Testing and commissioning experiences for the Duke Energy Progress Static VAR Compensator at Jacksonville, NC

Duke Energy Progress (DEP, formerly Progress Energy Carolinas) recently completed the installation of a transmission level Static VAR Compensator (SVC) at the Jacksonville, NC 230 kV Substation, rated +300 MVAR (capacitive) to −100 MVAR (inductive) at the 230 kV point of common coupling. The project was supplied as a full turnkey installation by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc, with an in-service date of June 1, 2013. This paper presents aspects of the planning and execution of the commissioning and testing for the Jacksonville SVC necessary to accommodate conditions on the DEP system. Commissioning and testing of a large SVC located in a relatively weak area of the transmission system presents several challenges, and requires significant pre-planning and coordination in order to accomplish the necessary testing, while also ensuring that the power system is not adversely affected. Consideration of the impacts on transmission and distribution system equipment, generating facilities, and customers are all part of the planning and coordination that will be discussed herein.