Static VAr compensator
Overview
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
device for providing fast-acting reactive power on high-voltage electricity transmission
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
networks. SVCs are part of the Flexible AC transmission system
Flexible AC transmission system
A flexible alternating current transmission system is a system composed of static equipment used for the AC transmission of electrical energy. It is meant to enhance controllability and increase power transfer capability of the network...
device family, regulating voltage and stabilising the system. The term "static" refers to the fact that the SVC has no moving parts
Moving parts
The moving parts of a machine are those parts of it that move. Machines comprise both moving and fixed parts. The moving parts have controlled and constrained motions....
(other than circuit breaker
Circuit breaker
A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit. Its basic function is to detect a fault condition and, by interrupting continuity, to immediately discontinue electrical flow...
s and disconnects, which do not move under normal SVC operation). Prior to the invention of the SVC, power factor compensation was the preserve of large rotating machines such as synchronous condenser
Synchronous condenser
In electrical engineering, a synchronous condenser is adevice identical to a synchronous motor, whose shaft is not connected to anything but spins freely. Its purpose is not to convert electric power to mechanical power or vice versa, but to adjust conditions on the electric power transmission grid...
s.
The SVC is an automated impedance matching device, designed to bring the system closer to unity power factor
Power factor
The power factor of an AC electric power system is defined as the ratio of the real power flowing to the load over the apparent power in the circuit, and is a dimensionless number between 0 and 1 . Real power is the capacity of the circuit for performing work in a particular time...
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Unanswered Questions
