1

Design and Application of SVC units in the Texas

CREZ System
Anders Boström, Member IEEE Ben Mehraban, Senior Member IEEE
ABB AB American Electric Power
Västerås, Sweden Columbus, OH, USA
anders.x.bostrom@se.abb.com bmehraban@aep.com

Abstract— This paper describes the design and SVC systems, one at Tesla Substation at 345 kV and the other
implementation of the Static Var Compensator (SVC) at Hamilton Road Substation at 138 kV. Both locations have
Systems in the Tesla and Hamilton Road Substation, part two SVC units operating in parallel where the dynamic range
of the Texas CREZ transmission system. The SVC of the Tesla units are 66 Mvar inductive to 150 Mvar
systems were taken into operation by American Electric capacitive reactive power and the Hamilton Road units range
Power (AEP) in late August 2013. The paper describes from 25 Mvar inductive to 100 Mvar capacitive reactive
some of the more important SVC design criteria such as power.
filter design and performance, control and reliability. It II. THE CREZ TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
also handles the generation and transmission system
characteristics of the CREZ transmission system, The five CREZ areas designated by PUCT encompass
providing the requirements for dynamic support. Also large areas of West Texas. The system, shown in figure 1,
included are discussions on control verification and stretch as far as 400 miles from the northern Texas panhandle
testing. and south McCamey close to the Mexican border to the load
centers of Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Austin in east
Index Terms — Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ), Texas. To integrate the proposed wind generation capacity
Dynamic Voltage Support, Electric Reliability Council of Texas additional right of way of approximately 2300 miles were
(ERCOT), Harmonic Impedance, Public Utility commission of required. Several of the 345 kV circuits are designed solely
Texas (PUCT) , Static Var Compensator (SVC), for the purpose of integrating asynchronous generation, with
no connection to thermal generation or load centers [1], [2].
I. INTRODUCTION
In 2009 the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT)
ordered several existing and future Transmission Service
Providers (TSP) in Texas to implement transmission
improvements to connect 12 GW of wind generation with a
possible future maximum generation estimated to roughly 24
GW. This includes five Competitive Renewable Energy
Zones (CREZ) connected to load centers within the Texas
Interconnection. Electric Transmission Texas (ETT) was
awarded seven line segments and four switching stations for
this purpose in cooperation with American Electric Power
(AEP), responsible for engineering and operation. Subsequent
studies performed through ERCOT on how to facilitate the
transmission capability necessary identified the need and
locations for dynamic reactive shunt and series compensation
throughout the system. As a result ETT/AEP is responsible
Figure 1. The Texas CREZ transmission system (source ERCOT). Solid
for implementing dynamic reactive power compensation at lines indicate double and dashed lines single circuit 345 kV transmission.
two locations in the system, Hamilton Road Substation west
of San Antonio and Tesla Substation in the south east of the The fact that this system is practically devoid of
Texas panhandle. The choice of dynamic device on the two conventional synchronous generation, except at the load
sites fell on the classical Static Var Compensator. Since centers located hundreds of miles away imply that reactive
August 2013 AEP has for this purpose been operating two support is imperative to facilitate high active power transfers.

978-1-4799-3656-4/14/$31.00 ©2014OFIEEE
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 2

This is particularly the case during contingencies where
critical important double circuit 345 kV lines are involved.
The outstretched radial nature of the transmission system will
make it bound by power angle criterion limitations. Studies
[1], [2] have indicated that angles between the wind turbine
generator terminals and receiving end buses transiently reach
angles well over 90 degrees following contingencies. This is
shown even though series compensation at significant levels
is used and despite the fact that type 3 and 4 wind generators
are immune to power angle limitations. Under these
circumstances the system will be subject to fast voltage
collapse unless strategically located dynamic reactive power
is injected. It is important that these dynamic sources remain
The initial build dynamic range of each of the Tesla units is
-66 to +150 Mvar at 345 kV, consistent with the requirements
of the CREZ initial build scenario. Figure 3 shows the single
line diagram of one Tesla SVC unit and its connection to the
345 kV bus. The topology of these SVC units is composed of
one Thyristor Switched Capacitor (TSC) branch rated at 94
Mvar, one Thyristor Controlled Reactor (TCR) branch rated
at 122 Mvar and 56 Mvar of fixed filters, distributed over two
banks tuned to the 3rd and 5th harmonic respectively. The SVC
is connected to the 345 kV system through three phase step
down transformers, including a common spare unit.
345 kV

controllable, meaning that they are not all allowed to go into 300 MVA 300 MVA

limit. Sizing is therefore crucial to system security as are 345 /20.5 kV 345/20.5 kV

controllability and location of these devices.

