Centro de Documentación OLADE -

The modern electricity industry is undergoing a major restructuring featuring a significant increase in the market penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. The deregulation of electricity markets has given consumers highly reliable options both for purchasing energy options and for selling it on the open market in a deregulated power system. Driving this shift is a vision of the transmission grid as flexible, reliable, and open to all exchanges, no matter where the suppliers and consumers of energy are located. However, the same rends are also contributing to transmission congestion and forced outages. Grid modernization requires an increase in the power quality, system stability, and increased transfer capacity of the transmission. The employed technologies range from passive reinforcements to electrical industry innovations such as super-conducting equipment, energy storage, and large-scale devices for routing grid power flow. The objective of this guidance note is to discuss available FACTS technologies with the underlying concept of independent control of active and reactive power flows, the essential differences and benefits of FACTS devices, and industry applications.