Design of a static synchronous compensator for the north-south high-speed railway system

Abstract

The modern high-speed rail system plays a crucial role in driving the nation’s economic development. The problem of voltage imbalance caused by intermittent load movements is a significant challenge for energy management and distribution. When electric trains are connected to the three-phase grid, power quality degradation occurs, resulting in distortion and imbalance of the three-phase grid current and voltage, which in turn increases operating costs. This paper has proposed a linear control method using a PI controller for a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) to directly control the amount of reactive power loss for electric trains. This solution will also bring good and stable voltage quality to electric trains so that electric trains can operate for a long time. The STATCOM device in this paper is a three-phase voltage source converter with a simple structure and can be easily controlled. This is considered a simple and effective solution to balance voltage, improve power factor, and enhance harmonic quality for railway trains, thereby achieving an optimal operating solution. This discussion can be simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software to determine the operation and control steps for STATCOM, thereby improving the quality of the power system. The simulation results of current, voltage, and reactive power response are presented. The simulation results have demonstrated that the proposed algorithm successfully achieves the set goals of ensuring voltage stability and providing the necessary amount of reactive power for the train, thereby improving the quality of the power grid for the North-South high-speed train in Vietnam.