Machinery used to adjust conditions on the electric power transmission grid
Synchronous condenser installation at Templestowe substation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Built by ASEA in 1966, the unit is hydrogen cooled and capable of three phase power at 125 MVA.
In electrical engineering, a synchronous condenser (sometimes called a syncon, synchronous capacitor or synchronous compensator) is a DC-excited synchronous motor, whose shaft is not connected to anything but spins freely.[1] Its purpose is not to convert electric power to mechanical power or vice versa, but to adjust conditions on the electric power transmission grid. Its field is controlled by a voltage regulator to either generate or absorb reactive power as needed to adjust the grid's voltage, or to improve power factor. The condenser’s installation and operation are identical to large electric motors and generators (some generators are actually designed to be able to operate as synchronous condensers with the prime mover disconnected[2]).
Increasing the device's field excitation results in its furnishing reactive power (measured in units of var) to the system. Its principal advantage is the ease with which the amount of correction can be adjusted.
Synchronous condensers are an alternative to capacitor banks and static VAR compensators for power-factor correction in power grids.[3] One advantage is that the amount of reactive power from a synchronous condenser can be continuously adjusted. Reactive power from a capacitor bank decreases when grid voltage decreases while the reactive power from a synchronous condenser inherently increases as voltage decreases.[1] Additionally, synchronous condensers are more tolerant of power fluctuations and severe drops in voltage.[3] However, synchronous machines have higher energy losses than static capacitor banks.[1]
Most synchronous condensers connected to electrical grids are rated between 20 MVAR (megavar) and 200 MVAR and many are hydrogen cooled. There is no explosion hazard as long as the hydrogen concentration is maintained above 70%, typically above 91%.[4] A syncon can be 8 metres long and 5 meters tall, weighing 170 tonnes.[5]
Synchronous condensers also help stabilize grids. The inertial response of the machine and its inductance can help stabilize a power system during rapid fluctuations of loads such as those created by short circuits or electric arc furnaces. For this reason, large installations of synchronous condensers are sometimes used in association with high-voltage direct current converter stations to supply reactive power to the alternating current grid. Synchronous condensers are also finding use in facilitating the switchover between power grids[6] and providing power grid stabilization as turbine-based power generators are replaced with solar and wind energy.[7][3]
^ abcB. M. Weedy, Electric Power Systems Second Edition, John Wiley and Sons, London, 1972, ISBN 0-471-92445-8 page 149
^Kundur 1994, p. 638.
^ abcFairley, Peter (2015-07-24). "Zombie Coal Plants Reanimated to Stabilize the Grid". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
^"All About Circuits".
^Parkinson, Giles (25 October 2021). "Wind and solar limits relaxed after four big spinning machines installed". RenewEconomy. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021.
^Fairley, Peter (2023-11-13). "To Free The Baltic Grid, Old Technology Is New Again". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
^"GE synchronous condensers – 100 years on". Modern Power Systems. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
and 25 Related for: Synchronous condenser information
engineering, a synchronouscondenser (sometimes called a syncon, synchronous capacitor or synchronous compensator) is a DC-excited synchronous motor, whose...
A synchronous electric motor is an AC electric motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply...
microphone that converts sound waves into an electrical signal Synchronouscondenser, a rotating machine similar to a motor, used to control AC power...
Systems (FACTs) Static VAR Compensator (SVC) SynchronousCondenser High-Voltage DC (HVDC) Static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) Unified power flow...
form of synchronouscondensers, static VAR compensators and static synchronous compensators. Briefly, synchronouscondensers are synchronous motors that...
motor is a function of its field excitation. It is referred to as a synchronouscondenser. It is started and connected to the electrical network. It operates...
Kalsi, S.; Kyriakides, E. (2003). "A Short Course on Synchronous Machines and SynchronousCondensers" (PDF). Arizona State University, American Superconductor...
structure and installation as the synchronous motor (but it is called synchronous compensator or synchronouscondenser in this context). There are also...
(concentrating solar power, biomass power); utilizing the rotational mass of synchronouscondensers (this option, while discussed, had not been tried on a grid scale...
stopped burning coal on August 1, 2018, and was converted to a synchronouscondenser. The station consists of: 4 x 33 MW units (In 1996 three units were...
generators are designed to be able to operate at zero load (as synchronouscondensers), operation at real power levels between zero and the minimum is...
Strengthening IBR: An Inverter-Based Resource Enhanced by a Co-Located SynchronousCondenser for High Overcurrent Capability". IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics...
three-phase alternating current switch gear transformers capacitors or synchronouscondensers for reactive power filters for harmonic suppression, and direct...
use in a power factor correction scheme. They are referred to as synchronouscondensers. This exploits a feature of the machine where it consumes power...
compensation was the preserve of large rotating machines such as synchronouscondensers or switched capacitor banks. The SVC is an automated impedance matching...
decommissioned in 1944, but its alternator was reconfigured for use as a synchronouscondenser, for correction of power factor in the 25 cycle per second grid...
results in small and cost-efficient designs. Synchronouscondenser Static VAR compensator Static synchronous compensator Nabavi-Niaki, A.; Iravani, M.R...
comply with the power plant licenses. A hybrid 97 MW / 170 MWh synchronouscondenser / battery storage power station grid stability plant started construction...
BC, Burrard Generating Station is being converted into a large synchronouscondenser facility. On August 1, 1961, just days after company president Dal...
Prairie, Alberta, Canada. The plant operates in one of two modes as a synchronouscondenser that allows the plant's generator to be disconnected from the turbine...
was seen as a plentiful resource with a stable price. A flywheel synchronouscondenser to stabilize the grid was ordered for operation at Moneypoint by...
lines. Lightning arresters Capacitors for power factor correction Synchronouscondensers for power factor correction and grid stability Distribution is the...
and switches; active compensators (e.g., synchronouscondensers, static var compensators, static synchronous compensators that can be either sources or...
rising oil prices. One of the generators was subsequently run as a synchronouscondenser to provide reactive power support to Transpower's national grid...
farms to install a synchronouscondenser as part of the requirements to connect to the electricity grid. The synchronouscondenser was manufactured by...
Global Information