1

Lessons Learned in Static Var Compensator

Protection
Aaron Findley, Mychal Hoffman, POWER Engineers, Inc.
Dan Sullivan, Jan Paramalingam, Mitsubishi Electric Power Product Inc.

Abstract — Static VAR Compensators (SVCs) are an

increasingly common solution for power system voltage stability
problems by providing rapid var support following system
disturbances. From a protection perspective, an extensive
protection system is typically necessary to ensure the SVC’s
operating range is available to provide rapid and reliable var
support to the power system. SVC protection often involves novel
applications of traditional protective relay schemes, and
coordination of protective control functions with SVC controls.
One example of this is the use of multifunction current
differential relays to protect Thyristor Controlled Reactors
(TCR) or Thyristor Switched Capacitors (TSC). In these
applications some features of modern relay systems, such as
harmonic blocking, may serve no purpose but can adversely
affect the performance of the protection system if ignored or
applied incorrectly.
This paper provides an overview of common approaches to
SVC protection focusing on TSC, TCR, and Harmonic filter
branches. An analysis of event reports for TSC and TCR faults
are presented to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of
typical protection methods, and to highlight common Figure 1: A Typical SVC Single Line Diagram
misconceptions in the application of differential relays to delta
connected reactive elements.
Following are the basic types of reactive power components
I. INTRODUCTION which make up all or part of static var systems in addition to
Static var compensators are shunt-connected static var traditional fixed reactive components.
generators or absorbers whose outputs are varied to control  Thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR)
specific parameters of the system. The term “static” is used to  Thyristor-switched reactor (TSR)
indicate that SVCs, unlike synchronous compensators have no  Thyristor-switched capacitor (TSC)
moving or rotating main components. A variant is an “SVS”  Harmonic filters
or static var system which is an aggregation of SVCs and
mechanically switched capacitors or reactors whose outputs TSCs and TCRs are the most commonly used components.
are coordinated.
Each SVC is custom designed to meet the specific system Static var systems are capable of controlling individual
requirements, but commonly include a step down transformer phase voltages of the buses to which they are connected. They
and one or more shunt connected reactive components that are can be used for control of negative-sequence as well as
switched or controlled using power electronics. Examples of positive-sequence voltage deviations, and are primarily used
SVC applications in electric transmission systems are for three phase control of the power system.
discussed in [B7-B10]. These systems are ideally suited for applications requiring
direct and rapid control of voltage since they provide faster
response times and repetitive switching capability compared to
traditional mechanically switched devices, and can provide
continuous and smooth control of vars over the designed
rating of the SVC.
I. TSC: THYRISTOR SWITCHED CAPACITORS
TSCs consist of capacitor banks split into appropriate sized
units, each of which is switched into or out of the system by a
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bidirectional switch, often anti-parallel thyristors. In three

phase applications, the units are typically connected in delta.
An integral cycle control is used where a change can be made
every half cycle. Because the capacitor banks will retain some
charge after the thyristors have disconnected them from the
system, they are switched in when the SVC bus voltage and
the capacitor voltages are approximately equal. The
implication of this control is that the TSC will always provide
rated vars for finite period of time. Generally speaking this
type of control does not generate harmonics.

Figure 4: Harmonic analysis for the waveform shown in

Figure 3.Harmonic magnitudes are in percentage of measured
fundamental current.

Assuming the switching is symmetrical, only odd

harmonics are generated and can be calculated using the
following equation as a function of the delay angle “a”.

4 sin cos cos in

1
Figure 2: Waveform showing TSC switching
II. THYRISTOR-CONTROLLED REACTOR (TCR) Where:
V is the system voltage
The basic elements of a TCR are the reactor in series with a Xl is the inductive reactance
bidirectional switch, often anti-parallel thyristors that conduct a is the delay angle
on alternating half-cycles depending on firing delay angle of n is the harmonic.
the thyristors. Thyristor-controlled reactors can draw inductive
currents ranging from zero to full load currents for the reactor. Figure 5 shows a plot of the relative magnitude of the
The TCRs can also be used to selectively cancel out a portion harmonics over a range of delay angles. Absent from this plot
of the vars sourced by a TSC or filter bank. With TCRs an are the triplen harmonics (3rd, 9th, 15th) which are canceled
SVC system as a whole is able to both sink or source vars under balanced conditions when the TCR’s are delta
continuously over its rated range. The continuous control of connected.
vars requires TCRs be exposed to the system for only a
portion of each half cycle. This is accomplished by delaying
the firing angle of the thyristors to reduce the total inductive
current drawn by the reactors.

