Synchronous Condensers Contribution to Inertia and Short Circuit Current in

Cooperation with STATCOM

A. Stiger, R.A. Rivas, M. Halonen

ABB AB, FACTS, Vasteras, Sweden
(anders.stiger@se.abb.com, richard.rivas@se.abb.com, mikael.halonen@se.abb.com)

Abstract - The paper discusses the challenges with today’s II. CHANGE IN NETWORK
power systems with large integration of renewables and the
importance of short circuit contribution and inertia. The change in power system characteristic will not
Another aspect of the paper is to highlight impact on power only have impact how active power is generated but also
quality devices (SVC, STATCOM, HVDC, MSC, harmonic impact several dimensions how to monitor, control and
filters etc.) when system parameters such as harmonic secure the grid. In the beginning it was more focusing on
resonances and SCR is changing.
active power supply and what happens when wind and
The falling fault levels on system may require
Synchronous Condensers to be installed which enhance solar can’t deliver. Now with accelerating amounts of
inertia, dynamic performance and improves stability of the renewables in the network driven by environmental
grid. A hybrid configuration based on STATCOM and aspects and deregulated energy markets, the grid stability
Synchronous Condenser technologies is discussed as a and power quality issues are raising on the agenda.
solution there each technology focus on their best The grid will go from a top down perspective to a
characteristic to optimize power system performance. Low more all way communication/generation and
SCR impact on SVC and STATCOM performance is also characterized by:
highlighted. Simulations with STATCOM and Synchronous
Condenser in same connection point is presented to show
contribution to fault ride through. The importance of • More distributed generation and renewable
common and coordinated control of the devices to achieve energy sources (power electronics)
optimum performance, and the advantage of overload • Less generation by spinning mass
capacity of Synchronous Condenser in conjunction with • Increased energy consumption
fault handling is shown in simulation result. • Increased multi-directional power flows
• Increased generator capacity and bulk power
Keywords - FACTS, Hybrid Synchronous Condenser,
transmission over long distances
Inertia, MVAR, Reactive Power, STATCOM
• More shunt capacitors at distribution level
I. INTRODUCTION • Weaker grids
• Need for power quality
Today’s power systems are facing challenges with • Different mix of FACTS devices (SVC,
fast changes in generation. Conventional generators are STATCOM, Synchronous Condenser, TCSC)
being replaced by renewable energy sources. The change
in the generation mix is being strongly supported by
politics and cost reductions in renewable energy systems,
which are setting high renewable penetration in
distribution and transmission networks. The shift in
generation mix also adversely affect dynamic stability of
the power system.
Introduction of large amount of renewables will affect
the amount of synchronous generation in service, and the
falling level of synchronous generation, particularly at
low demand periods, will reduce system inertia impacting
on frequency management leading to further reduction of
the stability margin of networks. The change in system
characteristic also reduce the system strength, shift
harmonic resonances to lower frequencies and slow down
voltage recovery after system faults.
Falling fault levels on the system requires good Fig. 1. Change in network - Traditional grid
understanding of the functionality of certain protection

devices, the commutation of High Voltage Direct Current

(HVDC) and impact on power quality.

