lEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 14, No.

3, July 1999

1181

Experience With An Inverter-Based

Dynamic Voltage Restorer
N.H. Woodley, Senior Member, IEEE

L. Morgan,Member, IEEE

Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Pittsburgh, PA 15235 USA

Duke Power
Charlotte, NC 28201 USA

Abstract: Installation of the world's first Dynamic Voltage Restorer

(DVR) on a major US.utility system to protect a critical customer
plant load from power system voltage disturbances ushers in a new
era of power quality problem solution on the utility si& of the
revenue billing meter. The prototype DVR built by Westinghouse
for EPRI was installed in August, 1996 on the Duke Power
Company (North Carolina) 12.47-kV system at an automated yarn
manufacturing and weaving factory where it provides protection
from disturbances coming from the utility distribution system that
serves the plant. This paper describes the prototype DVR
installation and presents early results from the demonstration
project.
Keywords: Inverter, IGBT, Custom Power, DVR, Dynamic

Voltage Restorer, power quality, voltage sag. series insertion.

I. INTRODUCTION
Problems with power quality that result in costly loss of
production to critical processes create a dilemma for both the
serving utility and the energy consuming customer. Since the
problem of production losses occurs on the customer's side of
the meter, it is also on the customer's side where the success
of any power quality problem mitigation effort must be
measured. However, the cause of the problem can originate
on either side. The optimum solution may be the result of the
application of system solutions andlor power quality
improvement equipment on either or both sides 11I.
Traditionally, for problems originating on the utility side,
the approach has been to work on the customer side to
desensitize critical loads while "cleaning up" the circuits on
the utility side. However, once these efforts have been
accomplished, there are still many situations where it is not
possible to provide sufficient improvement. In these cases,
the customer-side solutions usually become very expensive,
e.g. large uninterruptible power supplies (UPS),while on the

A. Sundaram, Member, IEEE

Electric Power Research Institute
Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA

utility side options to build new dedicated circuits or

substations may be very difficult and still not provide the
needed degree of improvement (isolation).
A survey of utility industrial and commercial customers
was conducted during May-June, 1992[2]. The purpose of the
survey was to determine the criteria used by these customers
in making decisions resulting in the purchase, installation and
operation of power conditioning equipment to assure
acceptable disturbance-free electrical service. In general,
customers understand that outages cannot be completely
eliminated on the power system. However, they are much less
forgiving when their processes are upset by momentary
disturbances which are usually more frequent than complete
outages. The majority of customers questioned stated that
they would prefer a utility-provided solution with the cost
included in their power bill as an alternative to the purchase,
installation, and operation of their own (customer-owned)
on-site equipment for the mitigation of power line
disturbances. The Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) has been
developed as part of the utility Custom Power Program to
provide just such a solution. The prototype DVR in a
portable trailer enclosure is shown in Fig. 1.

lI. DYNAMIC VOLTAGE RESTORER

The DVR employs IGBT solid-state power-electronic
switching devices in a pulse-width modulated (PWM)
inverter structure and is capable of generating or absorbing
independently-controllable real and reactive power at its ac

A paper mommend& and approved by

the IEEE Transmission and Distnbution Committee of the IEEE Paver
Engineenng SoceIy for pLbl cat on In the IEEE Transactions on Power
Delwary Manuscript oubmmed DeeemPer 19,1996. made available for
pnnting June 11, 1997
PE-796-PWRD4461997

