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How the two simultaneous control loops in a three-phase LV STATCOM work, and what each one can and cannot correct.

1. Summary

• The EcoVAR uses three independently controlled single-phase inverter stages connected to one shared DC bus.
• A Volt-VAR droop curve sets reactive power as a function of measured voltage. The EcoVAR evaluates that curve against each phase voltage separately, so one phase can absorb VArs while another injects them.
• A second loop, Active Power Balancing, runs at the same time. It moves real power from lightly loaded phases to heavily loaded phases through the shared DC bus.
• The two loops correct different things. Reactive power shifts each voltage as well as the average voltage; active power transfer corrects the difference between phases and reduces neutral current. Neither substitutes for the other.
• Both loops operate from voltage measurement only. No series current transformers are required, so installation does not depend on breaking the conductor.

2. What a Volt-VAR droop curve does

A Volt-VAR droop curve is a piecewise-linear rule that converts a measured voltage into a reactive power command. It is defined by four voltage set points and applied continuously, without operator intervention or a network communications link.

Below the lower set point the STATCOM sources reactive power (capacitive operation), which raises voltage at the point of connection. Above the upper set point it sinks reactive power (inductive operation), which lowers voltage. Between the two inner set points the output is zero. That deadband stops the unit from responding to normal small voltage variations.

The EcoVAR follows the generator sign convention: a positive reactive power reference is capacitive (sourcing VArs), a negative reference is inductive (sinking VArs). The characteristic is as described in AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 and similar international standards like EN50549, with leading and lagging slopes that can be set symmetrically or asymmetrically.

3. Configurable set points

All four set points are user-configurable from the EcoVIEW engineering tool or by uploading a settings file through EcoFLEET Manager. A limited set is also available over DNP3 and Modbus.

Set point	Range	Function
V1	180 – 225 V	At and below V1 the phase holds maximum capacitive output.
V2	185 – 250 V	Lower edge of the deadband. Capacitive output falls linearly from V1 to zero at V2.
V3	185 – 260 V	Upper edge of the deadband. Inductive output starts here.
V4	190 – 277 V	At and above V4 the phase holds maximum inductive output.

Rated output is 40 kVAr total, 13.33 kVAr per phase, available in both directions across 210 V to 277 V. The unit continues to operate down to 180 V at a maximum continuous 63.5 A per phase, and tolerates connection to any voltage from 0 V to 280 V without damage.

4. Three inverter stages, one DC bus

The EcoVAR is not a single three-phase bridge producing a balanced output. Each phase is served by an inverter stage with its own current control loop, and all three stages are connected to a common DC bus. Two consequences follow directly from that architecture.

First, each stage can be commanded independently. The droop curve is evaluated three times each control cycle, once per phase, against that phase’s own measured phase-to-neutral voltage. One phase reaching its current limit does not constrain the other two.

Second, active (real) power can be moved between phases. Because the three stages share a DC bus, power drawn from one phase can be injected into another without a battery and without any net exchange of energy with the network.

5.  A single characteristic, three independent evaluations

The three phases share one droop characteristic — the same four set points and the same slopes apply to all of them. What is independent is the input and the output, not the configuration. Each stage measures its own phase voltage and produces its own reactive power command from the shared curve.

This is what allows the EcoVAR to reduce voltage unbalance rather than simply shift the whole voltage profile. On a feeder where L1 sits at 252 V under high PV export and L3 sits at 228 V under load, the same curve puts L1 into full inductive operation and L3 into capacitive operation at the same instant.

The unit can alternatively be configured to act on the average of the three phase voltages. That mode is available for networks whose standards require it, but it gives a poorer voltage outcome for customers and is not the recommended setting.

6.  The second loop: Active Power Balancing

Reactive power alone corrects voltage well on reactive networks. On resistive LV networks — underground cable, long aluminium mains, heavily loaded urban feeders — voltage responds more strongly to real power than to reactive power, and reactive injection alone cannot bring the phases together.

Active Power Balancing addresses this. The EcoVAR takes the three phase voltages as a proxy for phase loading: a higher voltage implies a lighter load, a lower voltage implies a heavier one. It then transfers real power from the lighter phases to the heavier ones in proportion to the voltage differences, subject to the constraint that the three phase powers must sum to zero. This reduces current unbalance on the feeder and neutral current at the transformer.

Using voltage as the proxy avoids series current transformers. That removes both the cost and the outage that a CT installation would otherwise require.

Two modes are provided. Gain-based transfer injects real power per phase in proportion to the deviation from the average voltage, with a user-selected P or Q priority that determines which is curtailed first if a phase reaches its apparent power limit. Optimal X/R computes a reference apparent power per phase from a voltage droop and then splits it into active and reactive components according to the source impedance X/R ratio, which is taken from the network model or estimated at commissioning. Active Power Balancing is disabled by default and is enabled per site.

7.  Why both loops are needed

The two loops are subject to different constraints, and that is the whole reason for running them together.