978-1-5386-7434-5/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE 955

 Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE PES GTD Asia
Fig. 2. Change in network - Future grid
Several kind of services is today provided to the
network but some very crucial contributions such short
circuit contribution and inertia has been taken for granted.
The “free of charge” contribution of these two essential
network parameters will come to an end when major part
of generation is done by power electronics. Short circuit
current and inertia contribution is the main driver for the
reborn interest for Synchronous Condenser (SC)
technology.
III. IMPACT ON POWER QULAITY DEVICES
Power quality is an important aspect for power grids
because it affects the performance of the connected
equipment including loads. Large integration of
renewables and retirement of existing synchronous
generators will have a major impact on the harmonic and
dynamic performance of power grids and its power
quality devices.
Harmonics in the power system are generated by a
number of means; power electronic converters, non-linear
loads, arc furnaces, SVCs, HVDCs, railway systems,
power transformers among others. Harmonics is typically
limited by using filters tuned to damp harmonics for
certain frequency range [1]. This type of filters will shift
harmonic emission seen in the vicinity of the device to
other pertinent frequencies. Over time, there is a risk that
there will be so many harmonic filters installed in the
network that resonance issues will prevent standard filter
solutions to be used, rather more dynamic filter solutions
such as active filtering need to be installed.
Harmonic filters optimized to the known grid
topology at the time when it was installed (SVC,
STATCOM, HVDC or substation), may not be efficient
after a few years’ time. The network harmonic impedance
may have come outside the boundaries for the impedance
sectors defined for performance and rating due to changes
in the network [2].
The change in system characteristic and reduction in
short circuit strength of the system due to large integration
of renewables may also potentially cause the network
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resonance(s) to shift towards lower order harmonics,
causing amplification of voltage and current distortion.
For power systems having tuned filters or capacitor banks
at lower order harmonics this can be a challenging
situation since introduction of “new” parallel resonances
may also impact robustness and increase the stress of
existing shunt compensation devices (MSC, harmonic
filters and Classic SVCs (TSC and harmonic filters). In
worst case scenario for future grids: power transformers,
harmonic filters, SVCs and HVDCs may not be operated
reliable to secure robust power system operation.
Fig. 3. Shift of harmonic resonances to lower order of harmonics [3]
Another challenge for power quality solutions in
future grids are speed of response and robust controls for
FACTS devices. Traditionally, most SVCs/STATCOMs
in the world have a ratio between normal short circuit
power and SVC/STATCOM capacitive rating of > 10
with the ratio in extreme network configurations > 5.
Typically the short circuit capacity varies a factor two
between strong and weak network condition. For future
grids with large reduction in short circuit strength, ratio
between the short circuit power and SVC or STATCOM
rating will be < 3 for normal network conditions. This
means that controls for FACTS devices may have
challenges with resonance issues since the combination
SVC or STATCOM and network, more and more, acts
like a series resonance circuit [1][3][4]. Speed of response
in this case will have to be slower to achieve robust
FACTS controls. Typically, it is important that the SVC
size be specified at less than one third of minimum short-
circuit power in order to avoid resonance issues [5]. For
STATCOM applications a factor of one half is
recommended [6]. The stability of the control must be
maintained at varying network strength.
The falling fault levels on systems may require
Synchronous Condensers to be installed in many future
power systems and new type of devices (or control
features) which enhance inertia, dynamic performance
and improves stability of the grid. Installation of
Synchronous Condenser will avoid that harmonic
resonances are shifted towards lower frequencies and
secure reliable operation of devices with passive
components (MSC, harmonic filters, SVC, HVDC,
STATCOM, among others).
 Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE PES GTD Asia
Distant synchronous generation will provide short
circuit power for future grids. Regional impact of faults
will thus be greater, i.e. recovery of the voltage to pre-
fault level for a weak system will require fast acting
reactive power compensation providing voltage sufficient
reactive power support to avoid voltage collapse and to
maintain the grid capability required to meet the demand
at different regions. More STATCOM based solutions
(pure STATCOM and Hybrid STATCOM) will be seen in
future networks since multilevel based VSC STATCOM
technology don’t require harmonic filters for lower order
harmonics [2][7]. Controls of STATCOM systems are
also more robust in weaker grids compared to SVC
technology with passive components [2].
IV. SHORT CIRCUIT CONTRIBUTION
Synchronous machines has in its nature a high
overload capacity in short terms, which can contribute to
