Surge suppression in MV capacitor banks
05Mar
As the world strives towards lower CO2 emissions and sustainable electricity generation, the number of renewable sources on the network has dramatically increased. This increased amount of renewable generation brings about unique challenges in terms of network stability and power quality.
Instead of large power stations being in central and strong network locations, we now have a higher amount of Distributed Generation (DG) – smaller electricity generation sites located in multiple areas of the UK electricity network. This DG is more often than not in remote and weaker network locations, leading to an increased occurrence of power quality and stability issues. With increased power quality issues, there is a subsequent requirement for medium voltage (MV) capacitor banksand/or harmonic filters.
However, protecting the network and power quality solutions from voltage surges caused by switching or lightning strikes poses a unique challenge in itself. If lightning were to strike in an area of network that has a capacitor bank connected to it, the capacitor units would be subject to very high voltages that far exceed their design ratings. These excessive voltages could cause catastrophic failures in the capacitor units – costing the installation thousands of pounds.
Read the full article in the March issue of PBSI
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