A New Static Watt Compensator for the Iron & Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago

The paper describes the application and results of a static watt compensator for the steelmill in Trinidad. The development was predicted by numerous system studies which indicated that a real power compensator was essential to contain the active power swings and frequency variations on the relatively weak power supply system caused as a result of electric arc furnace operation, as well as to protect the turbine generators from premature failures. The results have been most satisfactory, and the real power compensator has allowed the steelmill to concentrate on producing steel without further regard to the limitations of the utility system. It is envisaged that the new static watt compensator can find many useful applications in similar circumstances, where the load is large and fluctuating, and the power supply system is relatively soft or is still evolving.