Compare the costs of STATCOM operation with alternative voltage-security measures

Determine how the electricity-consumer cost of requiring STATCOM operation by power park modules compares with alternative measures for ensuring voltage stability, including transmission-system-operator investments in FACTS devices.

Background

The paper finds that the proposed updated Swedish grid code, including STATCOM operation for power park modules, reduces voltage violations in the modeled future Nordic system. However, maintaining inverter synchronization and switching capability for STATCOM operation increases active-power losses.

The resulting consumer electricity cost is not quantified or compared with alternative investments, such as FACTS devices. This unresolved economic comparison is important for selecting among grid-code requirements and network-investment strategies for future voltage security.

References

How this cost for STATCOM operation compares to other approaches to ensure voltage stability, such as TSO investments in FACTS devices, is not currently known and this should be investigated in future work.

— Assessment of the N-1 voltage security of a future Nordic energy system  (2609.24356 - Kuhrmann et al., 21 Sep 2026) in Section 6, subsection “Grid code implications”