Managing fault-induced delayed voltage recovery in Metro Atlanta with the Barrow County SVC

Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) commissioned the Barrow County Static Var Compensator (SVC) with a continuous rating of 0 to +260 Mvar in June of 2008. This paper presents the northern Metro Atlanta Georgia area transmission system, the requirements for voltage and var support, the dynamic performance study used to verify performance of the SVC, and provides an overview of the SVC design and control strategy, including the SVC´s response to an actual power system disturbance. The Barrow County SVC is connected to the 230 kV bus at the Winder Primary Substation to effectively manage the exposure to fault-induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR), where the system voltage remains low (<80%) for several seconds following a disturbance and potentially leading to voltage collapse. The SVC configuration includes two thyristor-switched capacitors for rapid insertion of reactive power following a disturbance to decrease voltage recovery time and control the system´s dynamic performance.