	Volt-VAR droop (Q)	Active power balancing (P)
Quantity controlled	Reactive power per phase	Active power transfer between phases
Network constraint	Limited only by the per phase apparent power rating of the unit	Sum of the three phase powers must be zero
Effect on average voltage	Can raise or lower all three phases together	None — the three voltage changes sum to zero
Effect on unbalance	Reduces it, most effectively on reactive networks	Reduces it, most effectively on resistive networks
Effect on neutral current	Indirect	Direct reduction at the transformer
Default state	Enabled	Disabled — enabled per site

If all three phase voltages are high, transferring real power between them cannot bring any of them down, because whatever one phase gains another must lose. Only reactive power can move the average. Conversely, on a resistive feeder with one badly loaded phase, reactive power struggles to close the gap and real power transfer does it efficiently. Running both loops covers both cases across the full range of LV network impedances.

8.  Control loop timing

Function	Response
Internal current control loop	10 – 90% rise and fall in 2 ms or less
Volt-VAR droop response (ramp-rate limited)	Default 5 s, to keep the steady-state response smooth. However, can be set sub-cycle for fast response, typically when Active Power Balancing is disabled.
Voltage sag and swell limiting	10 ms time constant; overrides the droop response
Reactive current overshoot	No more than 5% of steady-state output

The current loop is fast enough to respond within a tenth of a cycle. The droop response is deliberately slowed to five seconds so that the unit regulates steady-state voltage rather than chasing transients. Fast events are handled separately: if a phase reaches 180 V or 277 V, the sag and swell function commands maximum reactive power with a 10 ms time constant and overrides the droop.

9.  What to specify at commissioning

• Four droop set points, plus symmetrical or asymmetrical slopes.
• Per-phase control enabled, or average-voltage mode if a network standard requires it.
• Active Power Balancing: disabled, gain-based, or optimal X/R.
• For gain-based operation: P priority or Q priority, chosen from the local X/R ratio — Q priority for overhead and other reactive feeders, P priority for cable and other resistive feeders.
• For optimal X/R operation: the X/R ratio, from the network model or estimated during commissioning.

For settings files, network studies or a copy of the EcoVAR ALTO user manual, contact EcoJoule Energy at sales@ecojoule.com or your regional distributor.  

Australian energy grid technology company EcoJoule Energy has secured its first sale into Malaysia, marking another significant milestone in the company’s international expansion and adding one of Southeast Asia’s most important electricity markets to its growing global footprint.

The sale to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s national electricity company and operator of the electricity grid throughout Peninsular Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur, includes multiple EcoVAR™ ALTO pole-mounted STATCOMs and EcoSTORE™ pole-mounted Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) units.

The first shipment of EcoVAR units left Australia this week, with the EcoSTORE units to leave in approximately eight weeks.

The agreement further expands EcoJoule Energy’s international presence, which now spans almost ten countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Israel and now Malaysia.

EcoJoule Energy Founder and CEO Dr Mike Wishart said the new sale reflected growing global demand for technologies that help electricity networks manage the growth of renewable energy and the impact on the energy grid.

“Malaysia represents an important new market for EcoJoule and demonstrates the increasing international recognition of Australian innovation in electricity network management,” Dr Wishart said.

“Across the world, network operators are facing many of the same challenges. As solar penetration continues to increase, particularly on distribution networks, utilities need smarter and more flexible ways to manage voltage stability and power quality.”

“We are seeing strong demand for STATCOM technologies because they provide a highly effective solution for maintaining grid stability, while enabling greater levels of renewable energy integration.

“Utilities are looking for practical, cost-effective tools that help them manage the energy transition without relying solely on traditional network augmentation that can cost tens of millions of dollars.”

“The challenges facing electricity networks in Asia, Europe and Australia share a common theme – the transition to cleaner energy is creating increasingly dynamic and complex power flows. EcoJoule’s technologies are designed specifically to help networks adapt to that transition efficiently and sustainably.”

EcoJoule Chief Commercial Officer Martin van der Linde said the Malaysian deployment highlighted the versatility of the company’s technology platforms and its ability to address a broad range of network challenges.

“Our EcoVAR and EcoSTORE platforms have been developed to solve some of the most pressing issues facing modern electricity networks,” Mr van der Linde said.

“What makes the technology unique is its ability to address multiple challenges through a flexible, pole-mounted solution that can be rapidly deployed where it is needed most.”

“Whether utilities are dealing with voltage variability caused by rooftop solar, phase imbalance, peak demand constraints, increasing electrification, or the need for distributed energy storage, our technology provides network operators with greater visibility, control and flexibility.”

“The global energy transition is creating increasingly complex energy flows throughout distribution networks. EcoJoule’s solutions help operators manage that complexity while maximising the use of existing infrastructure and improving reliability for customers.”