It is perhaps easy to refer to the dynamic reactive
requirements as valid for the capacitive range only. However,
this type of transmission system is highly sensitive to over
voltages related to fault clearing in the vicinity of the wind
farms. In particular, this becomes an issue when generation
trips and this runs the risk of becoming a cascading situation. TCR TSC 3rd Harmonic 5 th Harmonic 3rd Harmonic 5th Harmonic
TCR TSC
Therefore, inductive range in dynamic devices is of high 122 Mvar 94 Mvar Filter
42 Mvar
Filter
14 Mvar
122 Mvar 94 Mvar
Filter
42 Mvar
Filter
14 Mvar

importance as is the ability to rapidly remove capacitive
elements. Thyristor Controlled Reactor/Thyristor Switched
Capacitor (TCR/TSC) based SVC units are therefore
preferred over simpler topologies when operating under this
type of system properties.
In combination with the above issues, system behavior at
faults at the sending or receiving end, load composition
including a significant degree of low inertia induction motors
and the low system short circuit ratio level at the point of
interconnection, make it clear that the requirements on
dynamic reactive power compensation become significant.
All these phenomena are described in references [1] and [2].
III. TESLA AND HAMILTON RD SVC DESIGN
The Hamilton Road and Tesla Substations both house two
vernier controlled SVC units operating in parallel. A site
view of one of the Tesla SVC units is shown in figure 2.
Figure 3. Single Line Diagram of the Tesla SVC units, Initial Build.
The Tesla units are prepared for future expansion to meet
the CREZ system intermediate or ultimate build scenarios,
where the ultimate build scenario calls for -150 to +300
Mvar. This range would be met by adding an identical TCR,
upgrade the existing TSC to 122 Mvar and add an identical
TSC. The transformer low side voltage is selected to
accommodate the full ultimate build SVC rating. A viable
intermediate build requirement would be to add an additional
TSC branch and/or TCR as applicable. Figure 4 illustrates the
SVC Voltage vs. Current characteristics for the initial and
ultimate build scenario SVC units. The filters are designed
and rated to meet any of these CREZ expansion scenarios [2].
The transformer is rated to meet the ultimate build scenario
thermally as well as with respect to the core flux limit. This is
valid also for the initial build thyristor valves.
AEP CREZ - TESLA SVC, 345 kV side VI-diagram
1.4

1.2

1 C A B D
P r im a ry v o lta g e [p u ]

0.8

0.6

0.4
A - Nominal Initial Build Capacitive Rating

B - Nominal Initial Build Inductive Rating

0.2
C - Nominal Ultimate Build Capacitive Rating

D - Nominal Ultimate Build Inductive Rating

0
-3.5 -3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
<=================== Capacitive =============== SVC current [pu] =================== Inductive ==============>

Figure 2. Site view of Tesla SVC, unit #1 Figure 4. Tesla SVC Initial Build Voltage vs. Current characteristic.

