POWER March 2014 - 36

GRID SUPPORT
to work nearly as hard as they had in the past.
As an added bonus, synchronous condensers
require under an hour of start-up time, as opposed
to nearly the 12 hours required to fire
a boiler, so they can be tapped on demand in
times of need.
" We needed a project that could provide
the reactive support needed to optimize power
transfers across L.A. and into the San Diego
region, " said Pettingill. " After the summer
of 2013, we can definitively say those needs
were met with the synchronous condenser
project at AES Huntington Beach. "
Clearing the Air
When the synchronous condenser conversion
was presented, the SCAQMD appreciated
the fact that it translated into a nongenerating
resource that provides voltage support without
any emissions. Emissions are a growing
concern with industrial and power plants
around the world, particularly in California.
State legislation requires any investments in
generation resources (new construction and
renovation) that provide electricity to California
residents to meet a specific emissions
standard of 1,100 lb CO2/MWh or less. By
providing reactive power to transfer energy
across grids, the synchronous condensers
help eliminate the need for constant generator
operation and reduce those emissions.
Appealing to the Masses
Synchronous condensers can provide dynamic
benefits across multiple platforms and
applications. In AES's case, they assist in
distributing reactive power to the grid as necessary
in times of peak usage, but they can
also absorb reactive power when necessary.
Though AES is looking toward modernizing
the plant, both inside and out, with more
efficient infrastructure and a beach-themed
wave and surfboard exterior, the trend to convert
to synchronous condensers has applications
well beyond Southern California:
■ Renewable energy. In California as in many
other regions, higher levels of renewables
are being added to the system. As a result,
introducing additional reactive power
sources such as synchronous condensers
can help deal with challenges of transforming
the grid in order to accommodate potential
differences in power sources.
■ Voltage sags. Conversely, as more coalfired
plants are retired, more inertia is lost,
creating voltage sags across the country.
Synchronous condensers have the capability,
with on-demand excitation and acceleration,
to provide dynamic voltage
support to make up for that loss.
■ Long distance and highly concentrated
grids. For electric suppliers whose grids
span great distances, synchronous condensers
come in particularly handy. The synchronous
condensers move reactive power and
change the voltage of the grid to balance the
distribution across greater distances or to a
greater number of consumers.
■ Large industrial loads. In high-activity
industrial settings such as paper mills,
steel mills, manufacturing facilities, and
more, system stability is constantly evolving.
Loads need reactive power to assist
with initialization and stabilization. The
synchronous condensers are a low-risk
means of consuming and dissipating reactive
power as needed, providing an array of
2. Working in tandem. The pony motor (foreground) is driven by a variable frequency
drive (out of sight underground), allowing the generators (center)-which once supplied power
to the grid-to function as synchronous condensers. Courtesy: Siemens Energy and Chet Williams
Photography
benefits and avoiding outage situations altogether.
For industrial plants with a variety
of inductive loads such as motors, drives,
and transformers, synchronous condensers
provide reactive power to get things up and
running quickly and smoothly.
Drawing Conclusions
The summer of 2013 in southern Orange and
San Diego counties went smoothly. Even
without the 2,200 MW of generation from
SONGS, residents of Southern California
stayed cool and calm with their lights and air
conditioners on.
" The effort by the whole team to restart
the units before the summer of 2012 with a
herculean effort and under a short time frame
was nothing short of amazing, " CAISO president
and CEO Steve Berberich said. " To follow
that up with a sprint to convert those same
units to synchronous condensers cemented
the immense respect and confidence we have
in the AES Huntington Beach team. "
As for the future of the synchronous
condensers at AES, their story doesn't end
here. A Reliability Must-Run contract exists
between CAISO and AES. Current contract
provisions call for the retirement of one of
the synchronous condensers at the end of
2016 and the other at the end of 2017 in order
for AES to undertake its once-through
cooling compliance repowering plans for
the entire facility. However, CAISO will annually
assess whether or not the grid has a
reliability need that can still be met by this
project. The evaluation of this option will
need to consider how an extension of the
synchronous condenser's operation beyond
2017 would affect the long-term repowering
plans for the AES Huntington Beach facility.
There has also been discussion of converting
one or both of the retired generators
at SONGS to synchronous condensers by
the summer of 2015.
There is plenty of opportunity to replicate
the success realized by the AES conversion
project across the country. The job of a plant
manager in every industry is to evaluate and
manage risk while also maximizing the return
on the asset. Synchronous condenser conversion
is a very low-risk approach. Every grid
operator or transmission planning entity has
unique needs. It is important to consider how
certain technologies like synchronous condensers
can help to optimize power flow,
minimize risk, and maximize benefits to help
meet the needs at hand. ■
-Chris Davidson is the electrical solutions
business development director at
Siemens Energy IC&E. Weikko Wirta is
the Southland operations and maintenance
manager, site leader, and former
plant manager at AES Huntington Beach.
34
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