short circuit strength in the network.
Power electronic generation has limited over
capacity, in many case Short Circuit Ratio (SCR) close to
one if not oversized converters is used. Low values of
SCR indicate risk of insufficient system strength for
reliable operation of connected generation. Power
electronics based generators require an AC voltage source
to be synchronized with via a Phase-Locked Loop.
According to [8][9] the strength of different network
can be classified as strong if SCR > 5, weaker with SCR
between 3 to 5 and very weak if SCR < 3.
Very few network stabilizing products or systems
contribute to improve SCR. Synchronous condenser is
one of few today. Since generation pattern/power flow
will change over time with high amount of Renewable
Energy Sources (RES). Several simulation scenarios is
recommended in planning and feasibility studies to
understand where to add Synchronous Condenser in the
system. In addition, the effects of changing short-circuit
power as well as changing voltage profiles during
network contingencies should be carefully analyzed in
order to readjust protection settings of installed protection
devices.
V. INERTIA CONTRIBUTION
Inertia is provided by spinning mass of generators
and motors synchronized to the power system. The load is
contributing with around 5% to the total system inertia
[10].
Inertia indicates how stable the frequency is and
decreases frequency variations in the area and is reverse
proportional to the RoCoF (Ratio of Change of
Frequency).
One dimensioning role is to ensure that there is
enough inertia in the system to avoid to pass frequency
threshold when the largest power source in the network
trips [10]. Power source in this case include HVDC-links.
Power generation via power converters for renewable
applications (e.g. wind and solar) has zero in inertia
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contribution. Only Synchronous Condensers (SC) give
inertia contribution among all power stabilization
products or systems (e.g. SVC, STATCOM, capacitor
banks etc.). There are other new technologies based on
virtual inertia ideas that are focusing on solving same
problem, e.g. using reduction of speed of wind turbines.
Inertia contribution from this type of technical solution
are still limited today.
SC has typical H constant between 1.3 to 2 s. Higher
inertia can be reach with derating but that has negative
impact of losses and cost/MVAr. If inertia is the main
reason to add SC it is more economical to add a small SC
with flywheel to increase inertia with low increase of
losses comparing to use a significant larger SC. Then H
can be up to H= 5 to 6 s. Then a 75 MVAr SC will have
more stored energy than a 260 MVAr SC with H=1.7 s.
VI. HYBRID SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSER
Synchronous condensers (SCs) and Static
Synchronous Compensators (STATCOMs) are
complementary technologies that can be combined both to
take advantage of their individual strengths and to
compensate for their respective weaknesses.
SC technologies come with simple control systems
and contribute with short circuit current, in addition to
being able to temporarily provide high reactive power
overload, for example for voltage dip mitigation. They
can also generate transient active power to boost system
inertia, and their contribution to system frequency is more
significant if they are equipped with flywheels. However,
SC technologies come with asymmetric operating regions
for stability reasons and have slow response in case of set-
point changes [11][12].
STATCOM technologies are FACTS that resort to the
use of power electronics. STATCOM technologies come
with symmetric operating regions and fast response
control systems. The response is fast both for set-point
changes and for dynamic voltage support in case of
disturbance in the power network. STATCOM
technologies can also provide very fast
absorption/injection of reactive power during (fault
period) and after the disturbance (fault recovery period),
in addition to high absorption of reactive power in case of
over-voltage scenarios. In addition, they can come with
capabilities such as active filtering, flicker compensation
and power oscillation damping (POD). The main
objective of the POD functions is to damp different
oscillatory modes, going from slow inter-area modes
(0.1–1 Hz) and local modes (1–2 Hz) to control modes
(5–20 Hz) and torsional modes (10–30 Hz) [12].
However, STATCOM technologies cannot provide
inertia support unless they are equipped with energy
storage systems such as batteries or supercapacitors. In
addition, their overload capability is limited in time by the
thermal limits of the semiconductors and the amount of
energy stored in the DC capacitors [12]. Moreover, they
are only able to provide short circuit current contribution
up to the rated current, unless a higher value is specified.
 Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE PES GTD Asia
The specification of a higher short circuit current
contribution can also lead to higher costs for over-sizing
the converter.
The combination of both technologies, Synchronous
Condenser and STATCOM at the same point of common
coupling (PCC) is known as Hybrid Synchronous
Condenser or Hybrid Synchronous Compensator (H-SC)
[12]. Fig. 4 depicts a single-line diagram of a typical H-
SC installation.
Fig. 4. Simplified Single-Line Diagram of an H-SC
As shown in the figure, the H-SC consists of an SC