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The dynamic range of each of the Hamilton Rd units is -25
to +100 Mvar at 138 kV. They have a similar topology as the
Tesla units with one TSC branch rated at 60 Mvar, one TCR
branch rated at 65 Mvar and 35 Mvar of fixed filters,
distributed in three banks tuned to the 3 rd ,5th and 7 th harmonic
frequencies respectively. Similarly to Tesla, there is one 100
MVA three phase transformer connecting each SVC unit to
the 138 kV bus including one de-energized spare. Hamilton
Road does not have any expandability requirements driven by
future system changes. The explanation is found examining
the locations of the SVC sites in relation to wind generation
and load centers. Tesla Substation is located in the
transmission path close to the generation whereas Hamilton
Road is closer to the load, somewhat outside the actual CREZ
transmission system.
IV. SVC DESIGN CRITERIA
Static Var Compensators are designed to operate safely and
reliably in the transmission or distribution system to which
they are connected. This can be quantified in a number of
specific requirements in terms of dynamic range, system
operating voltage conditions, contingency scenarios etc. One
important aspect of this is to select the SVC sizing and
topology such that undesired resonant conditions, internally
to the SVC and between the SVC and the AC system are
avoided. However, it shall be made clear that by nature,
resonances will always exist when inductive and capacitive
elements are combined. It is where in the frequency range
they appear that has to be controlled. For an SVC this is
basically determined by how the capacitive branch size and
transformer reactance are selected in relation to the network
impedance. For a design engineer this process can be more or
less complex depending on the system impedance data
available and its properties in relation to the susceptance over
the SVC range.
Harmonic Impedance Data and System Modelling
The filter design was performed using scans of the positive
sequence network driving point harmonic impedance for all
viable system development scenarios, including initial,
intermediate and ultimate build CREZ system conditions.
Impedance scans were performed for N-0, N-1, and N-2
system contingency cases up to and including the 50th order
harmonic for said system scenarios. A unit positive sequence
current is injected at the SVC point of connection into the
system. The resulting voltage calculated at the SVC bus is
proportional to the network impedance at the frequency
subject to evaluation. Calculations were performed for
different wind scenarios based on the different stages of
system development scenarios. The wind levels considered
were 0 %, 33 %, 66 % and 100 %. To further account for
variations the CREZ wind was grouped in a manner dividing
it into Panhandle, McCamey and Central groups were each
possible combination was considered for the 33 % and 66 %
scenarios.
An important note regarding the CREZ system and its
harmonic impedance characteristic is that several important
345 kV double-circuit lines share common transmission
towers. This effectively means that contingencies involving
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3
outages of double circuits, i.e. N-1-1 are required to be
treated as N-1 outages with regard to harmonic performance.
This causes the network resonances to shift around to a
significantly higher degree when evaluating performance than
would be the case for single outage conditions. By the same
definition double outages, used for SVC component rating
will involve the loss of four single 345 kV lines. This will of
course have significant impact on the filter design and rating.
The harmonic impedance scans are based on the peak load
powerflow cases. This is useful for harmonic evaluation
purposes because peak load cases tend to have the largest
number of generators, capacitor banks and other pieces of
transmission equipment in service. These can then be readily
removed to evaluate multiple system conditions. However,
higher loads tend to add more damping of the system
resonances, which is generally not conservative enough for
the purpose of filter design. For an added level of
conservatism in the design the loads were therefore reduced
by 50%. Even with this approach the choice of load
representation is important. For the harmonic frequencies
simplified load models were selected, typically series and
parallel representation is used, where the latter has the real
and reactive power represented by appropriately selected RL
or RC components in parallel. For the series representation
the same is valid with series connected RL or RC
combinations. Unless information on other more specific load
models are provided the series representation is preferred. It
provides conservative levels of damping to higher frequency
system resonances. This is illustrated in figure 5, where an
example harmonic impedance scan is compared for series and
parallel RL load representation.
Figure 5. Impedance Frequency Scan, Comparison of Load model Impact
As seen in figure 5, the resonances occur at the same
frequencies for both representations, but the damping differs
significantly between the two.
Transmission line modeling is also of high importance. To
correctly model the nature of the distributed losses,
inductance and charging capacitance is crucial in order to
capture the resonances at the proper frequencies. The
standard P-models are therefore avoided at the benefit of the
Bergeron representation, which has been found to capture the
resonant behavior. More detailed representation is generally
not required. One shortcoming of the standard Bergeron
models available is that they lack representation of frequency