Fig. 1. DVR pmtatypc installed on Duke Power system

0885-8977/99/$10.00 D 1997 IEEE

1182

output terminal. Its dc input terminal is connected to an

energy source or an energy storage device of appropriate
capacity.
The DVR is a solid-state dc to ac switching p w e r
converter that injects a set of three-phase ac output v
in series and synchronism with the distribution
voltages. The amplitude and phase angle of the i
voltages are variable thereby allowing coitrol of the reh a&
reactive power exchange between the DVR and the
distribution system within predetermined positive (power
supply) and negative (power absorption) limits. Fig. 2 shows
the PWM main inverter structure within the prototype
portable trailer enclosure.
The reactive power exchanged between the DVR and the
distribution system is internally generated by the DVR
without any ac passive reactive components, e.g. reactors or
capacitors. Real power exchanged at the DVR ac terminals
must be provided at the DVR dc terminal by an external
energy source or energy storage system.
In Custom Power applications, the DVR is connected in
series with the distribution feeder. By inserting voltages of
controllable amplitude, phase angle and frequency
(fundamental and harmonic) into the distribution feeder via a
series insertion transformer, the DVR can restore the
quality of voltage at its load-side terminals when the quality
of the source-side terminal voltage is significantly out of

Fig. 2. Output of two 1-MVA PWM main inverters is combined

magnetically to provide 2MVA of insertion capacity.

r sensitive load equipment. Fig. 3 shows

DVR to restore line voltage to critical loads
sed by faults on adjacent feeders or on the
transmission system.
voltage, the DVR
For large variations (sags) in the
ies partial power to the load f r c h a rechargeable energy
e attached to the DVR dc terminal. During normal line
voltage conditions following the sag the energy storage
device is recharged from the ac system by the DVR. Even
without stored energy, the DVR-can compensate for the
variations of terminal voltage due to load variations by
inserting a lagging voltage in quadrature with the load current
thus providing continuously variable series capacitive line
compensation. The DVR can also limit fault currents by
injecting a leading voltage in quadrature with the fault current
thereby increasing the effective fault impedance of the
distribution feeder.

111. DVR SERIES INTERCONNECTION

The DVR is connected to the utility primary distribution
feeder in series. The series interconnection as shown in Fig. 3
is required to allow the inserted voltage waveform to add to
the utility system voltage. The sum of the line voltage and the
insertion voltage becomes the restored voltage seen by the
critical load. Because it is series connected, the DVR will see
the full load current as well as any fault currents due to
downstream faults. The rating of the DVR inverters becomes
the limiting factor for normal load current seen in the primary
windings and reflected in the secondary windings of the series
insertion transformer.
For line currents exceeding the inverter rating, a bypass
scheme is incorporated to protect the power electronics. The
interconnection equipment employed in the bypass is shown
in Fig. 4. Since the main bypass breaker is a conventional
electromechanical breaker that closes across the primary
winding of the series insertion transformer, the closing time is
typically 4 to 6 cycles. During this closing time, protection is
provided to the power electronics by a solid-state SCR
thyristor shorting switch that closes across the secondary
terminals of the insertion transformer.
The bypass system is the means by which the DVR
equipment is protected from abnormally high downstream
load or fault currents. It is a fail safe system in that the
DVR can be taken off line or placed back on line without
disturbing the critical customer load. The isolation switches
shown in Fig. 4 perform the DVR isolation function.
Experience with the bypass system has shown that it operates
as designed and does not disturb the critical downstream load
either when taking the DVR off line or bringing it on line
during initial startup or following a bypass operation.
The prototype installation interconnection equipment was
placed overhead on separate pole structures. Four poles are
visible in Fig. 5 behind the DVR trailer enclosure that support
the two disconnect breakers, bypass breaker, and three-phase
auxiliary power transformer cluster.

1183

adjacent feed

Swikhihg or

C l l l M Plan.in*

VOLTAGE
RESTORER

Critical Customer
Load

fig. 3. Series-connected DVR supplies "missing" voltage waveform during sags.