EcoVAR™ is a pole-mounted Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) that uses advanced power electronics and software to regulate voltage and reactive power on low-voltage networks in real time. The technology enables network operators to integrate greater levels of distributed renewable energy and electrification technologies while improving power quality and reducing the need for costly network upgrades.

EcoSTORE™ is EcoJoule’s pole-mounted battery energy storage platform, designed to provide distributed storage capacity within local electricity networks. The system helps manage peak demand, supports renewable energy integration, improves network resilience and enables more efficient utilisation of grid infrastructure.

The Malaysian project follows a series of successful deployments of EcoJoule technologies across Australia and international markets, reinforcing the adaptability of the company’s solutions across diverse network conditions and regulatory environments.

Established nearly a decade ago, EcoJoule Energy is a 100 per cent Australian-owned company providing innovative solutions that help electricity distributors integrate renewable energy, improve power quality and manage grid reliability.

A D-STATCOM (Distribution LV STATCOM) and a feeder augmentation can both bring an LV feeder back inside voltage limits. They differ in how much engineering, land access and switching work sits between identifying the problem and the network being compliant. Four reasons the D-STATCOM path is shorter.

1. A D-STATCOM uses the existing poles and wires

An augmentation project changes the network’s physical assets. That means a feeder civil design: pole loading and strength assessment, conductor selection, clearance checks, possible easement or land acquisition for a new substation site, and design approval before any works order issues.

A D-STATCOM changes the network’s electrical behaviour without changing its topology. The EcoVAR Alto mounts on an existing pole; the EcoVAR Terra sits on a pad. Both connect to the existing LV mains. No conductor replacement, no new feeder route, no land acquisition. The civil design and land access critical path is removed, not shortened.

2. D-STATCOMs connect in parallel, not in series

A series device sits in the supply path. Installing it requires an LV outage, customer notification and a switching programme, and once installed it becomes a single point of failure between the transformer and the customer.

A D-STATCOM connects in parallel through its own protection. Consequences for delivery:

• Installation is a live connection — no planned outage, no notification process, no switching programme.
• An internal device fault operates the device’s protection and disconnects the unit. Supply to customers is unaffected; the network returns to its pre-installation condition.
• No new customer-interruption failure mode is introduced into the supply path, so the reliability case is straightforward.

3. One construction design per LV line type, used network-wide

The D-STATCOM installation is feeder-agnostic. The arrangement depends on the line construction, not on the feeder’s loading, length or fault level.

In practice, standards teams develop one standard arrangement per LV construction type in their network — bare conductor, aerial bundled conductor, underground pad-mount — and then apply it everywhere. Design effort becomes a one-off standards exercise rather than a per-project one. Once the standard arrangement exists, each subsequent site is a works order, not a design job.

4. The settings are generally common to every site but can be easily modified if required

The EcoVAR combines two control systems in one unit:

• Volt-VAR reactive control for voltage regulation and power factor.
• Simultaneous active power balancing control (patented) that transfers real power between phases to correct imbalance and neutral current.

Both controls act in closed loop on conditions measured at the point of connection. They are generally not tuned to a modelled feeder, so the setting file does not change site to site. One approved setting file covers the network. On occasions, for unusual sites (eg. Excessively weak low voltage feeders) the settings can be easily remotely modified.

That has direct operational consequences: spares are interchangeable across the fleet, a hot swap needs no re-engineering, and a crew can redeploy a unit from one site to another without a new study.

The net effect

The first D-STATCOM deployment carries the standards work: one arrangement per line type, one approved setting file. Every deployment after that is procurement plus a works order. Augmentation repeats the design, approval and outage cycle at every site.

Next step: EcoJoule can provide sample GA drawings for EcoVAR D-STATCOM installations, together with standard configuration for the Volt-VAR Droop curve. Contact EcoJoule for more information.

Australia’s low-voltage networks are facing growing pressure from rooftop solar, EVs and changing patterns of electricity demand. For network engineers, managing the resulting voltage and power-quality issues has traditionally required costly and time-consuming network augmentation.

EcoJoule Energy’s EcoVAR D-STATCOM provides an alternative. Installed directly on the LV network, EcoVAR uses advanced power electronics to dynamically manage voltage, reactive power and phase imbalance without major infrastructure upgrades.

It does not replace augmentation where additional network capacity is required. Instead, EcoVAR gives engineers a faster, flexible and deployable option for addressing common LV constraints, improving network performance and potentially deferring capital expenditure.

Six problems now account for the majority of LV feeder complaints and constraint reports. The EcoVAR addresses all six from a single pole-mounted unit.

