Novel Control of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as STATCOM (BESS-STATCOM) for Stabilization of a Critical Motor

A new control for operating a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as a STATCOM, termed BESS-STATCOM, is proposed to stabilize a critical induction motor against large disturbances on a 24/7 basis to prevent significant financial losses to the motor facility. Simulation studies are performed using PSCAD on the realistic distribution feeder with a BESS to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method. When a large disturbance is created, even if the BESS is in a high state of charge or discharging, the control system curtails the active power to release the entire inverter capacity for operating as a STATCOM. This active power curtailment lasts for less than a minute. During this time, the induction motor is stabilized. The proposed BESS-STATCOM technology is expected to be ten times more economical than installing a new STATCOM of equivalent size for stabilizing the same critical motor. The proposed BESS-STATCOM control will soon be field demonstrated in the utility network of Elexicon Energy, Ajax, Ontario.