dependent line resistance, i.e. the conductor skin effect. To
capture this, a modified Bergeron model is used that alters the
resistance of the line at each evaluated frequency [3], in
particular for larger cross section area conductors used at 345
kV and higher. Series capacitors were modeled as either in or
out of service.
Since it is positive sequence harmonic impedance that is of
interest, transformers can be modeled using standard star
connection, with simple resistors and reactors representing
the losses and leakage inductance of the windings. The
transformer losses, i.e. winding and eddy current losses,
which also are frequency dependent, are captured with the
same method used for the transmission lines [3] to correctly
represent the damping at higher frequencies.
The wind turbine generators throughout the CREZ system
was assumed to be composed of 80 % Type 3 (double fed
induction generators) and 20 % Type 4 (full converter
generators). The harmonic impedance looking into the
terminals of these devices can be of importance to the
impedance presented to the system seen from the SVC point
of connection. This, in particular, is the case for the Tesla
units, located close to the Panhandle wind farm clusters. For
both types of wind turbines, the anticipated harmonic
impedance was determined using generic PSCAD models.
These models do not necessarily represent the equipment of
any given manufacturer but will give a reference point for
possible impedances. The Type 3 impedance characteristic is
shown in figure 6.
Figure 6. Impedance characteristics of Type 3 WTG.
In addition to load, transmission lines and wind turbines
also additional transmission equipment, such as transformers
and shunt banks are modeled to capture the system frequency
response. Transformers are modeled as resistors and reactors
representing the transformer losses (load and stray losses) and
the leakage reactance of the windings. Losses are represented
as frequency dependent in the same manner as the
transmission lines [3]. Shunt elements will, depending on the
power flow, be either in or out of service. It is fair to assume
that for the initial build scenario the system will be lightly
loaded compared to the ultimate build. Therefore it has been
assumed that mostly reactors will be present in the initial
stage and capacitors for the ultimate build stage. Because the
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4
shunt elements have the purpose of relieving the SVCs
throughout the system from steady state voltage control to
preserve SVC dynamic range, the SVCs were removed from
service to force the long term behavior of the shunt elements
to be evaluated. No instance was found in either the initial or
intermediate build conditions were the shunt reactors
switched out or where shunt capacitors switched in. The need
for shunt capacitors occurs under heavily loaded line
conditions for ultimate build conditions. For SVCs only the
units expected to influence the harmonic impedance scans
were included by representation of the SVC filter banks. The
impact of the Oklaunion HVDC station was evaluated in a
similar way. The impact of the HVDC converter was shown
to be minimal and modeled as out of service for simplicity.
To give an idea of the sensitivity related to the various
system conditions and wind turbine models used a few select
impedance diagrams are examined. Figure 7 shows the
impact of choice of WTG model on harmonics of order 5 and
7 and figure 8 illustrates the influence from different wind
levels.
Figure 7. HIS result comparison of WTG models, harmonic order 7.
Figure 8. HIS result comparison of system wind levels, harmonic order 7.
The SVC harmonic performance requirements are based on
IEEE 519 [4], which provides guidance of steady state
planning levels at transmission voltage. For 345 kV these
levels are 1.0 % for individual voltage harmonics and 1.5 %
for the total harmonic distortion. For 138 kV the
corresponding limits are 1.5 % and 2.5 % respectively.