Problem	Typical cause on the LV feeder	EcoVAR response
Overvoltage	Reverse power flow from rooftop PV raising feeder voltage above the statutory limit, worst at the feeder extremities in the middle of the day.	Absorbs reactive power and rebalances phase loading to reduce voltage at the point of connection.
Undervoltage	Coincident evening demand from EV charging, heat pumps and air conditioning at the end of long feeders.	Injects reactive power and transfers real load between phases to raise voltage.
Voltage unbalance	Single-phase PV, EV chargers and heat pumps connected unevenly across the three phases.	Actively transfers real power between phases, reducing unbalance, peak phase current, neutral current and feeder losses.
Voltage sags	Step changes in LV load such as motor starting, welding plant and DC fast charging.	Sub-cycle detection and response limits the depth and duration of sags originating on the LV network. Sags originating from upstream HV faults are outside its scope.
Harmonics	Rectifier front ends in PV inverters, EV chargers, variable speed drives and switched-mode power supplies.	Active harmonic filtering injects counter-phase current on selected harmonic orders.
Flicker	Fluctuating load and rapidly varying generation on high-impedance and SWER-fed networks.	Continuous dynamic response holds voltage through the fluctuation, reducing Pst and Plt.

Why the excursions matter

Consequence	Why it drives action
Regulatory compliance and licence risk	Steady-state voltage limits are a statutory or licence obligation. Sustained excursions are reportable non-compliance, and the duty to correct sits with the distributor regardless of which connection caused it.
Customer complaints and cost to serve	Each excursion generates complaints, site visits and repeat investigation on the same feeder until the cause is found. Complaint volume is itself a reported performance measure.
Equipment that will not operate	Voltage outside the operating window causes EV chargers to derate or stop, PV inverters to trip and lose customer generation, and sensitive electronics to fail. As electrification scales, a charger that will not deliver is read by the customer as a network failure.

Why these problems are growing

The LV network was designed to deliver diversified, unidirectional power to loads of a few kilowatts each. Four changes have invalidated that design basis, and all four act on the same conductors:

Change	Effect on the LV network
Gas heating to heat pumps	Adds several kilowatts of coincident winter evening load per premises.
EV charging	Adds 7 to 22 kW single-phase point loads with high coincidence after work hours.
Rooftop PV	Reverses power flow for part of the day and raises voltage at the feeder extremities.
High power electronics	Injects harmonic current and concentrates load unevenly across phases.

The network was never built for bidirectional flow at these power levels, and rebuilding it to suit is not economically feasible at the scale or pace the transition requires.

The traditional answer: augmentation

Augmentation resolves the constraint by reducing feeder impedance or adding capacity. It works, and it carries a fixed set of costs on every project:

Cost driver	What it means in practice
Bespoke engineering	Site-specific design, load flow study and construction package for each location.
Approvals and access	Easements, consent, traffic management and environmental approvals.
Lead time	Design to energisation typically measured in months, against constraints that are emerging in weeks.
Customer outage	Planned interruptions to complete the work, with the associated notification and reliability impact.
Stranding risk	Capital committed to one location for the life of the asset, whether or not the constraint stays there.

What the EcoVAR does differently

The EcoVAR is a low voltage D-STATCOM. It differs from a conventional STATCOM in one respect that matters on LV feeders: it combines Volt-VAR reactive control with active phase balancing.

LV feeders are resistance-dominated. A conventional STATCOM controls voltage by exchanging reactive power, which acts on the reactive component of line impedance. On a feeder with a high R/X ratio that lever is limited, which is why reactive-only compensation is often ruled out for LV voltage correction.

The EcoVAR also transfers real power between phases through its 864 VDC secondary bus, acting on the resistive component. The two mechanisms together give the EcoVAR voltage authority on feeders where reactive compensation alone would not be sufficient, without reconductoring.

Installation and deployment

Attribute	EcoVAR
Installation time	Under two hours on a single existing pole.
Outage required	None. The unit is connected live to the LV network.
Engineering per site	None. No bespoke design package, no reconductoring.
Redeployment	The unit can be relocated when the constraint moves, so capital is not stranded.

The cost comparison

EcoJoule compares options on an equivalent annual cost (EAC) basis, which normalises assets with different capital costs and different lives. On that basis, modelling across a range of network cases shows the EcoVAR annualised cost is generally one third or less of the augmentation option that resolves the same constraint, driven by lower installed capital and the ability to redeploy the asset. The result is more constraint resolved per dollar of capital budget, and a lower cost outcome for the customers who pay for the network.

EAC outcomes depend on the augmentation scope being displaced, the discount rate and the asset lives assumed. EcoJoule can run the comparison against your own assumptions.

Where augmentation is still required

The EcoVAR does not add conductor or transformer rating. That matters less in practice than it first appears, because of how LV constraints actually present:

Constraint	Role of the EcoVAR
Genuine thermal limit on a balanced feeder	Augmentation is required. The EcoVAR restores voltage compliance within two hours while the augmentation project moves through the backlog, then redeploys to the next site once the works are energised.

Deferral economics

Because the unit is redeployable, it does not have to displace an augmentation project to earn its return. It only has to delay it. EcoJoule’s modelling indicates a deferral of approximately two years is sufficient for the EcoVAR to return its cost across most network cases. Where the augmentation backlog already exceeds twelve months, that threshold is largely met by the queue alone.