Figure 5: Harmonic content vs.delay angle for a TCR.

Figure 3: Current trace from an event report showing the Harmonic magnitude is in per unit of the maximum
non-sinusoidal current draw fundamental current at a delay angle of 0.
Due to the non-sinusoidal current draw, a significant
amount of harmonics are generated by the TCR switching.
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SVCs that employ TCRs typically require harmonic filter

banks to deal with the harmonics generated by the operation of
the TCR. The size and number of filter banks applied are
determined through harmonic performance analysis to limit
voltage distortion at the point of connection while minimizing
resonance conditions with the power system. Depending on
the results of system studies, the filter banks may include a
damping resistor to aid in appropriate tuning of each filter
bank.
A. RMS vs Filtered currents.
Microprocessor based protective relays typically utilize
digital filters within the relay’s software to remove any
decaying dc offset or harmonics, allowing the protection
algorithms to operate on filtered fundamental currents. The
relays that captured the events presented in this paper employ
low pass filters, scaling, and a full-cycle cosine filter. The
cosine filter multiplies successive samples coming from the
A/D converter by coefficients sampled from a cycle of a Figure 6: Actual measured unfiltered and filtered TCR
cosine waveform according to the following formula: current waveforms as seen by the protective relay

2 2 Traditionally, the reactive and resistive components that

∗
make up SVC filter banks are rated to withstand the harmonic
currents generated by the TCR and any background harmonics
that are present in the power system. If more sensitive
Where:
protection is required for some components, such as the
R is the sampling rate in samples/cycle
damping resistors, protective elements that operate on RMS
currents should be used.
The output of this digital filter is a fundamental frequency
sinusoidal waveform because the harmonic content has been
removed the RMS value of the filtered current will be less II. TCR AND TSC DIFFERENTIAL PROTECTION
than the actual RMS current through the reactor. Figure 6 Traditional percentage differential protection employs three
shows the unfiltered and filtered current measured by a relay differential zones, one for each phase of the protected
on a TCR branch. The harmonic distortion level varies as the equipment; transformer, bus, etc.
SVC’s control system adjusts delay angle of thyristor valve as
illustrated in Figure 5 above. Typically, the TCR generates the
least amount of harmonics when the TCR valves are fully
conducting. This is convenient since the filtered current used
by protective relays more closely matches the true RMS
current as the TCR branch approaches full load.

Figure 7: Traditional Differential Protection

The operate current is calculated as the sum of the input
currents.
|1 2|

There are two common methods for calculating the restraint

current; average and maximum restraint

| 1| | 2|

| 1|, | 2|

A fault is declared when the ratio of operate to restraint

current exceeds a predetermined threshold defined by the
slope setting.
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III. EVENT ANALYSIS TSC FAULT

The first example considers a fault that occurred when ice
formed on the animal guards of adjacent insulators, resulting
In SVC applications, TCRs and TSCs are typically delta in a short circuit between phases of the delta connected,
connected. The delta connection often results in the bus work thyristor switched capacitors. Figure 10 shows the location of
being installed in a phase-over-phase configuration as the fault based on visual inspection of the equipment. The
illustrated in Figure 8. thyristor valves were not conducting at the time of the fault,
however when the ice shorted the thyristor valve and tuning
reactor, connecting B and C phases through the capacitor
bank. The resulting current draw was high in harmonics and of
a magnitude near the capacitor bank rating.

