SUMMARYMulti-functional UPFC control has been implemented by multiple controllers which may not effectively cope with the possible interactions among the multiple UPFC control functions. Hence, in this paper, a multivariable sampled regulator (SR) is suggested to perform the UPFC multiple control functions. The design of the SR can ensure decoupled control actions so as to achieve a satisfactory control performance and closed-loop system stability. Furthermore, its design only requires knowledge of the open-loop system step response-a nonparametric model-which is particularly attractive for this application since, in power systems, field tests to obtain non-parametric models are usually much easier to apply than the development of parametric models. In the paper, a study case of an example power system installed with a UPFC is presented. Copyright 0 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.