PSCAD/EMTDC and MATLAB/Simulink Implementation of Custom Power Devices for Power Quality Improvement

Power Quality is used to describe electric power that drives an electric load and the load's ability to function properly with that electric power. Without the proper power, an electrical device (or load) may malfunction, fail prematurely or not operate at all. There are many ways in which electric power can be of poor quality and many more causes of such poor quality power.Power quality measurement can be applied both on the end user side as well as utility side. The aim therefore, in this work, is to identify the prominent concerns in the area and thereby to recommend measures that can enhance the quality of the power. In this paper two custom power controllers are proposed for power quality improvement, they are the distribution static compensator (D-STATCOM), and the dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). The mitigating capability of these devices is mainly influenced by the maximum load; power factor and maximum voltage sag and swell to be compensated. Comprehensive results are presented to assess the performance of each device to mitigate the power quality problems. The simulation is carried out using PSCAD/EMTDC and MATLAB/SIMULINK soft wares.