IV.DVR HIGH POWER TEST

Prior to shipment to the demonstration site, the DVR was
first installed at the Waltz Mill (PA) test facility near
Pittsburgh for a series of full power tests. The test
mangement allowed the DVR to be connected to the utility
12.47 kV feeder through a standard vacuum circuit breaker.
The test load included reactive, resistive and non-linear
rectifier load elements that could be combined to provide a
range of kW loads with various power factors and harmonic
current. Voltage sags were imposed on the Vh waveform by
switching various impedance elements in series with the
incoming feed. Fig. 6 shows a typical sag response of the
DVR during the high power testing. Fig. 6. A. shows a 40
percent sag imposed on V, with the resulting DVR response
(Vhhn) shown as Fig. 6. B. with the restored (V,od)shown in
Fig. 6. C.

benign disturbances were observed on the distribution feeder

serving the critical load. The disturbances were benign in
that they would not have caused process disruptions, but they
did allow an early opportunity to observe the DVR response
in the actual installation at the critical load. Fig. 7 shows one
of these early sag events that occurred on two of the three
Customer

V. DVR OPERATING EXPERIENCE

Before the decision was made to employ the DVR to
mitigate process interruptions due to voltage sags,
considerable work was performed by Duke Power to improve
the power quality performance of the 12.47-kV primary
distribution feeder system serving the automated yarn and
weaving plant. Also, the voltage sensitive drives and other
process loads in the plant were "hardened" so as to be able to
survive a 33 percent sag in supply voltage (0.67 per unit
retained voltage).
Once the DVR was installed at the demonstration site and
placed in service in August, 1996, a number of relatively

/+e/
AC Filter

Capacitor
Energy
Storage

DC to AC
Inverter
Capacitor

Fig. 4.One-line diagram of DVR series interconnection with utility distribution feeder.

1184

load equipment capability, it caused no problem for the

critical load.
Mitigation of the single-phase sag event shown in Fig. 8
required approximately 2.5 percent of the available stored
energy contained in the DVRs capacitor energy storage
system. Had this event occurred on all three phases,
correspondingly it would have required approximately 7.5
percent of the available stored energy.

Fig. 5. DVR prototype installation showing polemounted

interconnectionequipment.

phases resulting in a two-phase, 13 percent sag (0.87 per unit

retained voltage) lasting for approximately 7 cycles. The
DVR responded as expected and restored V, to 1.O per unit.
Early in the DVR demonstration, a deep sag (0.22 PU
retained voltage) was experienced that required the maximum
53 percent inserted voltage from the 2MVA DVR. The

A . Llna
1.0
1 .6

:
i
:

0.0

hate B

1011 0

10:1 2:20:10

1.0

0.1

1 .6

.o

Voitape

1.0

.0.6

0.6
0.0
0

.0.6

.*.o

.1.0

.(.I

.1 .I

.I .o

-2 .o

2 .o
1 .6

1.0
0.6

0.0

0
-0.6

-1

.o

.1

.s

4.0

TI..

c . Lond

Vollnga

.P h a s e

(m*.o)

Tlm.

c . L o a d Voltage - P h a t e
C

1 .I

1 .I

1 .o

..,

0.0
0

-0.6

0.0
0

.0.6

.o

.l.O
-1 .6

. l .6
.l

1.0

0.5

0.6

10110 1 O : l 2 : 2 0 : 1 0

2 .o

1.0

(rns.~)

.o

-2

Fig. 6. High power test sag response:

A. V, at DVR input terminals
B. V,,
from DVR inverters
c.v, restored voltage to critical load

.o

Fig. 7. DVR response to actual sag at critical load.

1185

Charlotte, uorth Car&na,

VI. FUTURE
The Dm represents a new lass Of Power
based equipment for application on electric utility distribution
systems that provides a powerful utility-side soluti
nagging power quality problems affecting voltage
critical process loads. Additional field installat
underway that will further extend the experience base.
installation presents a different power quality disturbance
environment as well as different system topology and load
characteristics making the modular inverter and energy
storage system structures highly desirable for flexibility of
application.

The effort described in this paper is funded by the U.S. and

International Affiliate member electric utilities of the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPR1), Duke Power Company Of
Line V o l t a g e

.P h a s e

10120

VIII. REFERENCES
[I]
[2]
[3]

VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A.

and Westinghouse Electric

Corporato develop and demonstrate new technologies for
Custom Power advanced distribution systems.
The authors recognize the contributions of the many
team who
members of the Westinghouse an
installation
contributed to the success of this
Ouse Science &
and Dr. Norman Ovick of the
Technology Center for his technical assistance.

