Control system design and performance verification for the Chester, Maine static VAr compensator

The Chester SVC (static VAr compensator) has been installed at the Chester 345 kV station in the Maine Electric Power Company operating area. Because of the importance for voltage control during large system disturbances in the New England area and in the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Chester SVC has been designed to satisfy stringent performance requirements, and uses some unique control strategies not previously applied to static VAr compensators. The results of extensive simulator studies conducted during the equipment design phase of the project to verify and optimize the steady-state and transient performance of the Chester SVC control system is presented. The results of this study verified that the requirements for the steady-state, transient, and subsynchronous torsional interaction performance for the Chester SVC control were adequately addressed in the design, and that all functions operate as expected.