Figure 8: TCR & TSC Vertical Bus Configuration. Conductors

are entering and returning from the thyristors valves located
in the control building.
The phase-over-phase configuration is used to minimize the
physical size of the SVC yard, relative to a horizontal
configuration that is typically used in substation design. One
drawback is the vertical phase-over-phase configuration Figure 10: Location of TSC fault.
increases the probability of phase-to-phase faults in the delta
connected TCR or TSC. Three differential zones are assigned The differential relay protecting the faulted section failed to
such that each zone will encompass one set of thyristor valves operate even though the fault was located within the zone of
and one reactive component as shown in Figure 8. The zones protection. Because the fault included the capacitor bank
will overlap at the thyristor CTs. impedance, the magnitude of the fault current was limited to
the banks rated current. The fault, which started as a line-to-
line fault, quickly evolved to include ground. The system had
a ground bank installed that provided some ground fault
current on an otherwise ungrounded secondary, the fault was
ultimately cleared by a ground overcurrent relay. Negative-
sequence overcurrent elements also quickly identified the fault
but had been set with a longer time delay than the ground
overcurrent element.

Figure 9: Typical TCR/TSC Differential Zone.

Although the reactors are delta connected, the CT’s of each
zone effectively wrap a single electrical node and will not
require any additional compensation for the phase shift
between line and delta currents. Figure 11: Event report indicating the level of operate,
negative-sequence, and hamonic currents.
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A review of the relay settings and event report indicated Generally the second or fourth harmonics are used to
that the ratio of differential to restraint current was sufficient identify an inrush condition. A similar differential current
to warrant a trip however, operation of the differential was occurs when a transformer core is overexcited. The flux in a
blocked by the 5th harmonic blocking logic. Further transformer core is proportional to the applied voltage and
investigation showed that the 5th harmonic blocking threshold inversely proportional to the frequency [B3]. When the
had been set at the minimum allowable pickup of 5% of applied voltage is too high or the frequency too low the
fundamental. The unfiltered event report was retrieved and resulting transformer core can be driven into saturation. The
indicated the level of 5th harmonic current was approximately core saturation results in higher excitation current that is again
30% of fundamental. The high harmonic content is likely due shunted through the magnetization branch and interpreted as a
to the presence of reactive elements in the fault path. differential current. The excitation current during AC
saturation is high in odd harmonics including the third, fifth,
and seventh. The third harmonic is typically the highest as a
percentage of fundamental current however, this harmonic is
eliminated by either a delta connection of the relay CT’s or a
simulated delta connection within the relay itself. Therefore a
high fifth harmonic content is used to indicate an
overexcitation condition.
Given the preceding discussion the following lessons
learned can be applied when setting TCR and TSC differential
relays.
 Harmonic blocking and restraint are based on
detecting the signature harmonics generated by the
saturation of a ferromagnetic core. When air core
Figure 12: Unfiltered event report showing significant
reactors are used in TCRs, these elements are not
harmonic distortion in the fault current.
applicable and should be disabled.
A. Harmonic Blocking Logic  In transformers, false differential current is
Harmonic blocking logic is a feature that is included in produced when the transformer saturates and
differential relays to prevent misoperation of the differential excitation current entering one winding is shunted
element during inrush or overexcitation conditions commonly through the excitation branch and is not measured
associated with transformer energization. leaving the protected zone. In TCR and TSC
Inrush occurs when a transformer is energized and the differential applications the entire reactive element
residual flux in the transformer core does not align with the and thyristor valve combination is wrapped by the
ideal instantaneous flux that would exist given the applied differential zone. Inrush currents or other transient
voltage. The resulting flux required can be large enough to currents will travel through the zone of protection
drive the core into saturation, at which point increasingly and be accounted for, no additional restraint or
higher levels of magnetization current is required to achieve blocking logic is required.
relatively small increases in flux. In severe cases of inrush, the
magnetizing current is limited only by the air-core impedance IV. EVENT ANALYSIS, TRIP ON CONTROLLED SHUTDOWN
of the transformer windings. Referring to Figure 13, the In some installations, the SVC controls will allow for a
magnetization current is essentially shunted through the protection stop or a soft (normal) stop. A protection stop
magnetization branch of the transformer equivalent circuit and results from either a protective relay or SVC control system
does not appear on the secondary winding, resulting in a trip which both opens the SVC breaker on high-side of the
measured differential current. coupling transformer and signals the valve controls to gate
block the thyristor valve, stopping conduction. For less critical
failures of auxiliary equipment or operator initiated shutdown,
the SVC is taken offline in a more gradual manner referred to
as a “soft” or “controlled” stop. During a soft stop the SVC
output is adjusted to zero and then the SVC breaker is opened
to disconnect the SVC from the power system. Then the TCR
valves are placed into full conduction for several cycles to
allow the TCRs to quickly discharge the energy stored in the
filter bank capacitors. The discharge step is required due to the
capacitive nature of filter banks, and the desire to be able to
quickly bring the SVC back online without waiting up to 5
minutes for the filters to discharge via an internal discharge
device. Bringing the SVC back online quickly is particularly
Figure 13: Path of magnetization current in transformer critical at installations that are designed to automatically
equivalent circuit. restore operation in a degraded mode following a fault on a
TSC or TCR branch. For example, following a fault on a TSC
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branch, the SVC can shutdown, open the TSC disconnect, and For reference, Figure 15 shows a full shutdown sequence.
restart with the TCR and filter banks providing partial The negative-sequence overcurrent element in this relay had
functionality. During a controlled shutdown, while the TCR is been torque controlled by the breaker status to prevent the
fully conducting, unbalanced currents will flow between the relay from tripping after the breaker had opened.
filter bank and the TCR. The amount of unbalance is This event highlights a few lessons learned for the
dependent on the point on wave at which the TCRs are placed protection engineer when developing protective relay settings
into full conduction. for an SVC:
 Depending on the SVC control design,
Figure 14 shows TCR current waveforms and the associated significant unbalance currents may flow during a
relay response during a controlled SVC shutdown sequence. shutdown even after the breaker has opened.
 Nuisance trips that occur during a controlled
shutdown can interfere with SVC operations, and
halt auto-reconfiguration schemes.
 Negative-sequence elements protecting SVC
branches should consider any intentionally
unbalanced operations, either due to un-symmetrical
operation or filter bank discharge.

