Faliure analysis of medium voltage capacitor banks: The Egyptian experience

This paper describes the failure modes in the capacitor banks installed in the Egyptian Network over the past years. The study has focused on the capacitor banks installed at the MV side of the HV substations in the Egyptian Transmission Network. Failures of capacitor units/banks in substations can be detrimental to the supply of reliable power to consumers. Failure analysis, failure mechanism, failure origin and physical damage causes were studied, not only from the manufacturing point of view, but also from the utility prospective in order to enhance the utility reliability. The results of the study on 457 capacitor banks of about 2383 MVARs capacity revealed the main causes of capacitor accidents, and sum up experiences in the Egyptian Electricity Utility.