ITER Reactive Power Compensation Systems: analysis on reactive power sharing strategies

The goal of nuclear fusion is one of the most important challenges in contemporary research and technological development. Its achievability will completely change the energy scenario and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels in the production of electricity. ITER project is focusing the efforts of many countries and researchers in the demonstration of nuclear fusion achievability. Beside the challenges related to the physic of plasma any other challenges in the engineering filed must be faced to realize such an ambitious goal. Among them, the electrical power supply of the ITER superconductive coils will be very demanding. Due to the particularity of the load, the total reactive power requested will exceed the limits imposed by the Transmission System Operator imposing to implement dedicated reactive power compensation strategies. This paper focuses on the two reactive power compensation systems that will be installed at ITER site, focusing on their interaction in terms of voltage stability during fast variations, such as load rejection. As will be shown later in the article, two main strategies for the reactive power sharing are considered. Results concerning both strategies will be analyzed and discussed in terms of system stability and the respect of design voltage limits.