765 kV Series Capacitors:

A World First
In Brazil, a series capacitor rated at 1056 Mvar and supplied
by ABB has been commissioned in the FURNAS 765 kV AC
power transmission corridor bringing hydro power from the
vast Itaipu hydro power plant in the south-west of the country
up to the customer area of So Paulo. The corridor, compris-
ing three parallell 765 kV lines, is more than 900 km long.
Series compensation is utilized in order to safeguard stable
transmission of large amounts of hydro power along the cor-
ridor to the load area.
The series capacitor, located at the Ivaipor substation (Ivai-
por VI), is part of the third line recently commissioned in the
Ivaipor-So Paulo section of the power transmission cor-
ridor. It is but the latest of its kind in a series of installations
in the Itaipu-So Paulo power transmission corridor, where
the first units were commissioned in 1989. Today, a total of
eight series capacitors are in operation, all of which supplied
by ABB, six at Ivaipor and two at Itaber, the substations
located about one third from each end of the tie. Ratings vary
between 1017 Mvar (Ivaipor) and 1242 Mvar (Itaber).
When introduced, the series capacitors were the first to be in-
stalled in Brazil, as well as the first in the world to be installed
at 765 kV. When in operation, the power transmission capac-
ity of this part of the Itaipu link was increased by nearly 100%.
Without series compensation, the power transmission capac-
ity of the link would be limited to 4500 MW in the worst case.
With the eight series capacitors in operation, the full available
generating capacity of 6300 MW can be safely transmitted
from Itaipu over the 765 kV AC corridor to the load area.
Furthermore, the road is paved for transmission of power from
two additional generating units at Itaipu.
The importance of the Itaipu-So Paulo power corridor goes
still further, as it facilitates power import from south Brazil to
the south-east offered by thermal generation in Uruguaiana
and via power interconnecting ties with Argentina and Uruguay.
765 kV
Single-line Diagram, Ivaipor VI
A
0
2
-
0
1
1
2

E
,

2
0
1
1
-
0
1
,

E
l
a
n
d
e
r
s

S
v
e
r
i
g
e

A
B
For more information please contact:

ABB AB
FACTS
SE-721 64 Vsters,
SWEDEN
Phone: +46 (0)21 32 50 00
Fax: +46 (0)21 32 48 10

www.abb.com/FACTS
Main circuit diagrams
Each series capacitor comprises two equal segments per
phase, enabling the overall degree of compensation to be
variable in steps. The total degree of compensation equals
40% at the line section Itaipu-Ivaipor and 50% at the sec-
tion Ivaipor-Itaber respectively. The series capacitors are
prepared for a future increase of the rated current from 2780
A to 3150 A.
The series capacitors Ivaipor I-V, commissioned in 1989-91,
are equipped with Dual Gap protection. Ivaipor VI, in opera-
tion in 2000, has ZnO Varistors as its main circuit protec-
tion. The varistors have been designed to withstand, without
bypassing, the energy from an external single line to ground
fault including one reclosing into fault with a maximum of one
of the three lines between Ivaipor and Itaber disconnected.
The ZnO varistors furthermore have to withstand the worst
case of fault current through the series capacitor, which is an
internal fault close to the series capacitor. In this case, the
bank is permitted to be bypassed.
Platform to ground communication is achieved by means of
Digital Optical Current Transformers (DOCT), relying on optical
fibre cables for signal transmission. This safeguards non-
sensitivity to disturbances and enables operation of the series
capacitor without any relay protection or auxiliary power at
platform level.
Control and protection
The control system is based on the MACH 2 concept, which
is microprocessor based and built around an industrial PC
with add-in boards and I/O racks connected through standard
type field busses. This concept enables very high perform-
ance as well as small dimensions. The system is redundant,
using dual outputs of the DOCT.
The operator interface is a separate PC placed at the opera-
tors desk (OWS). All operations and settings for the series
capacitor are performed from the OWS. All event and alarm
lists are displayed on the OWS. There is also back-up control
available by means of a mimic panel placed in the control and
protection cubicles.
The series capacitor can also be remotely controlled via a
SCADA.
6
7
4 3
6
3 4
3 5 1 2 2 1 5 3
6
7
6
7
4 3
6
3 4
3 5 1 2 2 1 5 3
6
7
6
7
4 3
6
3 4
3 5 1 2 2 1 5 3
6
7
30 m
59 m
62 m
1. Capacitor bank
2. ZnO varistor
3. Spark gap
4. Damping reactor
5. Trigger control
6. By-pass breaker
7. Platform
Technical data
Ivaipor Ivaipor Ivaipor Itaber
I-III IV-V VI I-II
Rated voltage, kV 765 765 765 765
Rated current, A 2780 2780 2780 2780
Rated power, Mvar 1017 1056 1056 1242
Deg. of compensation,% 40 50 50 50
Type of protection Dual Dual ZnO Single
gap gap gap
ZnO varistor rating, MJ - - 87 -
No of segments/phase 2 2 2 2
Lay-out (Ivaipor VI)