Bayamon SVC project in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) suffered a major power plant failure in Palo Seco in late 2006, this necessitated import of power from the south of the Island. System studies indicated that to import reasonable amount of power from South, during the peak load conditions (during the summer), the transmission system would need dynamic reactive power support. The network planners were facing a severe problem with potential voltage stability in the area, and decided that the most expedient solution to the problem while the power plant was being refurbished was an SVC rated at 0/+90 Mvar. The Bayamon SVC was designed, delivered and installed in record time, and this paper presents the design of the SVC, which had very challenging requirements for the control system.