+/− 30MVAr ATCO Cranberry SVC

As part of the Northwest Transmission Development projects, Alberta Electric System Operator (the AESO) and ATCO Electric Ltd (ATCO) identified the need to provide reactive power compensation to support area voltage and to provide voltage stability in Grand Prairie/Peace River area in the Province of Alberta. It was identified that a +/− 30 MVAr Static VAR Compensator (SVC) would be required to provide the required dynamic support for Lubicon-Cranberry local 144 kV system. This SVC was the first of four SVCs that would be required in the northwest region as part of the development projects over the next three years. The SVC provided for this installation was chosen to be Air-Cooled valve, which requires low maintenance. This paper describes the design criteria of the SVC, the results obtained during performance measurements at the time of commissioning of the equipment, and comparison of these results with PSS/E simulations.