Where voltage non-compliance is already occurring and the augmentation project is a year or more from energisation, the alternative to the EcoVAR is not a faster upgrade. It is another year of non-compliance.

Request the comparison for your network

The EAC cost comparison model and supporting application notes are available on request.

sales@ecojoule.com

EcoJoule Energy has released a commissioning checklist for the EcoVAR ALTO™ 40 kVA LV STATCOM. It is available to EcoJoule customers and their appointed installation contractors on request.

A trained crew installs and commissions an EcoVAR ALTO™ in under two hours, with no LV outage. Most of that time is mechanical. The commissioning steps that follow give clarity for a successful installation.

EJ-FRM-OPS-CHECK-0071 covers seven stages, from receipt of the pallet to signed sign-off:

• Pre-installation ground checks
• Site and mechanical installation
• Electrical connection
• Inspection before commissioning
• Startup and commissioning procedure
• Operational verification
• Commissioning sign-off

Every check is referenced to the section of the EcoVAR ALTO™ User Manual that explains it, so a crew resolves a question at the pole rather than calling the depot.

The sign-off page records serial number, pole or asset number, modem IP address, settings applied and first-run measurements.

Document details

Document ID	EJ-FRM-OPS-CHECK-0071
Title	EcoVAR ALTO™ Commissioning Checklist
Version	1 — initial release
Issued	14 August 2026
Applies to	EcoVAR ALTO™ 40 kVA LV STATCOM (Model EV40), pole-mounted on the LV overhead network
Availability	EcoJoule customers and their appointed installation contractors, on request

How to request a copy

Email service@ecojoule.com. If you have an installation programme starting, tell us the crew size and we will walk your commissioning engineers through the EcoFLEET™ steps beforehand.

About EcoJoule Energy

EcoJoule Energy designs and manufactures low voltage grid equipment in Loganholme, Queensland. The EcoVAR LV STATCOM regulates voltage, balances phases and filters harmonics on the distribution network.

What a connected EcoVAR gives a distribution utility, and how the connection is made.

Most utilities can describe the state of their HV and MV networks in near real time. Below the distribution transformer, the picture thins out. Smart meters report at the point of supply, usually on 15 or 30 minute intervals, and they tell you what a customer connection looked like, not what the feeder was doing between the readings.

An LV STATCOM sits in that gap. It is already measuring the LV feeder continuously, because it has to: voltage, current and harmonic content on each phase are the inputs to its control loop. Whether that measurement stays inside the unit or reaches your planning and operations teams is a decision made at installation, and it costs very little to make the right one.

This article sets out three reasons to connect your LV STATCOMs, and then the practical detail of how it is done on the EcoVAR.

1. Visibility of the LV network

A connected EcoVAR reports three classes of data that most utilities have never held for the LV network at scale.

Voltage. Per phase voltage, as well as STATCOM current, active and reactive power, at the point of installation, at a resolution well beyond metering intervals. Because the EcoVAR is typically installed at the electrical problem, at the end of a long feeder or on a section with heavy solar export, the data comes from the location where your planning assumptions are least reliable. Phase by phase reporting also quantifies imbalance directly, rather than inferring it from connection records that may be decades out of date.

Harmonics. Individual harmonic orders and total distortion, per phase, over time. Harmonic distortion on LV networks is rising with inverter based generation, EV charging and switched mode loads, and most utilities have no ongoing measurement of it. Connected EcoVARs give you a distortion baseline for the sections where you have units installed, and a time series that shows when distortion is worst and how it correlates with load and generation.

Oscillography. Triggered waveform captures around events: voltage dips, transients, and protection operations. This is the class of data that separates a monitoring device from a meter. When a customer reports flicker or equipment damage, a waveform capture from the LV feeder gives an engineer something to analyse rather than something to guess at.

None of this displaces smart metering. It complements it. Smart meters tell you about load profile and customer experience at the connection point. A connected STATCOM tells you about the behaviour of the feeder itself, including reactive power flow and distortion that metering does not report.

The data is available for export into network modelling, digital twin and visualisation platforms. Measured LV voltage and harmonic profiles improve the calibration of LV models that are otherwise built on assumed diversity factors and nominal impedances. For utilities running LV network visibility programmes, connected STATCOMs are an additional measurement layer at sites you were already investing in.

2. Remote adjustment of setpoints and droop curves

An EcoVAR is commissioned with a voltage setpoint and a droop characteristic that suit the feeder as it is understood on the day. Feeders change. Solar penetration increases, EV charging arrives, load transfers occur, and seasonal load composition shifts.

With communications in place, setpoints and droop curves are changed from the office. Without them, every settings change is a truck.

Conservation Voltage Reduction

Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) is the deliberate operation of the distribution network toward the lower end of the permitted voltage range in order to reduce energy consumption and peak demand. It works because a meaningful share of connected load is voltage dependent. Resistive heating, some lighting, motors and transformer no load losses all draw less power at lower voltage, and lower voltage also reduces network losses.

