ABB has successfully commissioned the world’s largest SVC Light® (static var compensator) installation in Santiago, working in close collaboration with Transelec, Chile’s leading power transmission utility.

SVC Light is a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), essentially a high-performance power regulating device that uses IGBTs (insulated-gate bipolar transistors) to keep grid voltages stable, improve power quality and enable instant response to grid disturbances. IGBTs are power semiconductor devices that enable high efficiency and fast switching.

The 65/+140 MVAr (megavolts amperes reactive) rating makes this STATCOM solution the largest installation of its kind in the world.

The solution is part of ABB’s family of FACTS (flexible alternating current transmission systems) technologies that enhance the capacity, security and flexibility of power transmission systems, and make an important contribution to the evolution of smarter grids.

“This is a best-in-class solution that will help optimize the existing power transmission network and improve grid reliability by stabilizing voltage levels and reducing the risk of blackouts” said Martin Gross, head of ABB’s Grid Systems business, a part of the company’s Power Systems division.