Abstract
The self-commutated Static Var Compensator (STATCOM) is expected as one of the most effective tools to enhance power system stability and has been applied world-widely in recent years. Since the first prototype of STATCOM was developed in Japan in 1980, continual efforts by utilities and manufactures drove the development forward to the practical application of STATCOM, resulting in the world-first application of 80MVA STATCOM using GTO thyristors in 1991, followed by the 80MVA STATCOM using GCT thyristors in 2003. Since then, the application of STATCOM has been extended to not only power utility systems but also industrial systems. This paper describes historical development events and engineer's efforts to develop the STATCOM, including some episodes.
