Quick answer
Renewable Energy & Drives repairs, services and upgrades STATCOMs and DSTATCOMs from any manufacturer, including units the original maker no longer supports. That covers fault diagnosis, board and module repair, site-programmed spares, control platform upgrades, on-site rebuilds after fire or arc damage, and maintenance contracts, from workshops in Leicestershire and Wisconsin. Send a nameplate photo and a line on the fault and an engineer will tell you what to check first and whether a site visit is needed.
Key takeaways
- A STATCOM that trips, derates or will not start is usually a repair, not a replacement: the power hardware is built for decades and what fails is boards, capacitors, cooling and communications.
- Manufacturer support ending is a supply problem, not a condition problem. We hold and program spares, repair boards and upgrade control platforms so the unit keeps its grid code compliance.
- The first step costs nothing: send the nameplate and the fault and we tell you what we would check first.
A STATCOM is the piece of equipment that keeps a wind farm, solar farm or industrial site within its grid code by pushing reactive power into the network or pulling it out, thousands of times a second. When it trips, derates or refuses to start, the site is out of compliance and often off the network. The manufacturer's answer, if the manufacturer still exists, is frequently a new unit with a lead time measured in years.
This page is for the people who own or operate STATCOMs and DSTATCOMs: wind and solar farm operators, utilities, industrial sites with arc furnaces, rolling mills or large drives, and the contractors who maintain them. It sets out what we repair, service and upgrade, what it costs to find out, and how to start.
What we do
Fault diagnosis. A unit that keeps tripping on grid disturbances may be responding correctly to a supply problem rather than failing. We start by reading the event logs and, where the cause is unclear, with power quality root cause analysis at the connection point before anyone orders parts.
Board and module repair. Gate driver, regulator and control boards are repaired and tested rather than written off, which matters when the board is unique to your site. Inverter modules are rebuilt at component level: IGBTs, capacitors, snubbers and cooling.
Spares, programmed for your site. Every control board in a multi-site fleet is programmed for one location. Two boards can look identical and differ by a single component and a software revision. We confirm the site, program the board, and check every revision against that site before it ships, so a spare is a swap rather than an outage.
Control platform upgrades. When the control hardware or its operating system is out of support, we move the site-specific control software onto a current, supported platform and recommission the unit against the performance it was originally accepted to. The power hardware stays. On the fleets we support this includes the CCP5 to CCP9 migration, described in our STATCOM control system upgrade article (not yet live).
Obsolete parts. Low voltage breakers, the Ethernet switch between the master controller and the inverters, control boards built on components nobody makes: we qualify substitutes on a test set and hold a proven spare for every site that uses the same part.
On-site rebuild. When a section is damaged by fire, arc or water we strip it, clean it, source every part and rebuild it in place. Our account of rebuilding a burned-out DSTATCOM inverter on site shows what that looks like in practice.
Maintenance contracts and condition assessment. Quarterly and annual maintenance to the original schedule, condition data on capacitors, cooling and connections, and a named engineer who knows the unit. It is the cheapest way to avoid an emergency call.
Any manufacturer, including the ones that have left
We service STATCOMs and DSTATCOMs from other manufacturers as well as our own. Where the original maker has discontinued the product or left the market, we hold the documentation we have been able to acquire, reverse-engineer what we cannot, and build the spares. For the PureWave range, which we own, see our PureWave DSTATCOM, UPS and AVC support page (not yet live).
We also build new: three-level IGBT STATCOMs and medium voltage static VAR generators from our standard platforms up to plus or minus 3,600 kvar per system at 6 to 55 kV, with a 5 millisecond response. That matters for a repair customer for one reason: the people quoting your repair are the people who design the equipment, so the advice is the same whether the answer is a board or a new unit.
What typically fails, and what it costs to fix
| What fails | What you see | The usual fix |
|---|---|---|
| DC link and filter capacitors | Module trips, derating, capacitor alarms | Replace at module level; a planned outage |
| Cooling: fans, pumps, filters, heat exchangers | Over-temperature warnings, derating in summer | Service or replace; often a same-day job |
| Control and communications boards | Will not start, loses comms with inverters, nuisance trips | Board repair or site-programmed spare; control upgrade if the platform is unsupported |
| Connections and breakers | Arcing, tripping, heat marks | Remake, retorque, substitute breaker with rechecked protection settings |
| Fire, arc or water damage | Section out of service | On-site rebuild |
None of these is a reason to replace the STATCOM. The inverter stacks, transformers and steelwork are built for decades. Where condition testing shows the power hardware itself is worn out, or the site now needs more reactive capacity than the unit can give, we say so and quote the new build alongside the repair.
How it works
- Send us the nameplate and the fault. A photo of the nameplate, usually inside the control cabinet door, and a line on what the unit did: the alarm, what tripped, when it started. An engineer replies within one working day with what we would check first and whether a site visit is needed.
- Diagnosis and a written quote. Remote log review where the unit allows it, otherwise a site visit. You get an itemised quote before any work starts, with the refurbish and replace options side by side where both are realistic.
- The work. Board and module repair in our Leicestershire or Wisconsin workshops, or on site during a planned outage. Repaired parts are tested and warranted.
- Recommissioning. The unit is tested against its original acceptance performance, and the settings review that follows often finds reactive power capability that was never switched on.
Is your STATCOM tripping, derating, or out of support? Send a nameplate photo and a line on the fault to sales@renewable-d.com, or call +44 116 279 6131 (UK) or +1 414 562 6559 (US). An engineer replies within one working day.
Frequently asked questions
Can you repair a STATCOM the manufacturer no longer supports?
Yes. Loss of manufacturer support is a supply problem, not a condition problem. Renewable Energy & Drives holds or sources spares, repairs boards that are unique to a site, qualifies substitutes for obsolete parts on a test set, and upgrades the control platform when the original one is out of support, while the power hardware carries on.
How long does a STATCOM repair take?
A board or module repair from the workshop is usually days, and a site-programmed spare can be fitted in a planned outage. A control platform upgrade is typically a few days on site. An on-site rebuild after fire or arc damage is weeks rather than the months a replacement would take. A date is given with the quote.
Should I repair or replace my STATCOM?
Repair, in most cases. What fails is capacitors, cooling, boards and connections, all replaceable at a fraction of the cost of a new unit, with no lead time. Replacement makes sense when condition testing shows the inverter stacks or transformer are worn out, or when the site needs more reactive capacity than the unit was built for.
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