V. EVENT ANALYSIS, TCR FAULT

Turn to turn faults in air core reactors are notoriously
difficult to detect. The change in current measured external to
the reactor can be relatively small depending on the location
of the fault. In this example, a turn to turn fault developed in a
TCR reactor. Sensitively set negative-sequence alarms
Figure 14: Event report showing the TCR currents and TCR
indicated that the fault may have developed minutes before
relay response to a controlled shutdown.
finally evolving to include an additional phase. Once the fault
The relay was monitoring the delta currents of the TCR and had coupled to an adjacent phase, the differential elements
was set to provide phase and negative-sequence overcurrent were able to clear the fault. While event data for this fault is
protection. The trip/event was triggered during the discharge somewhat limited, photos of the damage shown in Figure 18
phase of the shutdown when the TCR valves were fully highlight the destructive nature of turn to turn faults. Since
conducting and the relay measured a negative-sequence TCRs are typically air core reactors the protection options are
current of approximately 800A, which is 30% of the rated further limited as mechanical detection of arcing available in
current. At this point in the shutdown sequence the circuit oil filled reactors (such as sudden pressure relays) are not
breaker was already open however, the control system was set available.
up such that any protective trip would also result in the TCR
valves being blocked. This can be seen in Figure 13 as the
current through the TCR branch was blocked approximately
30ms following the trip. The intended discharge time was
closer to 20 cycles. In addition to prematurely halting the filter
bank discharge phase, the trip indication would have
prevented the TCR from being included in any auto-degraded
mode configuration.

Figure 16: Fault currents in secondary amps as a turn-to-

turn fault evolves into a phase fault.
Despite the small current change seen at the reactor
terminals, the current magnitude at the point of the fault can
be significant. Differential protection is limited for this type of
fault because shorting successive windings of the reactor will
not alter the overall current through the protective zone. Even
if the entire reactor were to be shorted, the sum of the currents
Figure 15: Full shutdown sequence with negative-sequence through the zone would be zero unless another phase was
elements supervised by breaker status. involved.
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The reason turn-to-turn faults are so damaging can best be harmonics that will circulate in the TCR delta connection. The
understood by considering the ideal transformer model. The lesson learned from this event is to be aware of the limitations
ratio of primary to secondary current is related to the primary of the applied protection scheme, depending on the SVC
and secondary turns ratio by the familiar equation: design a high degree of sensitivity for all fault types may not
be practical.

