American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC, Westborough, MA) announced the sale of two dynamic voltage control systems to a large North American wind farm. The two D-VAR units will mitigate voltage disturbances in the transmission grid while compensating for natural voltage fluctuations commonly caused by induction-type wind generators.
The D-VAR system will be the world's first application of substation-based Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS) technology that enables an entire wind farm to ride through grid voltage disturbances.
"The D-VAR systems constantly monitor voltage at the point where the wind turbines are coupled to the transmission grid," said Bud Kehrli, head of transmission planning for AMSC. "Instead of the voltage varying greatly as the wind fluctuates, the D-VAR units dynamically inject precise amounts of reactive power, thereby regulating the voltage of the transmission grid to the desired level."
