Reputation of the Synchronous Condenser Technology in Modern Power Grid

Abstract

The synchronous condenser nowadays contributes an essential share of resources for generating reactive power to ensure voltage stability in modern power systems. Such resource has to be taken care of by owners of electricity infrastructures. In any case, real projects, experiments and simulation results have shown need to use the synchronous condenser for enhancing power quality of the grid. Hence, traditional generators are being retrofitted to synchronous condensers in order for them to serve a better purpose of voltage stabilization after they are retired and new synchronous condensers are installed by electricity utility managers to serve same purpose too. This paper presents the synchronous condenser technology. It discusses the experience and lessons learnt from the use of the synchronous condenser in real projects. It also provides an outlook on the development of the use of the technology in modern power grid using two simulation study scenarios. These developments include Scenario One: utilizing only the synchronous condenser for voltage regulation on a power grid. And Scenario Two: Installing the synchronous condensers with Type-3 wind farm for voltage support on an electricity network, such contextualization is towards voltage stability in modern power grids.