15:48:02:30

2.0

[4]

N,~

i
~Introducing
~
~ CUSTOM
~
~ POWER,
i
, EEE SPECTRUM,
Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 41-48, June 1995.
EPRI Custom Power IndustriaUCommercial Market Study, EPRI
RP4000-42, June 1992.
N. Abi-Samra, C. Neft, A. Sundaram and W. Malcolm, The
Distribution System Dynamic Voltage Restorer and its Applications
at Industrial Facilities with Sensitive Loads, Prweahngs of the 8th
International Power Quality Solutions 95 presented at
POWERSYSTEMS WORLD 95 Conference & Exhibit, Long
Beach, CA, September, 9-15, 1995.
R. Nelson, J. kgro, G. Gurlaskie, N.Woodley, M. Sarkozi and A.
Sundaram, Voltage Sag Relief: Guidelines to Estimate DVR
Equipment Ratings, Proceedings of American Power Conference,
Vol. 58-H, April 1996, pp. 1338-1343.

1.5

P
U

IX. BIOGRAPHIES

1.0

0.5

; 0.0

-0.5

-1.0

-1.5
.2.0

Tim.

B. I n s e r t e d V o l t a g e . P h a s e

(maeo)

10120

16:48:02:30

2.0
1.5

1.0

0 0

0.5

Larry Morgan (M 90) is a 1974 graduate of Clemson University with a

BSEE. From 1974-81 he served in various field engineering positions for
Duke Power. From 1982-90 he developed purchase and construction
standards in transformers, fusing, co-generation, and load flow software.
He specializes in T&D-served industrial equipment with sensitivity to
utility-side events. He is a member of PES and IAS currently serving as
Secretary to WG1346 (Recommended Practice for Evaluating Electric
Power System Compatibility with Electronic Process Equipment) and
Chairman of 1159.2 (Task Force on Characterization of a Power Quality
Event) and Chapter Chairman of the Custom Power Task Force on Input
and Output Characteristics.

-0.6

-1.0

-1.5
-2.0

2.0
1.5
1 .o

0.6

Neil H. Woodley ( M 1965, S M 1969) was born in Iowa. He received the

BSEE and MSEE degrees in 1961 and 1965 respectively from Iowa State
University, Ames, IA. His employment experience includes Stanley
Consultants, Muscatine, IA, Portland General Electric Company, Portland,
OR, Solar Energy Research Institute (now National Renewable Energy
Laboratory), Golden, CO,and Westinghouse Electric Corporation where he
is now involved in the commercialization of power electronics-based
FACTS and Custom Power equipment for electric utility application. His
work has been primarily in the field of electric utility T&D systems analysis
and planning.

0.0
-0.5

.l.O
. I .5

-2.0

Fig. 8. Waveforms from actual deep sag event:

Ashok Sundaram (A 1991) is a project manager in the Custom Power

Distribution program of the Distribution Business Unit at the Electric
Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. He directs R&D projects
in the areas of power electronics and power quality. Ashok holds a BSEE
from the University of Madras, India and a MSEE from Southern Illinois
University. He has also completed course work toward the Ph.D in
Electrical Engineering

