Planning-Oriented Shunt Compensation Placement in Power Systems Under N–1 Contingencies

This paper outlines a planning-oriented framework for placement of shunt compensation in power systems for post-contingency (N-1) while improving voltage profiles and minimizing active power loss. Unlike other works these authors do not rely solely on heuristic optimization or voltage post-contingency severity. These authors propose a structured two-step decision-making process linking severity of contingency and system-wide active power support to reactive power. First, N-1 contingency analysis is done to find out which scenarios in the system are the most critical and what the severity index of the contingency is. Then, for the most critical scenario a Sensitivity-based composite index is defined ( ∂ contingency index ∂ reactive power injection) which ranks the candidate buses to get the system optimal position for shunt compensation and thus retains the systems planning perspective. The chosen position is then assessed using an AC optimal power flow model to evaluate the improvements of the system on the voltage profiles and the losses of active power of the system for both normal and contingency operational states. The proposed framework is implemented and tested on the IEEE 14-bus system. The results show that the bus with the lowest post-contingency voltage is not necessarily the optimal place for reactive compensation. In contrast, the sensitivity-based planning criterion identifies sites of higher overall system benefits, including quantifiable reductions in active power losses and improved voltage recovery in the event of N–1 contingencies. The results substantiate the efficiency and clarity of the proposed planning-oriented approach in the operation and planning of reactive power management in power systems.