The SVCs are designed to account for less than half of these
levels during N-1 system conditions. N-2 conditions serve as
base for the rating of the SVC components together with
other viable short time system phenomena that may impact
the SVC main circuit components.
V. SVC RELIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS
The primary purpose of transmission SVCs is to provide
dynamic support during system contingencies. The Hamilton
Rd and Tesla SVC units are no exception to this. To
maximize SVC readiness for these events it is important to
have a well-adapted concept to maximize the SVC uptime,
which translates to availability and minimize the number of
forced outages, which translates to reliability. This needs to
involve all parts of the SVC installation. Based on experience
and previous work in this area [5] it is well known that the
majority of SVC reliability issues are related to the auxiliary
systems, such as auxiliary power supply, valve cooling, air
conditioning and control system. In comparison main circuit
equipment is subject to a low failure rate when properly rated.
The availability requirements for the SVCs in question are
99% Forced Outage Availability (FOA) and 97.5% Total
Availability, i.e. including forced and scheduled outages. The
reliability requirements are specified at less than two (< 2)
forced outages per year. These values are guaranteed by the
vendor while the statistically expected availability of the SVC
units delivered is 99.5% (FOA) and 99.1% totally, including
one scheduled 37 hour long outage for yearly maintenance.
The annual forced outage frequency is calculated to 0.55
faults per year.
Auxiliary Power Supply
Many problems experienced in SVC installations are
caused by unreliable auxiliary ac supplies. Issues that initially
show up as cooling system failures, fan or air conditioner
problems often turn out to be related to the ac supply.
Therefore it is important to carefully coordinate performance
of the auxiliary ac supply with the equipment connected. For
the SVC units handled in this paper the ac supply comes off
the SVC MV bus. This is not uncommon for SVCs but the
situation in this case is somewhat special since there is no
backup source available from outside the SVC. The backup
source for the individual SVC comes from the parallel
operating SVC. Taking the auxiliary power off the SVC MV
bus in itself calls for a well-coordinated design to properly
handle the fluctuating voltage. Going from full capacitive to
full inductive operation the voltage swing on the auxiliary
system may be significant, in particular this gets more
pronounced the wider the SVC operating range is.
Vernier controlled SVCs operate with secondary voltage
limitation facilitated by the TCR. This provides for a well-
defined maximum continuous MV bus voltage. With this as a
starting point the auxiliary transformer turns ratio is chosen
such that the ac auxiliary equipment continuous voltage range
is met for the voltage range of the SVC continuous operating
area. Equipment like pump motors are over-rated to allow for
a lower than normal operating voltage. For voltage dips
reaching lower than the minimum continuous operating
voltage selected equipment is turned off in a controlled
manner to avoid tripping the SVC. In particular this is
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5
important for the valve cooling pumps and fans. These are
turned off at a set minimum voltage level, e.g. during a low
voltage contingency, waiting for the voltage to recover to
restart the cooling pumps. Running the SVC without cooling
is allowed for a limited time at low voltages as the valve
current and consequently the required cooling, reduces with
the voltage squared. Also fans and control enclosure air
conditioners are handled this way. Note that these different
systems have different voltage requirements and hence
require separate undervoltage detection and operational
strategies. Auxiliary systems other than the abovementioned,
vital for SVC operation are supplied from redundant dc
systems.
Main Circuit
To meet the SVC availability requirements a sufficient
amount of spare parts is required. These are statistically
determined based on component failure rates and delivery
time. Main circuit components used in SVCs are in general
mature products with a large installed base over a long period
of time. This, adding long experience in SVC design, provide
for low statistical failure rates. However, some of these
components, should they fail, have a significant lead time and
would render the SVC inoperable over a long time. By way
of example this can be illustrated by the transformer, which
has an extremely low statistical failure rate but a very long
production or repair lead time for failures related to the active
part. Looking from a purely statistical perspective a spare
SVC transformer would provide very limited contribution to
the availability of an SVC. However, transmission SVCs are
by nature an insurance against power system failures and an
SVC spare transformer can similarly be regarded as an
insurance policy for the SVC. The Hamilton Rd and Tesla
SVCs therefore have a spare transformer unit at each site
common to the two SVCs (figure 3). In addition there is a
spare of each type of capacitor unit, reactor etc.
To meet the reliability requirement there are several
measures of redundancy applied. Note that this redundancy is
either in operation or in hot stand-by mode as the SVC is not
allowed to go off line for failures related to this equipment.
Examples of reliability driven components are thyristor
valves, valve cooling system and the SVC control system.
The latter is handled separately below. Each phase of the
thyristor valves has two redundant levels. At failure the
thyristor immediately goes into short circuit mode, a failure
alarm is sent to the control system and the valve phase
position of the failed thyristor is indicated in the HMI. No
interruption in SVC operation occurs and replacement of the
failed unit can be deferred to the next scheduled outage or
whenever convenient. The cooling system has redundancy
applied for pumps and fans. The SVCs are able to run in
reduced mode with the TSC branch out of operation.
Control and Protection
The SVC main control system is redundant from the main
computers out through the I/O units, divided into an A and B
system with one system active and the other in standby. The
standby system operates in parallel with the active system
although with the output interface inactive. This provides for
a seamless transition from one system to the other when
necessary. Maintenance and repair such as replacement of

