Alstom receives first order for synchronous condenser from transmission grid operator TenneT in Germany

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Alstom has been awarded a contract to supply a synchronous condenser for TenneT TSO GmbH, a transmission grid operator. This technology generates adjustable reactive power1 to ensure grid stability, which is needed due to the upcoming closure of Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant in 2015, and the ever-increasing reliance on intermittent renewable energies. It will be installed in the new TenneT transformer station in Bergrheinfeld West, in southeast Germany. The new project is set to be complete by the end of 2015.

Alstoms scope covers the supply of a 400MVA TOPAIR generator adapted for synchronous condenser operation to produce adjustable reactive power (+250 MVar/-175 MVar), along with all the required auxiliary systems. In addition, Alstom will prepare the 150,000 m2 site for the new transformer station, and supply three air-insulated 380 kV substations, a generator transformer with an output of 300 MVA and a generator power switch.

With the increase in renewable energies we are seeing for example in Europe and the USA, we expect demand for adjustable reactive power generation to increase in the years to come, in order to provide greater stability when using intermittent power generation. The highly dynamic generation of reactive power will improve grid stability, says Axel Kossmann, Country Sales Director Germany at Alstom Grid.
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 1Reactive power = Share of electrical power in an Alternating Current circuit (particularly in a power supply system) that is used to generate electric and magnetic fields (in engines, for example) and therefore does not contribute to the actual power (also known as real power)

Press contacts
Beatrix Fontius (Alstom Germany) Tel: +49 621 329 2547 
beatrix.fontius@alstom.com

Aline Besselièvre / Elizabeth Wang (Alstom Grid) Tel: +33 1 49 01 67 60/ 61 23
aline.besselievre@alstom.com / elizabeth.wang-ext@alstom.com

Christopher English (Alstom Thermal Power) Tel: +33 1 41 49 26 85
christopher.english@power.alstom.com