The world’s largest and fastest-acting concentration of SVCs at the Parkdale substation in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, Texas. The ABB solution enables electric utility Oncor to integrate large but unpredictable volumes of wind power, react to grid disturbances in the record-breaking time of just 20 milliseconds, and save almost one million megawatt-hours of energy and associated CO2 emissions a year. Courtesy of ABB press picture

Zurich, Switzerland - September 05, 2011

Along with smartphones and digital photography, FACTS has been named among the top 11 technologies of the decade by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one of the world’s largest professional associations for the advancement of technology.

A list compiled by Spectrum, has been featured in the monthly magazine and flagship publication of the IEEE, and has identified “the most important innovations that emerged in the past 10 years based on influence, usefulness, and ‘sheer technical coolness.’

Top 11 Technologies of the Decade. No. 9. Flexible AC Transmission: The FACTS Machine. “Over the past decade, a confluence of innovations, regulatory change, and sheer watt-squeezing necessity has hatched a marvelous advance, one that has begun to realize the long-standing dream of pushing current where it wouldn't ordinarily go.” IEEE Spectrum on FACTS Courtesy of IEEE Spectrum

The 11 technologies named in the list include smartphones, social networking, voice over IP, LED lighting, cloud computing, multicore CPUs, digital photography, drone aircraft, class-D audio and planetary rovers.

FACTS for Wind power The dominating kind of wind power generation is asynchronous, this since it is robust and cost effective. Induction generators, however, do not contribute to regulation of grid voltage, and they are substantial absorbers of reactive power. Ideally, they need to be connected to stiff grids in order not to influence power quality in a detrimental way. This is usually not the case, however. Quite on the contrary, wind power is usually connected far out in the grid, on sub-transmission or distribution levels, where the grid was not originally designed to transfer power from the system extremities back into the grid. FACTS for wind power comprises SVC, SVC Light® and Dynamic Energy Storage. Courtesy of ABB press picture

FACTS (flexible AC transmission systems) also finds a place in this illustrious list.

ABB in the railways ABB is a world leading independent supplier of innovative and reliable technologies to train manufacturers and railway operators. With a comprehensive offering for rolling stock and infrastructure as well as FACTS, network management solutions and SCADA systems, ABB also provides lifetime service support, including maintenance and retrofit. Courtesy of ABB press picture

FACTS is a family of technologies that ABB pioneered and has continuously developed over the past 60 years.

FACTS for Railway Modern high-speed rail traction systems exert heavy and complex loadings on supply grids. Usually, power is taken between two phases, thereby causing substantial imbalance between phases in networks originally not at all built for this kind of operation. Unless remedied, the result will be deterioration of power quality, not only harmful to the traction system itself, but also prone to spreading through the supply grid, disturbing other users of power in the same grid. FACTS for railways comprises SVC, SVC Light® and Dynamic Energy Storage. Courtesy of ABB press picture

According to Spectrum, flexible AC transmission systems promise to save energy in a big way and make the smart grid possible.

An ABB SVC installation at Viklandet, Norway, on behalf of Statnett, the Norwegian state-owned transmission system operator. One of eight FACTS solutions that ABB has delivered to Statnett since 1981, the SVC solution has improved the capacity and reliability of power supplies in central Norway. Courtesy of ABB press picture

They enable utilities to reconfigure power flows in real time, maximize throughput and minimize losses.

Dynamic Shunt Compensation FACTS in transmission systems involves dynamic devices of SVC and STATCOM type. Both use power semiconductors to control the exchange of Mvar over a shunt connection with the grid. Thanks to the fast controllability, SVC and STATCOM can counteract event the most rapid voltage transients that will appear in the grid and consequently reduce the risk of serious voltage depressions and/or voltage collapse. Courtesy of ABB press picture

They also make it possible to smoothly integrate wind, solar, and other intermittent sources of renewable energy into the grid.

Ingela Hålling, head of FACTS within the Grid Systems business of the Power Systems division. Courtesy of ABB press picture

“With these technologies ABB can increase the capacity of existing lines by as much as 50 percent, reduce electrical losses in long distance power transfer and relieve grid congestion and transmission bottlenecks that prevent the flow of electricity,” said Ingela Hålling, head of FACTS within the Grid Systems business of the Power Systems division.
“FACTS technologies can also help to minimize the risk of blackouts, and facilitate the integration of intermittent types of energy by rapidly countering voltage fluctuations or by storing large amounts of surplus power until it is needed.”

Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation for Electric Systems. A Series Compensation scheme involving Thyristor Control allows for rapid dynamic modulation of the inserted reactance. At interconnecting points between transmission grids, this modulation will provide strong damping torque on inter-area electromechanical oscillations. Courtesy of ABB press picture

ABB FACTS technologies are also used to improve power supply to rail systems and to stabilize the grid in and around large energy consumers like mines and steelworks.

Oncor is the largest power transmission and distribution company in Texas, serving some three million homes and businesses, including most of Dallas-Fort Worth, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States with a combined population of 6.5 million. The world’s largest and fastest-acting concentration of SVCs at the Parkdale substation in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The SVCs respond to grid disturbances in just 20 milliseconds. Courtesy of ABB press picture

And, in coming years these versatile technologies will be vital for the large-scale integration of electric vehicle infrastructure like charging stations and plug-in points into the grid.

The world’s largest and fastest-acting concentration of SVCs at the Parkdale substation in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The SVCs respond to grid disturbances in just 20 milliseconds. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

“Over the past decade, a confluence of innovations, regulatory change, and sheer watt-squeezing necessity has hatched a marvelous advance, one that has begun to realize the long-standing dream of pushing current where it wouldn't ordinarily go.”

IEEE Spectrum on FACTS

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

ABB pioneered the first FACTS technology in the early 1950s.

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

Since then ABB has developed FACTS into a comprehensive portfolio of technologies that meet the current and future challenges facing AC transmission and distribution systems - SVC (static var compensation), SVC Light (also known as STATCOM), fixed and controlled series compensation, and DynaPeaQ dynamic energy storage.

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total.

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

Source: ABB

http://www.abb.com/  

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.09.04

Northrop Grumman's Neil G. Siegel Receives Prestigious IEEE Simon Ramo Medal

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1049  

Oncor SVC (Static Var Compensators) in Dallas. ABB has delivered around 800 FACTS installations worldwide, which is more than half the world total. Courtesy of Oncor / YouTube

ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.08.14

ABB wins $1 billion order for offshore wind power connection

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1035  



ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.03.13

ABB wins $50 million solar order in Italy

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=916