Testing and validation of wide-area control of STATCOM using real-time digital simulator with hybrid HIL-SIL configuration

This study presents a novel interfacing setup for testing and validating wide-area monitoring and control (WAMC) techniques used in smart grids. The main purpose of this study is to provide a realistic approach for conducting WAMC studies. In here, a wide-area controller (WAC) for a flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) device is implemented. The measurements for the WAC are collected using phasor measurements units (PMUs). Three main segments are being interfaced in this study. First, the real-power grid, the local area controller of the actual FACTS device, and the PMUs are simulated using real-time digital simulator. This simulation represents the central simulation and is interfaced with the WAC, which is realised using a MATLAB-based program. This interface represents a novel software-in-the-loop (SIL) scheme. On the other hand, an actual FACTS device is designed and interfaced to the central simulation via hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) scheme. This SIL and HIL combination makes the experimental testbed more realistic and closer to the industrial standard. Various tests are conducted to examine the performance of the developed testbed.