circuit boards can be done on the inactive system with the
SVC remaining in operation to avoid unnecessary down time.
The system is self-diagnostic in the sense that any failed or
faulty parts of the control, e.g. circuit boards generate an
alarm and are indicated on the local HMI by position.
Beside the protective functions realized in the control
system the protection of the SVC main circuit relies on
conventional protective relays. The system is fully redundant
including dedicated current and voltage transformer cores.
The redundant protective relay systems utilize relay units of
different manufacturers to minimize systematic failures in
relay units and settings.
VI. SVC CONTROL S YSTEM AND CONTROL FEATURES
The SVC controller is a MACH2® system, built with state
of the art computers, micro controllers and digital signal
processors interconnected by high performance industry
standard bus and fiber optic communication links. The
control system, depicted in figure 9 includes features like
internal supervision, Sequence of Event Recorders (SER) and
Transient Fault Recorders (TFR), where the latter generates
Comtrade® files triggered by HMI selectable quantities or
events. All events are time tagged with a 1ms resolution. This
means that events brought into the control system through the
I/O rack is time stamped when entering the I/O.
Figure 9. SVC control system, including protection and station control.
With this setup real time control and HMI/Gateway are
separated by design, utilizing industry standard embedded
software for user interaction and Local Area Network (LAN)
connection. Depending on the computing performance
required, different applications in the SVC control is located
in different parts of the control system. High speed
applications such as voltage synchronization, thyristor firing
orders, valve protection and high resolution TFR recording
are DSP based, while less demanding applications such as the
closed loop voltage control, various sequence control
schemes and low resolution TFR recording are main
computer based. Sampling of measured quantities such as
voltage and current is handled in the I/O boards.
Thyristor firing and monitoring are handled in the Valve
Control Unit (VCU). The VCU communicates with each
individual thyristor via two sets of fibers, one for each
conduction direction. A fiber set contains two fibers, one for
firing orders and the other for thyristor monitoring. Valve
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6
based protection, such as TSC valve and capacitor protection
is implemented in the VCU while thyristor based protection
such as recovery protection and protective firing is
implemented at thyristor level.
The SVC includes a number of control modes and features
necessary to perform the task of dynamic voltage support
during difficult system contingency situations. Among the
more important functions are the TCR current and secondary
voltage limitations, the purpose of which is to protect the
SVC by keeping operation within the equipment continuous
rating. The SVCs have a limited overload capability in the
inductive range to handle system overvoltage. In addition to
the obvious task of automatic voltage control of the
connecting HV bus, performed by an integrator based closed
loop regulator, some of the more important control functions
and operational modes include regulator gain supervision and
optimization, slow susceptance control and system
undervoltage strategy.
Gain Control
Gain supervision is a tool for reducing the closed loop
voltage regulator gain to the system conditions following
reductions in the network fault level. This will secure the
SVC response to be as fast as possible without excessive
overshoot or lingering oscillations with instability in the
voltage control as a result. The function acts on the number of
swings in the susceptance reference signal of the SVC
response. At a preset number of swings exceeding a preset
level the relative gain will be reduced in appropriately sized
steps, all of which are set from the local HMI. The gain is
reset from the local HMI, from remote via SCADA or
through the gain optimizing function if activated.
Gain optimization acts to adapt the gain to the prevailing
network conditions in that it can bring the gain back towards
the initial setting subsequently to a reduction, network
conditions allowing or making sure that it is kept at a lower
level if necessary. The gain optimizer works by generating
small step disturbances in the regulator input signal and
depending on the response, the relative gain is changed, as
illustrated in figure 10. Gain optimization can be disabled
independently from the gain supervisory function.
Figure 10. Relative gain in percent vs. time. Example of gain optimizer
action over 5 hours.
Parallel SVC Operation
For SVCs operating in parallel or located electrically close
it is of obvious importance to handle control settings such
that the SVCs avoid hunting or counteracting each other.
These SVCs, like SVCs in general are designed to operate
 7

