Comparing SVC and synchronous condenser performance in mitigating torsional oscillations

This paper compares the performance of a synchronous condenser (SC) and static VAR compensator (SVC) in damping subsynchronous oscillations in a power system compensated by series capacitors by simulating different cases. In order to increase the damping of both, an auxiliary controller named supplementary subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) is used. The generator acceleration power signal is selected as the stabilizing signal for the SSDC. To enhance the accuracy of the simulations, the impact of time delay related to the stabilizing signal is investigated. The simulation results of the different faults show that the SVC and SC are able to minimize the torsional oscillations, while the time delay has a negative effect on the performance of the SVC and SC. Hence, the performance of both in damping the oscillations is attenuated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.