Analysis of flicker mitigation effects using IEC digital flickermeter based on Matlab/Simulink simulation

Flicker, also known as voltage fluctuation, is a newest problem of power quality issues, because it is caused by nonlinear loads such as electrical arc furnace and large-scale induction motor, which are country-widely used as the heavy industries of a country develop. An international standard, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61000-4-15, was published in 1997 and revised in 2003. With increasing concerns about flicker, its mitigation methods have been also studied. General countermeasures for flicker are divided into three categories: a) enhancing the capacity of supplying system, b) Series elements including series reactor and series capacitor and c) power electronic devices including static VAR compensator (SVC) and static synchronous compensator (STATCOM). This paper introduces how to mitigate the voltage flicker at the point of common coupling (PCC) and presents how to simulate and compare the flicker alleviating effects by each mitigation method, using IEC flickermeter based on the Matlab/Simulink program.