RXPE 150 Mvar STATCOM Cuts Arc Furnace Flicker at Tenaris TAMSA
- C&I Storage News Power Factor Power Quality Voltage & Reactive Power
Marin Holt
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- 5 minutes read
- RXPE, a Shenzhen-based power electronics manufacturer, commissioned a 34.5 kV / 150 Mvar delta-connected STATCOM at Tenaris TAMSA’s steel plant in Veracruz, Mexico on November 19, 2024.
- The system, working alongside a 110 Mvar harmonic filter bank, addresses flicker and reactive power problems caused by the plant's three electric arc furnaces totaling 189 MVA of combined capacity.
- By November 28, 2024, nine days after commissioning, the STATCOM had operated without fault or alarm.
- Short-time flicker (PST) dropped from 3.80 to below 0.86 — beating the Mexican grid code limit of 1.0.
- Long-time flicker (PLT) fell from 2.82 to below 0.67, against a target of 0.8.
RXPE, a Shenzhen-based power electronics manufacturer, commissioned a 34.5 kV / 150 Mvar delta-connected STATCOM at Tenaris TAMSA’s steel plant in Veracruz, Mexico on November 19, 2024. The system, working alongside a 110 Mvar harmonic filter bank, addresses flicker and reactive power problems caused by the plant’s three electric arc furnaces totaling 189 MVA of combined capacity.
By November 28, 2024, nine days after commissioning, the STATCOM had operated without fault or alarm. Short-time flicker (PST) dropped from 3.80 to below 0.86 — beating the Mexican grid code limit of 1.0. Long-time flicker (PLT) fell from 2.82 to below 0.67, against a target of 0.8. Power factor at the 230 kV grid assessment point reached above 0.99, exceeding the 0.95 contract requirement.
System Architecture
The STATCOM uses PP-IGBT (press-pack insulated gate bipolar transistor) technology in a delta configuration, rated at 34.5 kV. It operates alongside H2, H3, and H4 harmonic filter capacitor banks providing 110 Mvar of fundamental reactive compensation. The combined system controls voltage fluctuations, flicker, harmonic distortion, and phase imbalance during furnace operation.
The plant connects to a 230 kV grid with a short-circuit capacity of 4,563 MVA. The primary furnace — a 135 MVA top-feeding arc furnace — produces load swings that, without compensation, generated a PST of 3.80. Two refining furnaces rated at 24 MVA and 30 MVA add to the reactive demand during heat cycles. Tenaris TAMSA’s Veracruz facility produces 1.2 million metric tons of seamless steel pipe per year for oil and gas applications, according to SteelOrbis.
Why It Matters
Electric arc furnace flicker is one of the hardest power quality problems to control at the utility interface. Arc furnaces draw load in short, irregular bursts — each heat cycle creates rapid reactive power swings that conventional capacitor banks cannot track fast enough. A STATCOM injects compensating reactive current in milliseconds, following the arc furnace cycle in real time. That speed is what allows PST to drop from 3.80 to under 1.0 rather than just being partially reduced.
The global steel industry’s shift toward electric arc furnaces — driven by lower carbon emissions compared to blast furnace routes — is increasing the number of high-flicker loads on grids worldwide. According to Global Energy Monitor, the Tenaris TAMSA plant operated its EAF starting in 2012 with a 160-tonne furnace capacity. As more steelmakers add EAF capacity, utility grid codes in countries like Mexico are tightening PST limits to protect neighboring industrial and residential customers from voltage flicker.
Critical Perspective
The performance data cited here comes entirely from RXPE’s own case study. No independent measurement by CFE (Mexico’s national utility) or a third-party power quality engineer has been published. Delta-connected STATCOM configurations face negative-sequence current risks under unbalanced load conditions that Y-connected systems avoid; RXPE does not disclose the negative-sequence limits or unbalance performance of this installation. The 9-day fault-free window is a short validation period for a system expected to operate for 20 or more years.