The metric used to quantify the effect is the CVR factor: the percentage reduction in demand or energy per one percent reduction in voltage. Published studies commonly report values of about 0.5 to 1.0 for active energy, with higher factors for reactive power and seasonal variation depending on load composition. Utility programmes typically report energy savings in the range of 1 to 4 per cent, achieved without any action by customers.

The constraint on CVR is the low point. A utility can only lower voltage until the worst served customer on the worst feeder reaches the statutory minimum. Everything above that point is headroom the utility cannot use.

This is where LV reactive support and CVR intersect. An EcoVAR clamps the voltage at the new setpoint on the network, controlling the voltage down the LV feeder, not simply at the transformer.

Communications make that relationship manageable. As a CVR programme is tuned, the target voltages at the LV support points need to move with it, seasonally and as the network changes. Doing that remotely across a fleet is straightforward. Doing it with field visits is not.

3. Condition monitoring and evidence led maintenance

The EcoVAR requires no scheduled maintenance. There are no filters to change, no fans to service and no consumables. Stated plainly, that means a time based maintenance programme adds cost without adding reliability.

The alternative is to attend site when the equipment tells you to. A connected fleet reports internal temperatures, converter status, alarm and event history, availability, and the reactive power the unit is actually delivering against what the network is asking of it. That supports three decisions a maintenance planner needs to make:

• Which units, if any, need attention.
• Whether a reported network problem is the STATCOM or the network.
• Whether units are correctly sized and set for the feeders they are on, or whether some are running at their limits while others are barely working.

The third point tends to be the one that changes budgets. Fleet data shows where a unit is under utilised and could be redeployed, and where a feeder has outgrown the support installed on it.

There is a fair objection here. If the equipment is maintenance free, why monitor it? Because maintenance free is a statement about scheduled intervention, not a claim that nothing will ever need attention. Monitoring is what lets you replace a calendar with evidence, and it is also what lets you prove availability to your own asset management function.

How to add communications to an EcoVAR

Physical provisions

Every EcoVAR provides:

• An RJ45 Ethernet data port for the communications device.
• A DC auxiliary supply, nominally 15 V, 15 W, for powering that device.

The utility selects the communications bearer. In practice this is usually a cellular router where no utility network exists at the site, or a connection into an existing utility WAN, fibre or mesh where one does. Because the EcoVAR supplies the router, no separate supply, meter or service connection is required. The communications device is powered from the asset it is monitoring.

Three communications paths

Path	What it delivers
DNP3	Integration into conventional SCADA and ADMS platforms. LV measurements and status appear in the system your control room already uses, extending SCADA visibility down to individual LV feeders.
Modbus	The same SCADA integration for utilities and RTUs standardised on Modbus. For utilities with mature SCADA and established cyber processes, DNP3 or Modbus is usually the path of least resistance.
Secure API	Connects the unit to EcoFLEET, the EcoJoule fleet management and configuration platform. EcoFLEET aggregates field performance data across the fleet, provides real time dashboards, and handles remote firmware and settings updates.

EcoFLEET is normally hosted within the utility environment, under the utility security controls. EcoJoule can host it for utilities that want an additional service layer, and that arrangement is agreed case by case.

The paths are not mutually exclusive. A common arrangement is DNP3 or Modbus into SCADA for operational monitoring and control, with the Secure API to EcoFLEET for engineering data, fleet analytics and firmware management.

What the data lets you find

Connected LV STATCOMs turn a class of LV faults from customer reported into utility detected:

• Harmonic sources. Distortion measured at multiple points identifies which section a source sits on.
• Blown LV fuses and open neutrals. These appear immediately as a phase level anomaly.
• Voltage excursions and flicker. With waveform evidence attached, rather than a description over the phone.

Historically the first indication of most of these was a customer complaint, which means the problem had already persisted long enough for someone to be affected by it, and long enough for the evidence to be gone by the time a crew arrived. A connected EcoVAR reports the condition when it occurs.

The commercial case in one line

The hardware provision is already in the unit. The incremental cost of connecting an EcoVAR is a communications device and its data plan. What you get in return is a settings change that costs nothing instead of a truck, LV data you have not previously been able to buy at this resolution, and a maintenance programme driven by condition rather than calendar.

If you have EcoVARs in service without communications, we can scope the retrofit against your existing units. If you are planning a deployment, the time to specify the communications path is now, while the installation is still on paper.

References on Conservation Voltage Reduction

• US EPA / ENERGY STAR, Voltage Optimisation and CVR: Evaluation, Measurement and Verification Best Practice.
• Diaz-Aguilo et al., Field Validated Load Model for the Analysis of CVR in Distribution Secondary Networks, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery.
• Padullaparti et al., Conservation Voltage Reduction with DERMS, Grid Edge and Legacy Devices, NREL, 2023.
• Assessment of Conservation Voltage Reduction in Distribution Networks with Voltage Regulating Distribution Transformers, Energies 16(7), 2023.
• Estimation of Conservation Voltage Reduction Factors Using Measurement Data of the KEPCO System, Energies 10(12), 2017.

