Customer Needs
CELEC EP, the Ecuador national grids owner and operator, is making efforts to increase their grids power supply capability to meet the booming power consumptions among the whole country. After a huge hydro power plant, CCS power plant, had been built at the northeast part of Ecuador, CELEC EP started to build their first 500kV transmission corridor leading from northeast to southwest, transmitting bulk electricity along the corridor and to the load center around Guayaquil.

- 红线 500kV Transmission lines
- 蓝线 230kV Transmission lines
- 绿线 138kV Transmission lines

The newly built 500kV power grids (marked as red lines) from CCS hydro power plant to Guayaquil load center includes four major 500kV/230kV substations, which had connected the new 500kV corridor to the existing national 230kV power grids, feeding the existing grids with sufficient power supply. This big project had greatly enhanced the power transmission capability of CELEC EP. However a system study before the project shows that the loads variations as well as possible line faults may badly influence the grid stability especially at the load center at Guayaquil.

RXPE Solution
Based on a system study of the Ecuador national grids (equal or higher than 69kV), RXPE had got a clear picture of the network equivalents including both existing 230kV grids and the new 500kV corridor. Then possible line faults details had been defined cooperating with CELEC EP. Based on these inputs RXPE had performed a thorough system study, in which the simulation shows a 230kV / -30Mvar ~ +120Mvar SVC at Chorrillos substation will be able to solve the problem.
The SVC was designed with multiple branches including one TCR (Thyristor Controlled Reactors) branch, one TSC (Thyristor Switched Capacitors) branch and three FC branches (Filter Capacitors).

The thyristor valves were designed as horizontal layout with water/air cooling method. Redundant circulating pumps had been applied to improve its reliability and availability. Control & protection system were also designed as fully redundant.
RTDS simulation upon real SVC controllers had been carefully performed during FAT to verify the control strategy that had been derived from the former system studies.

Customer Benefits
Chorrillos SVC had successfully enhanced the transmission stability of Ecuador grids’ first 500kV corridor. The corridor had been operating safely ever since it was firstly energized in 2017. With SVC in service, this 500kV transmission corridor had significantly improved the electricity supply condition in the whole country, with both sufficient electric power and robust operation.