individually, with separate control, protection and auxiliary digital power system simulator used for a wide range of real
systems. Parallel operation of SVCs therefore requires means time studies. It performs electromagnetic power system
of coordinated control settings to be implemented [7]. The transient simulations with typical time steps of 50-75
most straightforward way of accommodating this is by a microseconds, utilizing a combination of custom software
Master-Slave scheme, designed to apply a common set of (RSCAD) and hardware.
control settings between the SVC units. The settings in the
Master will then automatically be applied in the unit acting as
slave. This typically applies to voltage reference, slope and
gain. Functions such as gain control and control of external
capacitors have to be treated with care in parallel SVC
operation. Gain adjustments can only be initiated by the
Master unit. The same is true for control of external shunt
banks and slow susceptance control.
Slow Susceptance Control
The slow susceptance control is an SVC susceptance
regulator implemented to keep the SVC output close to idle
or any desired set point during steady state network
conditions. The purpose is to preserve the SVC dynamic
range for contingency situations. The controller is designed to
slowly bring the SVC to the desired long term operating point
by slowly, over several minutes, adjusting the voltage Figure 11. RTDS setup
reference set point within a narrow window to reduce SVC
output. This enables slower operating system voltage The concept is to model pertinent parts of the system
controlling devices such as tap changers and breaker switched including the SVC, shown in figure 12, in the simulator and
capacitor banks to operate to cater for compensating long connect the control to the simulator through a signal interface
term voltage variations due to daily load changes etc. indicated in Fig. 11. The control, which is the actual MACH2
Undervoltage Strategies hardware and software installed at site, have access to exactly
the same current and voltage signals as when operating
The SVC is not allowed to trip for any type of undervoltage
installed at site. It will interact with the RSCAD based SVC
conditions. Depending on the severity of the undervoltage
model with the relevant signal exchange, sending back firing
condition the SVC will act in different ways. For transitory
pulses to the TCR and TSC branches modeled in the
undervoltages caused by system contingencies down to 0.3
simulator, emulating actual operation. This is done in real
p.u. the normal voltage control will handle the SVC output to
time during viable system contingencies staged in the
support the system, provided that the system fault clearance
simulator. With this method correct SVC behavior related to
works as intended. For voltages below 0.3 p.u. the thyristor
step response requirements, undervoltage strategies, etc. can
valves will be blocked, awaiting fault clearance and voltage
be verified for the actual power system in real time, internal
recovery to a selectable level, in this case 0.8 p.u. at which
SVC control system-based protective functions included.
the thyristor valves are de-blocked. The de-blocking level is
determined by the voltage level at which the cooling pumps
can be restarted. This depends on the type of auxiliary source
used, in this case the SVC MV bus is making the auxiliary
voltage basically follow the HV side. A thyristor level can
handle rated current for approximately 10 seconds without a
running cooling system. During undervoltage conditions the
valve current is considerably lower due to its voltage squared
dependence. By properly utilizing this characteristic the SVC
can handle undervoltage operation without introducing
auxiliary power equipment such as large UPS units, which in
the past have been found to add to complexity and adversely
affect reliability of SVC units. To release the control the
synchronizing supervision requires the PLL phase error to be
less than 10 degrees and the voltage level to be above 0.3 p.u.

VII. CONTROL VERIFICATION AND TESTING

An important aspect when implementing Var support
control schemes is to verify correct compensator behavior
depending on system properties such as fault level and
dynamic load properties before implementing the device in
the field. In this case this was done using a Real Time Digital
Simulator (RTDS®) [6], [7]. The RTDS is a modular, fully
Figure 12. RSCAD model of one of the SVCs at Hamilton Rd substation.
The definition of the simulator models used and the wind
scenarios and contingencies were agreed on during the initial
stages of the project. The actual controller that will be