EcoJoule Energy has completed the first export of its EcoVAR low-voltage distribution STATCOM to Portugal, opening a new European market for the Australian manufacturer.

The 40 kVAR three-phase units were built at the company’s Brisbane facility and dispatched this month. With the sale, EcoVAR technology is now in service across four continents — Oceania, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The export milestone follows a $15 million capital raise EcoJoule completed in 2025, led by Ellerston Capital and Fifth Estate Asset Management, and including a $3 million commitment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) through its Powering Australia Technology Fund.

The investment has supported EcoJoule to build manufacturing capacity, inventory and its commercial team, the foundations for meeting demand at home and, increasingly, overseas.

The EcoVAR is a low-voltage distribution STATCOM. It supplies dynamic reactive power, balances load across phases and filters harmonics directly on the distribution network.

It installs without a network outage, and helps distributors hold voltage within limits and connect more rooftop solar to existing feeders, deferring or avoiding conventional network augmentation.

Dr Wishart developed the EcoVAR after observing voltage problems firsthand while working at an electricity utility, drawing on a career formerly leading research and development for global multinational electrical companies.

“Portugal is the newest market to adopt the EcoVAR, and it shows technology designed and built in Australia is competitive globally. With CEFC’s support behind our scale-up, our task is to keep making it straightforward for networks anywhere to access it.”

Mr van der Linde recently joined EcoJoule as Chief Commercial Officer to lead the company’s global market development.

Phase balancing and harmonic mitigation before, during and after augmentation

Summary

Low voltage augmentation adds capacity and lowers impedance. It does not redistribute load between phases, and it does not remove harmonic current from the network. Both problems are growing on distribution networks for the same reason augmentation is being triggered in the first place: single-phase rooftop PV, single-phase EV charging, and inverter-connected load.

An LV D-STATCOM should therefore be specified as a permanent network asset. It performs two functions, continuous phase balancing and active harmonic filtering. No passive augmentation performs this at any cost, and the drivers behind both intensify as a feeder’s load and inverter population grow. Deployed early, it releases capacity from conductors and transformers that are already in the ground. After augmentation eventually proceeds for thermal reasons, it continues to manage the conditions the augmentation was never able to address.

This release sets out the engineering behind that position.

1.  Augmentation changes impedance, not composition

Conventional LV remediation works through impedance. Reconductoring increases conductor cross-section. A larger distribution transformer presents a lower source impedance. Splitting a feeder or adding a substation shortens the electrical distance to the worst-served customer. In each case the voltage consequence of a given current is reduced.

Phase imbalance is not a function of impedance. It is a function of how load and generation are distributed across the three phases, and of how that distribution varies through the day. Connection schedules are balanced at design. Real-time loading is not. Diversity between customers, uneven single-phase PV, and the arrival of 7 kW single-phase EV chargers all produce unequal phase currents on a nominally balanced feeder.

Augmentation attenuates the symptom. The neutral current that flows because of unequal phase loading is unchanged by a larger conductor; the voltage difference it produces between phases is reduced, in proportion to the impedance reduction achieved. Where the imbalance is severe, that reduction may not be sufficient. Where load subsequently grows — and augmentation is generally triggered by load growth — the voltage consequence returns.

An LV D-STATCOM addresses the current, not the voltage drop it produces. The EcoVAR transfers real power between phases through its DC link, drawing from the lightly loaded phases and supplying the heavily loaded one. The phase currents seen upstream of the point of connection are equalised. This is a continuous, closed-loop function that follows the load pattern through the day. No passive asset can do this.

2.  Hosting capacity is set by the worst phase, not the average

Where single-phase PV is unevenly distributed, the normal case, since installation follows customer decisions rather than network planning, the constraining phase reaches the upper statutory voltage limit while the other two retain headroom. Under AS 4777.2, inverters on the constrained phase respond with volt-watt curtailment. Export is lost on one phase while capacity sits unused on the others.

Augmentation raises hosting capacity uniformly across all three phases. It does not correct the asymmetry, so the worst phase remains the binding constraint. The headroom already present on the other phases stays inaccessible.

Phase balancing recovers that headroom. By equalising the phase currents, the voltage rise is shared rather than concentrated, and the curtailment threshold on the worst phase is pushed back. The gain is available from the existing conductor, at the existing rating, without an outage.

This is the more significant point for a network with a mature rooftop PV population: the constraint is frequently distributional rather than absolute. Solving it distributionally releases capacity the utility has already paid for, and returns the benefit to every customer on the feeder rather than to those who happen to sit on the favourable phase.

3.  Harmonic current is not removed by a larger conductor

Harmonic current injection on LV feeders is increasing from PV inverters, EV chargers, variable speed drives, switched-mode power supplies and LED lighting. The resulting voltage distortion is the product of the injected harmonic current and the network’s harmonic impedance at each order.

