Power moves: Synchronous condensers make a comeback

enabling more renewables to connect to the grid. Andrew Wade looks at how industrial giant ABB is working with National Grid to explore the fresh potential of this 1950s technology.

In terms of the disparity between a thing’s importance, and the average person’s knowledge of how that thing works, electricity grids must be right up there. Most people have some grasp on how electricity is generated via various sources, and many of us can make a decent effort to wire a plug at the other end, but the bit in between can be somewhat complex and a bit of a mystery, for non-engineers at least.

In the UK, thankfully, it’s not something that troubles us day to day, as invariably when we switch something on, it works. However, this uninterrupted supply of electricity at our fingertips requires a careful balancing act, maintaining a frequency of 50Hz across the UK grid as well as stable voltage at the various different stages of transmission, from plant to plug.