Optimal Allocation of Synchronous Condensers in Renewable Power Grids

Optimal allocation of synchronous condensers is one of the most-commonly-used ways to improve the operation performance of renewable power generators in weak grid. However, except for optimality, equity of the allocation should also be taken seriously to ensure the acceptability of the scheme. To do so, in this paper, an optimization model for the allocation of synchronous condensers considering equity is established at first. By inducing a penalty term which measures equity of the allocation, scheme with the lowest investment and the best equity can be selected. Besides, the main constraint is to ensure that short circuit ratios seen by the renewable power generators are no less than the required level. Second, since the optimal allocation of synchronous condensers is a problem of non-linear integer programming, an improved genetic algorithm is utilized for the solution of the optimization. Finally, effectiveness of the optimization model proposed is validated via study cases. The results indicate that the method proposed can ensure equity of the allocation scheme while maintaining the lowest cost.