McLeese

In British Columbia, an Hitachi Energy series capacitor has been commissioned in the McLeese substation in the 500 kV network of BC Hydro. The series capacitor, rated 605 Mvar, was installed in a new line segment running in parallell with two previously existing 500 kV lines having the purpose of bringing hydro power from the G.M. Shrum and Peace Canyon hydro power stations in the north of the country down to the Vancouver area, a distance of more than 900 km.

The task of the series capacitor is to secure a balanced power flow over the parallel lines, and to increase the system transient stability, so that a total transfer capability of 3.300 MW can be maintained even at loss of one of the three lines.

The series capacitor is protected by a gapless ZnO scheme, designed to withstand the stresses of faults external to the compensated line without bypassing of the series capacitor.

With the series capacitor installation at McLeese, all three 500 kV lines passing through this substation are series compensated (Fig.1). The installation was part of an upgrading process which also included the refurbishing of existing series capacitors at Kennedy and Chapmans substations, likewise entrusted to Hitachi Energy.