FACTS-flexible AC transmission system

For economic reasons most if not all of the worlds electric power supply are widely interconnected, involving interconnections inside utilities own territories which extend to inter-utility interconnections and then to inter-regionals. The author describes how with this in mind, the Electric Power Research Institute representing the collaborative R&D arm of the US utilities, has put forward a concept, a vision of the future based on silicon science, called flexible AC transmission system (FACTS). While some of the relevant technology i.e., static VAR compensation is already in wide use, the FACTS concept has brought to the table a tremendous potential for thyristor based controllers which will surely revolutionize the power system.<>