San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) is operating two series capacitors supplied by Hitachi Energy in their 500 kV SouthWest Power Link at Imperial Valley in Southern California. One series capacitor, Imperial Valley East, is rated at 372 Mvar at 500 kV system voltage. The other, Imperial Valley West, is rated at 519 Mvar at 500 kV system voltage. The series capacitors have replaced two older units, supplied by Hitachi Energy in the 1980s.
The purpose of installing the series capacitors was to increase the power transmission capability of the South-West Power Link bringing power from the Palo Verde power plant up to the customer area of San Diego, thereby taking advantage of the inexpensive remote generation as compared to more expensive local generation in the San Diego area.
| Main data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| System | FSC | ||
| Commissioning year | 2003 | ||
| Imperial Valley West |
Imperial Valley East |
Suncrest | |
| System voltage | 500 kV | 500 kV | 525 kV |
| Rated current | 2600 A | 2200 A 1) | 3000 A |
| Rated reactive power | 519 Mvar | 372 Mvar 1) | 976 Mvar |
| Rated reactance | 25.6 Ω | 25.6 Ω | 36 Ω |
| MOV rating (per phase) | 41.5 MJ | 52.5 MJ | 68 MJ |
| Seismic design factor (Horizontal acceleration at ground level) | 0.7 g | 0.7 g | 0.5 g |
| 1) The series capacitor is prepared for a future upgrade to 2600 A, in which case the reactive power will be increased to 519 Mvar. | |||