How Do Power Quality Issues Affect Your Power Plant?

Power quality problems in your power plant can cause damage to physical objects and cause downtime. There are a wide range of issues which can contribute to financial losses and breakdowns.

  • Sags: Transmission faults usually cause drops in voltage in the distribution network. Faulty installations or overloaded connections can also cause this problem.
  • Breakdowns: Power interruptions for more than a few seconds can be a result of anything from short circuits, human error, downed power lines, and natural disasters.
  • Power Surges: Voltage spikes due to heavy loads, static electricity, or even thunderstorms are very common.
  • Fluctuating Voltage: Frequently starting and stopping electric motors can cause voltage fluctuations.
  • Line Noise: Line noise can be a result of everything from improper grounding to radiation from electronic machines. Therefore isolating devices is extremely important.
  • Harmonic Distortion: Current pulses which are non-sinusoidal can be caused by nonlinear loads
How to Manage Power Quality Issues

In order to manage the myriad power quality issues which can occur in your power plant, you should take certain basic measures.

Proactive Maintenance
Reacting to power breakdowns or equipment faults is the wrong approach. Instead, taking a proactive approach to prevent those problems is a much better alternative. Identifying problems early on like damaged equipment and faulty wiring and fixing them is a better approach. With this approach, you can count on fewer power disruptions and power quality issues.

Covering the Basics
There are 3 basic things you can do to manage power quality issues:

Energy Management
Instituting a power quality analyzer to manage energy in your power plant is energy management 101. It’ll not only help you optimize power distribution, but also reduce waste and allocate resources better.

Cataloguing Data and Extracting Insights
With the proliferation of IoT, it’s important to have devices which catalogue data from your power plant 24/7. With these, you can get data in real time that you can analyze and react to. Extracting insights from this data can allow you to reduce power quality issues.

Using Power Protection
Power protection is the third piece of the puzzle. Instituting standard power protection devices can protect your setup from power surges, line noise, etc. This can reduce downtime and save on repair bills.

Custom Solutions
Of course, it’s important to invest in custom solutions like power management algorithms and custom infrastructure. Every power plant is different.

With these steps covered, you can surely reduce power quality problems in your power plant.

Please contact us to learn more about how to tackle power quality issues in your renewable power plants!

HOW POWER QUALITY TECHNIQUES HELP RENEWABLES?
Renewable energy resources are the most environment-friendly solution to solve an increase in energy demand, and their contribution has been increasing drastically. By 2050, all countries can substantially increase the proportion of renewable energy in their total energy use. IRENA

Despite their benefits to our environment and our sustainability, green solutions lead to some challenges due to their intermittent power generation with fluctuations. Besides, renewables’ grid integration is another concern because of the limited grid capacity and no one-directional power flow anymore.

Power quality issues like voltage dips/swells will increase as the penetration of renewable to the grid increases.

Power Quality Problems
Power quality is just a description of voltage and current disturbances. Voltage and frequency fluctuations and harmonics are major power quality issues in renewable energy systems.

Voltage and frequency fluctuations happen because of the unpredictable generation of renewable energy or power-grid disturbances. At the same time, harmonics are caused by power electronic devices used in renewable energy systems. 

Solutions
Weather and production forecasting techniques can be implemented to predict generation to mitigate voltage and frequency fluctuations to reduce uncertainty. However, this may not be enough as reactive and real flows need to be controlled. FACTS like STATCOM or SVC can help to control reactive flow to mitigate voltage fluctuations.

When we consider the grid-side of these problems, they may cause many integration issues and lead to run power plants under their capacity. Good network planning which involves all related parties and stick with industry standards are the must. In addition, FACTs will also be the middle ground for solving this puzzle for both network providers and power plants. This case study eulomogo-statcom-project, is a great example of how STATCOM helped the solar farm meet grid requirements. Lastly, harmonic filters can address the harmonic distortions.

