Whats is a Synchronous Condenser?

A Synchronous Condenser (SC) is a rotating electrical machine that helps the power grid.

It contributes to system inertia, short-circuit capacity, and voltage and reactive power control. It is a cost-effective option compared to other options such as capacitor banks, reactor banks, STATCOM, SVC, and others.

The SC is part of the synchronous machine family. The difference is that the synchronous condenser does not generate energy like a synchronous generator, nor does it produce work like a synchronous motor. The SC consumes a small amount of energy from the grid (active power) to maintain operation.

Typically installed in a substation, it can be installed near power generation (wind farms, solar farms, etc.), in the transmission grid, in distribution, or even in industrial areas.

With power ranging from 10 MVA to over 300 MVA, these machines are typically built with salient poles, but can also have round rotor too.

Since they are synchronous machines, compensators require a direct current source to power the field winding (rotor winding), which is usually supplied by a static exciter (with brushes) or a brushless exciter. This is where an RTX POWER for each SC comes in!

With its appropriate construction, with salient poles, it allows operation with zero or even negative excitation current. An RTX POWER that operates in four quadrants is the solution!

Four-Quadrant Excitation System for Synchronous Condensers

The increasing entry into operation of large solar and wind power plants has demanded to increase the short-circuit level, improve voltage and reactive power control, and add inertia.

An efficient, economical, and technically viable alternative is the installation of Synchronous Condensers.

Synchronous condensers can have specific construction features, allowing excitation in the positive direction (traditional excitation) but also in the reverse direction (negative excitation). We are talking about an Excitation System operating in four quadrants.