VI. CONCLUSION

When a reactor suffers a turn to turn fault it is essentially SVC protection involves atypical applications of traditional
behaving as a transformer, with the “secondary” winding protective relay schemes. Some features of modern relay
being comprised of the few turns that are shorted. systems, such as harmonic blocking, may serve no purpose but
can adversely affect the performance of the protection system
if ignored or applied incorrectly. Given the increasingly
sophisticated algorithms used in modern microprocessor based
relays, it is critical that the protection engineer understand
both the intended purpose of each algorithm as well as the
context in which they are being applied.
Careful consideration must also be given to the SVC
operation and the protection requirements of the power
electronics equipment. Protective relays must be coordinated
with the SVC’s control system protective schemes to prevent
the unintended operation of protective relays during shutdown
sequences or other periods of intentional unbalanced
Figure 17: Currents in a turn-to-turn fault operation.
For low level faults with only a few turns involved the
VII. REFERENCES
effective turns ratio is high leading to large secondary currents
circulating in the shorted turns.
[B1] Blackburn, J. L., Protective Relaying: Principles and
Applications – Second Edition, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New
York, 1998, ISBN 0-8247-9918-6.
[B2] S.R. Chano, A. Elneweihi, L.H. Alesi, H. Bilodeau,
D.C. Blackburn Jr., L.L. Dvorak, G.E.Fenner, T.F. Gallen,
J.D. Huddleston III, C.A. Stephan, T.E. Weidman, P.B.
Winston, “Static var compensator protection”, IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 10, No. 3, July 1995.
[B3] James H. Harlow, Electric Power Transformer
Engineering, CRC press, Boca Raton Florida, 2004.
[B4] Robert J. Herrick, Understanding FACTS, IEEE press,
New York, 2000.
[B5] IEEE Standard C37.109, IEEE Guide for Protection of
Shunt Reactors.
[B6] IEEE Standard P1032/D13, Draft Guide for Protecting
Transmission Static Var Compensators.
[B7] Grainger, B., Reed, G.F., Kempker, M., Sullivan, D.J.,
et al, “Technical Requirements and Design of the Indianapolis
Power & Light 138 kV Southwest Static Var Compensator,”
Figure 18: Reactor damage caused by turn-to-to turn fault. IEEE PES T&D Conference and Exposition, Dallas, TX, May
2016.
The options for detecting these types of faults are limited. [B8] O’Connor, J., Reed, G.F., Sullivan, D.J., Shimokaji,
Negative-sequence current elements can detect some of turn- N., Birsa, J., “Testing and Commissioning Experiences for the
to-turn faults but are less sensitive to lower level faults. Duke Energy Progress Static VAR Compensator at
Traditional voltage unbalance schemes that rely on the neutral Jacksonville, NC,” FACTS Panel Session, IEEE PES T&D
connection of a wye connected reactor bank are also not an Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL, April 2014.
option due to the delta connection of the TCRs. [B9] Sullivan, D.J., Pape, R., Birsa, J.J., Riggle, M., et al,
For some SVCs, sensitive unbalance protection could be “Managing Fault-Induced Delayed Voltage Recovery in
possible by summing the delta currents directly to measure the Metro Atlanta with the Barrow County SVC,” Facts Panel
reactor unbalance current [B6]. This approach cannot be Session, IEEE PES Power Systems Conference and
applied on SVC’s that are intended to operate Exposition, Seattle Washington, March 2009.
unsymmetrically, and will have to be insensitive to the triplen
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[B10] Johnson, A, Tucker, R., Tran, T, Paserba, J., commercial management of Mitsubishi Electric’s Flexible AC
Sullivan, D., Anderson, C., Whitehead, D., “Static Var Transmission Systems (FACTS) and HVDC business in North
Compensation Controlled via Synchrophasors” WPRC, America. Dan’s leadership of system engineering and
Spokane, Washington, October 2007 sales/marketing teams ensures technical expertise of all
[B11] Grainger, B., Reed, G.F., Kempker, M., Sullivan, FACTS (SVC/STATCOM) products, including engineering