To sum up, while renewable energy systems are a great opportunity for a greener future, we still need to overcome some challenges that come with integrating renewables into the grids, but solutions are available. If you would like to know more, please Contact Us.

What causes poor power quality?
As grids have been evolving towards more complex structures and consumer’s demand for reliable, secure electricity increases, the quality of power is more critical ever than before to meet these expectations. In addition, electrical equipment works in defined certain limits of voltage and frequency while operating in these tolerance limits. 

First, what good power quality means?
Hence, we can define good power quality as a power supply that is always available for everyone in safe limits. However,  poor power quality can be defined as basically the one unreliable and not always available in tolerance limits, and so causes lots of problems.  

It is better to know what causes the poor quality to solve many related issues, like economic losses, not meeting industrial standards etc. 

Why we have poor power quality? 
As power quality is quite a complex subject itself, we can’t assume only one reason for having poor quality. There could be many reasons for the poor power quality. Still, we can summarise them under main topics which are listed below, and each of these has different solutions to be addressed best practice.
Besides this, there is always a solution for each power quality problems, and some improvement strategies have been listed below.

DIPS or SAGS
Symptoms • Lighting dimming, computer lockups, relay and contactor chatter or complete dropout, equipment and system shutdowns
• Spurious and unexplained alarms and shutdowns
Potential causes • Starting large loads, especially large inductive
• Similar operations in neighboring facilities
• Short-circuit faults
• Severe weather conditions
How to Solve • Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
• Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR)
Click to see ENDOKS DVR Solution
SWELLS
Symptoms • Overvoltage shutdowns and alarms on variable frequency drives (VFDs) and other electronic devices
• Failure and damage on equipment and loads
Potential causes • Fault on single phase of three-phase system
• Sudden load decrease
• Capacitor bank switching
How to Solve • Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
• Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR)
Click to see ENDOKS DVR Solution
UNDERVOLTAGE / OVERVOLTAGE
Symptoms • Overheating of equipment
• Insulation failures
• Performance and life time degradation on equipment
Potential causes • Uncontrolled reactive power flow in transmission and distribution systems
• Variations in the generation of PV and wind power systems
How to Solve • Static VAR Compensator (SVC)
Click to see ENDOKS SVC Solution
• Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
Click to see ENDOKS STATCOM Solution
• Magnetically Coupled Reactor (MCR)
Click to see ENDOKS MCR Solution
• Voltage Regulator
VOLTAGE FLUCTUATIONS / FLICKER
Symptoms • Light flicker
• Nuisance tripping due to misoperation of electronic devices
Potential causes • Intermitted loads like electric arc furnaces and welding machines
• Variations in the generation of PV and wind power systems
How to Solve • Static VAR Compensator (SVC)
Click to see ENDOKS SVC Solution
• Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
Click to see ENDOKS STATCOM Solution
• Magnetically Coupled Reactor (MCR)
Click to see ENDOKS MCR Solution
• Voltage Regulator
TRANSIENTS
Symptoms • Flashover and arcing effects in distribution equipment
• Damaged insulation
• Failed electronics
• Computer lockups
Potential causes • Lightning strikes
• Switching of capacitors
• Reenergizing systems after a power failure
• Sudden stoppage of large equipment
• Dirty or worn contactors
How to Solve • Surge Arresters
• Isolation Transformers
INTERRUPTIONS
Symptoms • Equipment shutdowns
Potential causes • Momentary loss of utility power
How to Solve • Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
UNBALANCE
Symptoms • Overheated three-phase motors and transformers
• Overvoltage and overloading problems in neutral conductors
Potential causes • Unbalanced loads across individual phases of three-phase panelboards
• Unbalanced utility supply
• Operation of large single-phase loads
• Open-delta transformers
How to Solve • Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
Click to see ENDOKS STATCOM Solution
HARMONICS
Symptoms • Overheated line and neutral conductors
• Overheated motors and transformers
• Spurious and unexplained alarms and shutdowns of electronic equipment
Potential causes • Nonlinear loads such as switching power supplies
• Converter sections of uninterruptible power supply (UPS), VFDs and battery chargers
• Welders
• Arc furnaces
How to Solve • Passive and Active Harmonic filters
Click to see ENDOKS Pasif and Active Harmonic Solutions

We are here to help you empower your grid or your operations in your business. We have different power quality solutions for your business need.