1186

DISCUSSION
Toshihisr Funabashi, Senior Member, Meidensha Chporation,
36-2, Nhonbashi-hakozakicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-8515, Japan:
The authors presented their experience to install the prototype
series compensator, which they call DVR@ynamic Voltage
Restorer), on the existing power system. Field experience will ba
appreciated by engineers who have plans to apply a series type
custom power system on their power systems. Before the field test
results of DVR are available on public papers, it might be useful
for us to know the way how the DVR inverter is controlled. From
the paper it can be seen that the objective of DVR is to protect a
critical customer plant load h m power system voltage
disturbances. If so, DVR must be controlled in the same way as
SSSC(Static Synchronous Series Compensator)[A] i.e. based on
the measured voltage signal, switching control signal is sent to
voltage source inverter to adjust the power system voltage to the
predetermined reference voltage. But in figure 4 of this paper no
PT or CVT is presented. Is the control scheme based on current
measurement by three CTs presented in figure 47
It is important, in applying a compensator to the power system
especially for a case of series type device, to consider the
protection scheme fiom over-current, over-voltage, and harmonic
disturbance caused by other special loads such as arc fiunace or by
a fault occurring on the power system. In chapter 3 of thispaper a
bypass control scheme to protect the power electronics h m load
current and fault current is described. MOV might be effective
when it is inserted in parallel with the solid state bypass for overvoltage protection. Hot and cold start performance of DVR h m
various system conditions should be considered. In addition, when
the fault occurs on the transmission system or the adjacent feeder
the harmonic disturbance will be imposed on voltage sags or
swells. These harmonics might be harmfid to the customer's load
and might affect the DVR hardware andor the accuracy of
inverter control.@3] It might be necessary to consider the effect of
these hmnonics in practical applications.
References
L. Gyugyi, C. D. Schauder and K. K. Sen, "Static
[AI
Synchronous Series Compensator: A Solid-state!
Approach to the Series Compensation of Transmission
Lines," 1996 IEEWES Winter Meeting, 96 W M 1206 PWRD, J ~ ~ W21-25,1996
IY

PI

2. Wolanski and B. T. Ooi, "Conceptual Study of a

Shunt Power Quality Compensator," 1995 IEEE/PES

S~mmerMeeting, 95 SM 392-1 PWRD, July 23-27,
1995

N.H. Woodley, L. Morgan, A. Sundaram: We

wish to thank the discussers for their interesting
comments and questions. The discussers suggest
there is a similarity between the method of control
employed in the DVR and that of the SSSC: While
the comparison is a logical one from the standpoint
of the power electronics and DSP control schemes
used in both, the authors wish to call attention to
the relative speed of response required for the

mitigation of transient voltage disturbances by the

DVR on the distribution system vs. compensating
for synchronous and subsynchronous phenomena
011 the transmission system. The DVR speed of
response requirement is considerably faster.
The load-side CT's shown in the paper Figure 4 are
used to provide the three phase line current input to
the power quality monitoring device that provides
a record of the DVR performance. Source-side
CT's (not shown) provide the line current input to
the DVR control. An additional set of CT's (not
shown) are installed in the primary circuit of the
series insertion transformers for purposes of
providing the insertion transformer current vector
input to the control system. VT's are installed on
the distribution feeder on both the source and load
side of the bypass breaker for purposes of DVR
control and power quality monitor inputs.
The discussers suggest that MOV protection might
be effective in parallel with the solid-state bypass
shorting switch on the secondary of the insertion
transformer. While this is certainly possible, the
authors would caution that the MOV will
necessarily be rated for the fault current that will be
seen until the mechanical bypass breaker on the
primary side of the transformer closes. Shuntconnected MOV surge arresters are, indeed,
incorporated on the solid-state bypass shorting
switch to eliminate excessive TRV effects.
Since the basic inverter structure employed in the
DVR is a PWM inverter, it is capable of generating

fundamental and higher than fundamental

frequency voltages which may enable the reduction
of lower order harmonics (i.e. 3rd,5"', and 7"') under
steady state conditions from adjacent feeder and
upstream transmission non-linear sources that may
be electrically close to the DVR. Higher order
harmonic voltage cancellation requires high PWM
switching frequencies resulting in higher switching
frequencies and reduced load VA capability.
Generally, in the opinion of the authors, harmonic
voltages greater than the 7* harmonic are not
significant on utility distribution systems and are
not known to create "real" problems for customers.
Following the demonstration of the prototype DVR
described in the paper, commercial installations
have been completed at a food processing plant, a
large paper mill, and in a utility substation where
the DVR protects an entire distribution feeder with
over 1500 commercial and residential customers.
Additional systems are being installed on two
semiconductor manufacturing plants in the U.S.
and Southeast Asia.
Manuscript received March 3 1, 1998.