Technical requirements and design of the Indianapolis power & light 138 kV southwest static var compensator

In this paper, the technical requirements and design of a −100 Mvar / +300 Mvar Static Var Compensator (SVC) for Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) are discussed. The primary application and need for the SVC is driven by local generation retirement with resulting symptom of fault induced delayed voltage recovery (FIDVR) of the 138 kV transmission system. First, methodology and results of a voltage stability analysis is presented to determine the required rating of the SVC to assure acceptable system dynamic performance. Both SVC and Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) technologies were considered and evaluated for this application. Second, the design and layout of the SVC is presented along with a discussion of the control performance to adequately tune the SVC controller within desired specifications. Lastly, a brief update of the project status is provided with an expected in-service date of May 2016.