For more information, please, Contact Us

Electric Power Quality and Dynamic Voltage Regulator

Electric power quality is a term which importance is increasing day by day. The increasing demand for electrical energy, the change in load characteristics, and the penetration of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power generation facilities into the electricity grid have revealed the importance of the concept of electrical power quality. Electrical power quality can be defined as a set of electrical parameters and limits that enable end-user loads or equipment connected to the electrical grid to operate as desired without a significant loss of performance and operating-life. Electrical power quality problems can be defined as power problems caused by voltage, current, and frequency changes that cause failure or malfunction of end-user loads or equipment connected to the electrical grid.

The most common power quality problems encountered in electrical grids are voltage sag, voltage swell, overvoltage, under-voltage, and voltage unbalance. These power quality events cause the trip of loads, the failure of the equipment, and the interruption of the industrial process resulting in serious economic losses. Dynamic voltage regulator (DVR) provides the most effective solution for these voltage quality problems. DVR is a power electronics-based power quality compensation system that is connected in series with the grid. DVR provides effective protection by preventing the voltage quality events occurring in the grid from being seen on the load side with its high-performance voltage compensation ability.

Basic Working Principle

The main purpose of DVR is to provide voltage quality on the load side by detecting and compensating power quality events occurring in the grid voltage in less than a half-cycle period. The block diagram showing the basic working principle of DVR is given in Figure 1. DVR basically consists of a control system and a power circuit. The control system of DVR continuously monitors the grid voltage, detects the power quality events occurring in the voltage less than a half cycle period with the help of the control and detection methods, and generates the control signals required for the compensation. The power circuit of the DVR generates the compensation voltage and inject it into the grid in series to prevent voltage quality problems on the load side. Therefore, it ensures that the loads are protected from voltage quality problems occurring in the grid.

Figure 1 – DVR Working Principle

Power Stage Topology

The single line representation of the power stage of the DVR is given in Figure 2. The DVR power stage consists of active rectifier power and serial inverter power stages connected back to back over the DC capacitor bank.


Figure 2 – DVR power stage single line circuit diagram

An active rectifier is an IGBT based rectifier type controlled by PWM signals. It has much lower current harmonic distortion (THD:<3%) than conventional diode/thyristor rectifiers. The main function of the active rectifier is to provide the constant DC voltage required for the compensation according to the switching signals from the control system. The power stage of the active rectifier consists of the inverter, the DC link capacitor bank, and the output filter. According to the switching signals sent by the inverter control system, it controls the flow of the necessary active power from the grid to provide the required fixed DC link voltage. The output filter is used to filter the switching harmonics generated by the active rectifier inverter.

The series inverter power stage consists of the inverter, output filter, protection thyristor group, and injection transformer. The inverter generates the voltage required for compensation according to the switching signals generated by the control system. The output filter is used to filter the switching harmonics generated by the series inverter, as in the active rectifier filter. The protection thyristor group consists of thyristors connected anti-parallel to each other for each phase. The protection thyristor group is activated in case of an error in the grid or DVR, ensuring the disconnection of the series inverter power stage and protection of the system. The injection transformer, on the other hand, ensures that the compensation voltage produced by the inverter is injected in series to the grid and isolation between the grid and the DVR.

The DC-link capacitor bank is used to store the energy required for the DVR to meet the expected compensation requirements within the period until the active rectifier controller reacts at the moment of compensation.

