Field experience with the new platform-mounted DVRTM

Installation of the world´s first platform-mounted dynamic voltage restorer (DVR^TM PM) prototype on a major North American utility system to protect a critical customer load from power system voltage disturbances ushers in a new era of power quality solutions available for overhead distribution systems on the utility side of the revenue billing meter. The DVR^TM PM built by Siemens for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) was installed at the Northern Lights Community College in Dawson Creek, B.C. where it provides protection for 600 kVA of load from disturbances coming from the utility 25 kV distribution system that serves the college. The early success of the DVR^TM PM demonstration in Canada has implications for the Australian market where in excess of 90% of the 11 and 22 kV networks are bare conductor overhead lines. As a consequence, customers are exposed to the voltage sags that the DVR^TM is designed to mitigate. Smaller critical customer loads can now be offered improved power quality network solutions on the 11 or 22 kV distribution systems that were not previously available. In Victoria alone, there are approximately 14,000 customers (or groups of commercial/industrial customers) who would benefit from such a network solution. This paper describes the DVR^TM PM and the demonstration project installation, commissioning, and field operation to date. Future equipment designs are also discussed