Bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) - enabling high penetration of renewables with synchronous condenser conversion technology (scct) the purpose of this award is to install a synchronous condenser at…

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $3,692,661 Cooperative Agreement under the Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience (CFDA 81.254) federal grant program to the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) division of the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The purpose of this award is to install a synchronous condenser at the Port Allen Generation Station on Kauai, Hawaii. The synchronous condenser will help regulate the Kauai grid by managing voltage, maintaining system inertia, and providing fault current to support the integration of high levels of renewable energy. This project will also demonstrate the conversion of a traditional fossil-fueled steam turbine power plant into a synchronous condenser that consumes no fuel while providing critical grid services. The award period is from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029.

Bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) - enabling high penetration of renewables with synchronous condenser conversion technology (scct) the purpose of this award is to install a synchronous condenser at the port allen generation station (pags) on kaua'i, developed through conversion of an existing, but essentially stand-by steam turbine generator. The synchronous condenser will allow the kaua'i grid to be regulated more effectively by managing grid voltage, ensuring adequate system inertia is maintained, and providing adequate short-circuit current to operate protection devices. The project will also demonstrate the conversion of a traditional steam turbine power plant providing fossil-fueled real power to a synchronous condenser which consumes no fuel while providing inertia, voltage support, and fault current for high-renewable electric grids which are dominated by inverter-based resources. This demonstration could be replicated for local, regional, and interregional grid enhancement, while advancing electric system decarbonization through improved interconnected operation with inverter-based renewable power sources.