Designing a STATCOM/SVC – Harmonic Analysis from Input to Impact

STATic synchronous COMpensators (STATCOM) and Static Var Compensators (SVC) have become prevalent in the power network and play an important role in voltage stabilization to prevent power network collapse following disturbance. Such installations can introduce additional harmonic distortion to the power network and the components will be subjected to, and can amplify, the existing harmonic network distortion. Due to the significant impact on the design and performance, the harmonic interaction between new installed systems and power network shall be carefully analyzed. Such analysis is heavily dependent on the representation of the power network in the harmonic domain as well as the magnitude of existing harmonics. This paper suggests guidelines for proper STATCOM/SVC design with respect to harmonic analysis. The guidelines discuss the necessary input data and the quality of data, including measurement requirements. Furthermore, the impact of input data on STATCOM/SVC configuration and component rating is addressed.