintain voltage stability, enlargement of critical clearing time. This work intends to propose the use of STATCOM for maintaining the power quality. The simulation has been carried in MATLAB/SIMULINK and results are presented to validate the claim.