Static var compensator/statcom performance survey results – 2017 and 2019

In September 2015 meeting of Study Committee B4 in Agra, India, Advisory Group AG B4.04 was requested to conduct a similar survey of the performance of the FACTS devices. AG B4.04 conducted one survey in early part of 2017. The results of the first survey were presented at the 2018 Study Committee B4 meeting in Paris ^[1].

As there was no protocol available for the first survey each system used a slightly different method for reporting the performance. Subsequently, AG B4.04 developed a protocol for reporting performance of the FACTS devices. The protocol was published as Technical Brochure TB 717 in January 2018 ^[2].

In 2019 AG B4.04 conducted another survey for reporting the performance of SVC/STATCOMs for the years 2017 and 2018 using the protocol outlined in CIGRE Technical Brochure 717. The results of the 2019 survey were presented at the 2019 Study Committee B4 meeting in South Africa ^[3].

The Technical Brochure provides detailed information collected on performance of Static Var Compensators and STATCOMs from 2002 to 2018.

2017 Performance Survey

This survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire to systems around the world. The systems were requested to provide information on the FACTS device and its performance for the years in operation up to the end of year 2016.

The following countries reported both system data and performance data:

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• India
• Norway
• Saudi Arabia

The table 1 shows the number of systems and the total years of performance reporting. In total 49 systems reported performance data representing 460 years of service experience.

At the time this survey was performed there was no standard protocol for reporting the performance. As a result, each system used their own format for reporting. The technical brochure shows the performance of each system individually. For example, figure 1 shows the average Forced Outage Unavailability (FOU %) for each FACTS device in Australia.

Figure 1 shows that except for 3 stations the average FOU for all remaining stations is less than 1%.

More detailed information for each system and systems in other countries can be found in the Technical Brochure.

The following observations were made on the 2017 survey reports:

1. With exception of few stations the average Forced Outage Unavailability of FACTS devices is less than 1%.
2. The auxiliary systems and the ac equipment are the largest contributors to the forced outages.
3. The outages due to switching equipment (for TCR or TSC) and controls are very small

Protocol for reporting operational performance of FACTS

During the 2017 survey it was discovered that for a valid comparison of the performance of FACTS devices in different systems a standard reporting protocol was required. Similar protocol has been used for reporting the performance of HVDC systems for more than three decades. Study Committee B4, Advisory Group AG B4-04 developed a similar protocol for reporting the operational performance of FACTS. The protocol was issued as CIGRE Technical Brochure 717 in January 2018. It was recommended that all future performance reports of FACTS should follow this protocol.

2019 Performance Survey

The second survey of the operational performance of FACTS was conducted in 2019. The systems were requested to report the performance for the years 2017 and 2018 as per protocol outlined in CIRGE TB 717.

In total, performance reports from 54 FACTS devices were received. The reported performance data represents 108 years of service experience.

The type of FACTS devices reporting were:

• SVC                   42
• STATCOM        12

As per CIGRE Technical Brochure TB 717, the equipment the outages were categorized as following:

Figure 2 shows the distribution of number of failures by categories for all the reports up to 2018. This represents a total of 568 years of operational experience. The AC equipment and auxiliary systems (AC-E) is the single most contributor to the failures. This includes failure of auxiliary supplies, cooling system and valve hall HVAC system.

Figure 3 shows the forced outage time due to each equipment category. Figure 3 shows that faults in the AC Equipment contribute to the majority of the outage time.

The Technical Brochure provides more details of the outage causes and durations. The technical brochure also provides information on the planned and forced outage information for individual systems.