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As an industry consumer of electric power, an electric arc furnace (EAF) is a major voltage flicker source that causes significant power-quality (PQ) problems. The fast response of the static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) makes it an efficient solution for improving PQ in distribution systems facing this kind of very nonlinear load. In this study, for voltage flicker mitigation of a 100-MVA EAF installed in Europe, a voltage-source-converter (VSC)-based STATCOM with high bandwidth is designed. The STATCOM's current reference includes both active and reactive current components. The performance of the STATCOM in voltage flicker mitigation is highly improved by applying this control strategy which uses the dc voltage margin of the VSC to provide for an active compensating current without oversizing the STATCOM converters capacitor. In this paper, first, the proposed STATCOM is studied through a generalized steady-state analysis. Second, the STATCOM's control strategies for voltage flicker mitigation are introduced and simulation results are provided and compared. Finally the complete model is validated by field tests over a 60-MVAr industrial STATCOM. Static and dynamic performance of the STATCOM is evaluated and voltage fluctuation mitigation studies are performed and discussed. The voltage flicker mitigation is evaluated through onsite measurements respecting international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]