～World’s Largest-Scale Installation of Equipment That Contributes to Stabilizing Power Grid by Expanding Introduction of Renewable Electricity～

KAWASAKI, JAPAN—Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (hereinafter “Toshiba ESS”) is pleased to announce that it has received an order from Tohoku Electric Power Network Co., Inc. (hereinafter, “Tohoku Electric Power NW”) for a STATCOM^*1 (Static Synchronous Compensator). The STATCOM will be installed to improve grid stability during large-capacity power transmission and to ensure a stable supply in the event of a transmission system fault, in line with the growing introduction of renewable energy power. The STATCOM is scheduled to start operation at the Tohoku Electric Power NW Kamikita substation (Shichinohe-cho, Kamikita-gun, Aomori Prefecture) by the end of 2031, and will be one of the world’s largest,^*2 with a rated capacity of ±800 MVA. It will be the first STATCOM that Toshiba ESS will deliver to a backbone grid, and the main equipment will be manufactured at Toshiba Group’s factories in Japan, Fuchu Operations and Hamakawasaki Operations.

The STATCOMs use voltage-sourced converters that apply our proprietary press pack-type IEGT^*3 elements (hereinafter, “IEGT”). Compared to conventional general-purpose elements, the IEGT have advantages, such as high withstand voltage, large current capacity, reduced operation losses, and high cooling efficiency. In particular, the IEGT can maintain conduction by short-circuiting in the event of element failure, eliminating the need for ancillary equipment and providing high reliability and a simple configuration. In addition, the MMC^*4 (Modular Multilevel Converter) method with low loss, low harmonics, and module redundancy has been adopted to achieve a compact size and a highly reliable system with redundancy. Toshiba ESS completed a construction project in the domestic backbone grid by realizing the first VSC-HVDC system in Japan by applying both IEGT and MMC technologies for the New Hokkaido Honshu HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) link delivered in 2019. These technologies and the construction track records were also highly evaluated, and led to the contract being awarded for one of the world’s largest STATCOM projects.

Since the 1970s, Toshiba ESS has been delivering SVCs^*5 that control and compensate reactive power and STATCOMs that have evolved in performance over time to contribute to the stabilization of power grids in Japan and abroad. The company has also delivered HVDC and other equipment and has contributed to the enhancement of power resilience through power electronics equipment.

Hiroshi Kaneta, Director and Vice President of Toshiba ESS’s Grid Solutions Division, said, “I am proud to win the order for one of the world’s largest-scale STATCOMs. We will continue working to help achieve carbon neutrality by actively supplying STATCOMs and other environmentally friendly transmission and distribution products all over the world.”

In recent years, with the introduction of solar power and the increase in offshore wind power, challenges in the stable transmission of generated renewable energy power have been increasing. In the event of an accident or other incident on transmission lines that transmit large amounts of power from substations where renewable energy and other power sources are aggregated, adjusting the reactive power at high speed to control and stabilize system voltage is an important measure for achieving stable power transmission. Thus, STATCOMs were adopted to improve the stability of the power system by supplying reactive power at high speed in the event of a transmission line accident in a backbone transmission line system, where the transmission volume is increasing in conjunction with the expansion of the interconnection of renewable energy power sources in the northern area of Tohoku Electric Power NW.

*1: STATCOMs (Static Synchronous Compensators), consisting of transformers and voltage sourced converters (VSCs), can adjust reactive power continuously by generating an alternative voltage with high-speed switching on VSCs. STATCOMs can maintain their current output even at low AC voltages, and therefore, show good performance for supporting grid voltage and suppressing power swings when a drop in voltage occurs.
*2: As of March 2023, according to a Toshiba ESS survey
*3: Toshiba Device & Storage Corporation’s proprietary pressure-coupled power devices
*4: Modular multilevel transducer suitable for high voltage
*5: SVC (Static VAR Compensators), consisting of transformers, thyristors, and AC filters, can adjust reactive power continuously by generating an alternative current through reactors and capacitors with high-speed switching with thyristor valves.

Information in the News Release, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the News Release , but is subject to change without prior notice.