D.J., et al, “Technical Requirements and Design of the and system design aspects from initial planning stages through
Indianapolis Power & Light 138 kV Southwest Static Var design, construction, and commissioning of FACTS systems.
Compensator,” IEEE PES T&D Conference and Exposition, Mr. Sullivan has authored technical IEEE papers and
Dallas, TX, May 2016. publications, and lectured at the University of Wisconsin,
[B12] O’Connor, J., Reed, G.F., Sullivan, D.J., Shimokaji, University of Pittsburgh, and IEEE tutorials on topics such as
N., Birsa, J., “Testing and Commissioning Experiences for the Dynamic Reactive Power Control, Static Var Compensators,
Duke Energy Progress Static VAR Compensator at HVDC, and insulation coordination. Dan is a Senior Member
Jacksonville, NC,” FACTS Panel Session, IEEE PES T&D of IEEE, registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania,
Conference and Exposition, Chicago, IL, April 2014. earned MSEE degree from University of Pittsburgh and held
[B13] Sullivan, D.J., Pape, R., Birsa, J.J., Riggle, M., et al, leadership roles in PES Subcommittees and Working groups
“Managing Fault-Induced Delayed Voltage Recovery in on HV Power Electronics.
Metro Atlanta with the Barrow County SVC,” Facts Panel
Session, IEEE PES Power Systems Conference and Jan Paramalingam is a systems engineer in Mitsubishi
Exposition, Seattle Washington, March 2009. Electric Power Products, Inc’s (MEPPI) Power Electronics
[B14] Johnson, A, Tucker, R., Tran, T, Paserba, J., Product Line providing engineering design, apparatus
Sullivan, D., Anderson, C., Whitehead, D., “Static Var engineering, and technical support for Mitsubishi Electric’s
Compensation Controlled via Synchrophasors” WPRC, Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) business in
Spokane, Washington, October 2007 North America. He has been involved in many SVC projects,
and is responsible for design of FACTS systems, including
commissioning and testing of system performance. Jan has
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES conducted numerous design and performance studies to
Aaron Findley, P.E. is a protection engineer with POWER determine SVC configuration, component ratings, and assess
Engineers Inc. and is based out of Portland OR. While at harmonic performance within the power system. He has a
POWER Mr. Findley has worked on a wide variety of broad technical background of HVDC, FACTS, and Series
protective relaying projects ranging from distribution Compensation products, including engineering and power
protection up to EHV series compensated line protection and system analysis aspects from initial planning stages through
RTDS modeling/testing. He has recently served as the lead study, design, construction, and commissioning of FACTS
protection engineer on several SVC installations. He earned systems. Jan is an active member of the Capacitor and HV
his bachelor’s degree in Energy Engineering from the Oregon Power Electronics Subcommittees within IEEE, and is
Institute of Technology in 2010 and is currently registered as a currently WG P1531 chair.
Professional Engineer in the state of California and a member .
of IEEE.

Mychal Hoffman, P.E. is a registered professional

engineer with over 12 years of substation physical and
electrical design and testing experience with an emphasis on
the implementation of FACTs devices into utility substations.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering
from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2002
and his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 2005.
During this time he published papers relating to electric load
forecasting using Fuzzy Logic-Neural Networks. Prior to
joining POWER Engineers, Inc. in 2010, he has worked for
Mid-American Energy and Electrical Consultants Inc. Mr.
Hoffman is currently a Project Engineer in the Substation
Department at POWER Engineers, Inc. He is currently
registered in Montana, South Dakota, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. He is
a member of IEEE, NSPE, MSE and the Billings Engineers
Club.

Daniel Sullivan, P.E. currently manages Mitsubishi

Electric Power Product Inc’s (MEPPI) North American Power
Electronics Product Line, providing both technical and