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 8

connected to the RTDS has access to the same VT and CT Local as well as remote faults were studied covering all
signals as implemented when installed and returns the firing types’ line to ground and line to line faults during a number
pulses to the RTDS. The ±10 V analogue output signals of of different wind and load scenarios. This was done for the
the RTDS are amplified to 110 V going in to the actual different CREZ system development scenarios. An example
MACH 2 control. SVC conventional relay protection can also plot from the RTDS study of a three phase fault one bus
be tested. This however generally requires RTDS interfacing removed from the Tesla SVC site is shown in figure 13. At
through amplifiers, which may practically limit the number of the initiation of the fault the SVC rapidly goes to full
relay units possible to test simultaneously. The RTDS system capacitive output. As the voltage drops below 0.4 p.u. the
itself was used for monitoring and recording of signals in the undervoltage strategy blocks the TSC branch. The TCR
power system as well as for recording of signals inside the branch is still in operation as the 345 kV bus voltage remains
control system. The internal built in MACH2 TFR was used above 0.3 p.u. and controls the SVC susceptance to zero. At
for recording and analyzing the results. On line monitoring fault clearance the SVC resumes normal operation. Note the
and operation of the SVC is done graphically from the HMI. intervention of gain reduction due to oscillations in the
The full PSSE network provided by AEP was used to susceptance reference signal.
develop appropriate network equivalents; one for each site.
The RTDS implemented network had explicitly modeled VIII. CONCLUSIONS
representation for approximately 20 buses surrounding the
SVC point of connection. The rest of the network was The CREZ system is built to transfer high amounts of
represented by equivalents bound with transfer impedances. asynchronously generated power over large distances. Since
The explicitly modeled parts included lines, series capacitors the system is more or less devoid of synchronous generation
with bypass included, shunt devices, transformers, loads etc. the system has a low short circuit ratio and high dV/dQ
Transmission lines were represented by Bergeron models to sensitivity. Thus, the system will require a significant amount
capture the frequency dependence. Any necessary of dynamic reactive power support, of which the Hamilton
modification to shunt devices to correctly represent their Rd and Tesla SVC units are part. To meet the reliability as
tuning was also done. Power flow and fault levels based on well as the system performance requirements the SVCs are
the PSSE cases were used to validate the equivalents. built combining a robust main circuit with an equally robust
A large number of load switching and system fault cases control system, using well proven and thoroughly tested
were studied for both sites at different critical system control functions.
locations, identified in dynamic performance studies Extensive effort have been given to analyzing the network
performed for the complete system in PSSE. All these cases harmonic impedance for viable contingencies taking system
were also run in PSCAD using the reduced system prior to structure properties, such as 345 kV double circuits on
the RTDS study for the purpose of comparison and common transmission towers into account. Of equal
verification. importance to correctly evaluate SVC impact on system
stability has been to properly represent the CREZ system
2
File: CNT M2FA_S2P1CNTA1 1 20121121 03;38;32_252000.CFG pertinent to the SVC installations in respect to variations in
1
wind generation and system fault level.
UP1_A [pu]
UP1_B [pu]
UP1_C [pu]

-1 IX. REFERENCES
-2
0.1
4
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 [1] Analysis of Reactive Compensation Design for the Competitive
Renewable Energy Zones Transmission Plan in Texas.
2
International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power
IP1_C [pu ]
IP1_A [pu]
IP1_B [pu]

0 into Power Systems. October 2010 Canada. W. Lasher, C. Carter,

-2 J. Daniel, R. Koessler, D. Martin, W. Wong
-4
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 [2] Voltage Control Challenges on Weak Grids with High Penetration
1.2
of Wind Generation: ERCOT Experience. IEEE Power and Energy
1
Society General Meeting 2012, San Diego, CA.
VRESP [pu]

0.8
S-H Huang, J. Schmall, J. Conto, J. Adams, Y. Chang, C. Carter.
0.6

0.4 [3] The calculation of Switching Surges, Electra No. 32, January 1974
0.2
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
1 [4] IEEE Std. 519-1992, IEEE Recommended Practices and
0.95 Requirements for Harmonic Control in Electrical Power Systems
REL_GAIN [pu]

0.9

0.85
[5] SVC Operation & Reliability Experiences. IEEE Power and
0.8
Energy Society General Meeting 2010, Minneapolis, MN.
0.75
A. Janke, J. Mouatt, R. Sharp, H. Bilodeau, B. Nilsson, M.
0.1
2
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1
Halonen, A. Bostrom.
1 [6] Auas SVC, performance verification by RTDS and field tests,
BREF [p u]

2001 IEE Conference, London, UK. S. Boshoff, C. Van Dyk, L.

0
Becker, M. Halonen. S. Rudin, J. Lindholm, T. Maguire.
-1
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 [7] Design, studies and implementation of two parallel large Static Var
Time [s]
Compensators in the Hydro-Québec 735 kV system, 2012 Cigré
Figure 13. TFR plot of three phase fault one bus removed from the SVC. Canada Conference, Montréal. L. Houle, F. Rochon, O. Turcotte,
Traces from the top: 345 kV bus voltage, SVC primary current, V. Morisette, A. Palesjo, J. Rasmussen.
voltage response, relative gain and SVC susceptance reference.

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