branch and a STATCOM branch connected to the PCC of
the high voltage (HV) grid via a three-winding, three-
phase transformer. Two or more SC branches and/or two
or more STATCOM branches can be connected in parallel
if required.
SC and STATCOM technologies are traditionally
supplied with standalone control systems. However, in an
H-SC the simultaneous operation of both control systems
in a stable manner requires coordination. The
coordinating role is assigned to a Master Control [12],
whose objective is precisely to monitor, coordinate, and
optimize the simultaneous operation of the STATCOM
and the SC control systems. Master Control thus avoids
“control hunting” between the two control systems and
maximizes the efficiency of both branches as a single
unit.
Master Control comes with a number of objective
functions to achieve its goals. Some of the functions are
objective functions from the point of view of
optimization, whereas others are simply coordinating
functions, control strategies and/or calculation functions.
Expected functions to have in a Master Control are for
example: 1) Coordinated Voltage Control and Reactive
Power Sharing, 2) Power Loss Minimization, 3) Fast
Transients Compensation.
Fig. 5 depicts a PSCAD simulation example for an H-
SC where both branches have equal power ratings. In this
example the H-SC is assumed to be connected to a very
strong network (ratio between short circuit power and H-
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SC rating equal to 90), and to check the overload
capabilities of both branches the Thévenin voltage at the
PCC is assumed to drop to 0.5 p.u. From top to bottom
Fig. 5 depicts Thévenin voltage and H-SC voltage
reference (voltage set-point for PCC bus = 1 p.u.), PCC
bus voltage, STATCOM bus voltage, SC bus voltage,
PCC current, STATCOM current, SC current, PCC
reactive power, STATCOM reactive power, and SC
reactive power.
Fig. 5. Simulation Example, PCC Thévenin Voltage Drops to 0.5 p.u.
As shown in the figure, both the STATCOM and the
SC react to the system voltage decrease by trying to
increase their respective voltages. However, both voltages
decrease significantly due to the severity of the
disturbance. The H-SC operates fully capacitive, with the
SC taking a bigger share of the reactive power (1.72 p.u.)
due to its superior overload capability. The STATCOM
operates at its maximum current capability and stabilizes
at a reactive power of 0.71 p.u.. The H-SC reaches a
steady-state reactive power production of 2 p.u.
approximately 4 seconds after the disturbance (i.e. at t=7
s).
The STATCOM behaves as a controllable current
source and injects its maximum current capability.
However, the STATCOM voltage is very low (0.6 p.u.) to
reach its full reactive power output of 1 p.u. The H-SC
reactive power of 2 p.u. consists of 0.71 p.u. from
STATCOM, 1.72 p.u. from SC, and -0.43 p.u. of reactive
power losses on the power transformer.
 Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE PES GTD Asia
The minimum operating PCC voltage for
STATCOMs is in the range of 0.1-0.3 p.u. [11]. If that
minimum PCC voltage remains for more than 200-300
ms, then a STATCOM control is expected to block the
converter valves to preserve the energy stored in their DC
capacitors. Therefore, another benefit of an H-SC
configuration is the use of the high overload capability of
its SC branch to boost the PCC voltage, in particular
during very severe voltage dips, thus contributing to avoid
blocking of the STATCOM during the disturbance.
Fig. 6 depicts another PSCAD simulation for an H-
SC with equal power rating per branch. In this example
the H-SC is assumed to be connected to a network less
stronger than the previous one (ratio between short circuit
power and H-SC rating equal to 20 for the H-SC to be
able to affect the PCC voltage by 5%), and to check the
short circuit current contribution of both branches to the
network a three-phase fault (clearing time = 100 ms) is
applied on the PCC at t=3 s. From top to bottom Fig. 6
depicts PCC bus voltage, STATCOM bus voltage, SC bus
voltage, PCC currents in phases abc, SC currents in
phases abc, and STATCOM currents in phases abc.
Fig. 6. Simulation Example, Three-Phase Fault at PCC,
clearing time = 100 ms
As expected, most of the short circuit current
contribution comes from the SC, but the STATCOM
contributes with rated current plus its allowed overload.
The STATCOM does not get blocked as the voltage dip
does not last more than 200 ms.
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VII. CONCLUSIONS
Large integration of renewables in today´s power grids
will change system characteristic; reduce the system
strength, reduce system inertia, shift harmonic resonances
to lower frequencies and slow down voltage recovery
after system faults. This will require Synchronous
Condenser (SC) to be installed in many future grids and
new type of devices (or control features) which enhance
inertia, dynamic performance and improves stability of
the grid. One of these devices is the Hybrid SC, a
combination of SC and STATCOM technologies. This
solution provides: coordinated voltage control and
reactive power sharing, loss minimization, fast transients
compensation, short circuit contribution, inertia support
among others. The optimal sizes of SC/STATCOM can
only be determined through detailed system studies and
value analysis across all services provided.
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