SCOPE
Design, Supply, Erection Supervision and Commissioning of 11 kV, 2x ±4 MVAr Containerized Statcom Systems for 66 kV Bus Voltage Regulation.

PROBLEM
66 kV voltage will vary after installation of Nevertire SF rated 105 MW, which is connected to the Essential Energy network.

REQUIREMENT
Fluctuations in Solar Farm output must not produce more than the allowable voltage changes as per AS 61000.3.7

SOLUTION

  • Installation of 2 Statcom Systems rated ±4 MVAr at Eulomogo Substation at 11 kV bus.
  • Each Statcom System is connected to 11 kV bus via 4.5 MVA, 11/0.48 kV coupling transformer.
  • Parallel operation of 480 V, ±400 kVAr forced air-cooled Statcom Panels are implemented.
  • 20 panels inside 4 air-conditioned containers are operated in parallel by a Master Controller, which generates a set point for inductive/capacitive reactive power as per droop characteristics specified for 66 kV bus.
  • The overload rating of the Statcom System is 3xInom for 2s.

TEST RESULTS

The voltage reference test was completed successfully at the of December 2019 in coordination with Essential Energy. Test results showed the ability of the Statcom System to operate according to the required droop control characteristics.

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA Pass
The reactive power output at 11KV busbar voltage level corresponds to the expected output as per the given droop characteristic within acceptable tolerance limits (+/- 10%) Yes
The output of the STATCOM unit can be maintained for the duration that
the tap is held.
Yes
The settling time of voltage response to the tap change is sufficient for the Nevertire solar farm to comply with its GPS requirements. Yes
Measurement data is successfully downloaded and confirmed. Yes

BENEFIT

Grid Requirement Meet
Grid Operator allowed solar power plant to connect
to the grid.

Safe Operations
Safe Operation for all equipment in the system
is achieved.

Revenue
As grid requirement is met, Nevertire solar farm can operate.

In recent years, the increasing demand for electrical energy, the change in load characteristics, and the penetration of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power generation facilities into the electricity grid have revealed the importance of the concept of power quality. 

The demand for electrical energy increases day by day, even though the rapid increase in demand for electrical energy, electricity generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure cannot be upgraded or renewed at the same pace. This has led to an increase in the incidence of power quality problems in electrical networks. 

With the increasing use of renewable energy systems, the electricity generation infrastructure has become a distributed structure. When the variable generation characteristics of renewable energy generation systems such as solar and wind combined with the complexity of the distributed generation structure, the load flow in electricity networks become more unpredictable, this situation causes various power quality problems to occur in transmission and distribution networks. 

What are the main power quality problems encountered in electrical networks? 

Voltage trough and peak and harmonics are among the most common power quality problems encountered in electrical networks. In addition to these, low voltage, overvoltage, voltage fluctuation, which are (flicker) caused by variable reactive power flow and voltage and current unbalance events which are caused by unbalanced loading of the lines, are also frequently seen power quality problems. 


What happens when Power quality is poor?
 

Electrical power quality problems lead to overheating and loss of life of cables and transformers, failure of capacitor banks, failure of protection equipment, failure of isolation equipment due to excessive stress, failure, or malfunction of devices connected to the network, and noise in communication lines. These impacts lead to severe economic losses for grid operators and all industrial, commercial, and residential customers. 

It is possible to find different definitions in various sources related to electrical power quality. According to some sources, electric power quality is defined as the reliability of the electrical network systems and only voltage quality. However, these definitions are insufficient to explain the concept of electric power quality.

To make a comprehensive definition, we can say that electrical power quality can be defined as a series of electrical parameters and limits that enable end-user loads or equipment connected to the electrical network to operate in the desired manner without any significant performance and lifetime loss.

On the other hand, electrical power quality problems can be defined as power problems caused by voltage, current, and frequency changes that cause malfunction or malfunction of end-user loads or equipment connected to the mains.