Siemens has received an order worth approximately €78 million to deliver Statcom reactive power compensation systems in the SVC Plus series for the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL). The delivery includes planning and engineering services as well as the installation and commissioning of the equipment in four substations of the Indian energy provider. The Ranchi, Rourkela, Kishenganj and Jeypore substations are located in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhad and Odisha. The Siemens systems will help stabilize the power supply in these areas.
Siemens is thus carrying out one of the world’s largest reactive power compensation projects on the 400 kV voltage level. The SVC Plus systems, which are built around an enhanced Statcom (static synchronous compensator), work with a dynamic operating range totaling 2,000 MVAr, in addition to 1,250 MVAr mechanically switched components. Thanks to the systems’ fast response times, energy consumers benefit from a stable line voltage and frequency, which ensure a constant supply of electrical power. Siemens builds the core components for the SVC Plus systems in its factory in Goa, India.
“Once again, Siemens has demonstrated its manufacturing and technology expertise in the country in order to cover the growing demand from the Indian energy sector,” said Mirko Düsel, CEO of the Transmission Solutions Business Unit within the Siemens Energy Management Division. “We have supported the Indian market from the very beginning, and have developed a wide range of technologies with our customers to help ensure a reliable power transmission system.”
Reactive power compensation technology is a subset of flexible alternative current transmission systems (FACTS). These systems can regulate the parameters that determine the operation of a power supply grid and account for the quality of transmission. Such parameters include transmission impedances, currents, voltages and phase angles between the different nodes. Reactive power compensation is divided into parallel compensation and serial compensation. Parallel compensation systems, like those to be used in India, primarily regulate the voltage at the connecting point and thus facilitate a stable, reliable grid operation.
This order is not the first one that Siemens has received in the area of flexible alternating current transmission systems in India. Siemens has been delivering fixed series capacitors (FSC) to the Power Grid Corporation of India on a regular basis since 2003. The first thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) was delivered to PGCIL in 2004. Siemens received the order for the largest SVC project (Static Var Compensator) in India in 2014. With the latest major project, the company has once again proven its technological leadership and its commitment to the Indian energy market.