Lowering the source impedance through augmentation does reduce harmonic voltage distortion at the point of measurement, for a given injected current. That is a real benefit and worth stating plainly. It does not resolve the problem, for three reasons.

The current still flows.  A lower impedance path means harmonic current propagates further upstream, through the distribution transformer and toward the MV network, rather than being attenuated locally. The distortion is relocated rather than removed.

Transformers still carry it.  A replacement transformer carries the same harmonic load current and is subject to the same additional eddy current and stray losses. Thermal derating for harmonic content applies to the new asset as it did to the old one.

An active harmonic filter operates on the current directly. The EcoVAR measures the harmonic content at the point of connection and injects compensating current in counter-phase, so the distorted current is cancelled locally and does not propagate upstream. This function is independent of network impedance, and therefore unaffected by whether augmentation has been carried out. Its 864 V DC link provides the voltage headroom needed to slew injection current fast enough to track higher-order components, and to retain full capability at the top of the statutory voltage range.

4.  Deployment: same day, no outage, utility-controlled

The operational profile is as important to the case as the electrical performance, because it is where the contrast with augmentation is widest.

The EcoVAR is pole-mounted and connects in parallel through a set of LV fuses. Installation is carried out live. No customer outage is required, no switching programme, no civil work, no customer notification cycle. A crew installs and commissions in a single visit, on the same day the unit arrives on site.

Once energised, the unit is the utility’s asset in every operational sense. It logs phase voltages, currents, neutral current and harmonic content continuously. Settings are adjusted and firmware updated remotely, by the utility, without a site visit. There is no dependency on the manufacturer for routine operation, and no scheduled maintenance to programme.

Set against an augmentation that requires design, approval, procurement, outage planning and construction — and a capital cost one to two orders of magnitude higher — the D-STATCOM is a decision that can be made and executed inside the time it takes to scope the alternative.

5.  Sequencing across the feeder’s life

The functions above suggest an order of works rather than a choice between alternatives.

Deploy on the existing network.  Where a feeder shows voltage excursions with a significant imbalance component, an EcoVAR increases the usable capacity of the conductors and transformer already installed. Endeavour Energy and Ausgrid crews are completing installations in under two hours. Voltage complaints and PV curtailment are addressed on a timescale of weeks.

Augment when the constraint is genuinely thermal.  Load growth eventually consumes the headroom that balancing releases. When the limit is the current-carrying capacity of the conductor or the rating of the transformer, augmentation is the correct answer and a D-STATCOM is not a substitute for it.

The D-STATCOM continues.  At this point the feeder carries more load, more PV and more inverter-connected equipment than when the unit was installed. The imbalance and harmonic drivers are stronger, not weaker. The EcoVAR continues to perform phase balancing and active harmonic filtering — the two functions the augmentation did not deliver — on a network that now needs them more. It also continues to log at that point, which for most utilities represents a rare permanent measurement location in the LV network.

The unit’s role broadens over the life of the feeder: constraint relief first, then power quality management and network visibility. It is specified once and it stays.

6.  Understanding Siting of the EcoVAR

Siting is not among the constraints, and a few spans either side of the worst-served customer makes little practical difference. The unit does not warrant a detailed siting study. Given the STATCOM exploits upstream impedance, most installations range between halfway and ¾ of the way down an LV feeder. On a cost effective asset such as the EcoVAR, displacing works that cost orders of magnitude more, engineering effort spent optimising position is effort spent for no return. More detail on site selection is covered here: Site Selection for the EcoVAR D-STATCOM: Optimising Placement 

7.  Identifying a candidate feeder

The indicators are measurable and most utilities already hold the data. This is a screening exercise of minutes, not a study:

1. Voltage excursions on the feeder. If it’s 3 phase excursions, the STATCOMs reactive compensation manages it. Imbalance is managed by the combination of Reactive and Active Power Transfer
2. Uneven single-phase PV and EV Charger distribution across phases
3. Rising voltage total harmonic distortion, or customer equipment complaints without a corresponding thermal constraint

Where any of these indicators are present, a single unit on a live feeder produces measured before-and-after evidence from the utility’s own network within weeks — at a fraction of the augmentation cost, and with no outage required to obtain it.

EcoJoule Energy designs and manufactures the EcoVAR LV D-STATCOM in Brisbane, Australia.

Australian energy technology company EcoJoule Energy has secured a Grid Enhancing Technologies Grant (GET) Program to support the deployment of its innovative technology that improves the efficiency and capacity of Australia’s electricity networks.

EcoJoule Energy is one of 14 successful grant recipients announced by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen as part of a $30 million investment in projects designed to create a smarter, more efficient and resilient electricity system.

The funding will support EcoJoule Energy to demonstrate how advanced network optimisation technologies, including the EcoVAR Alto and the EcoSTORE Alto, can help electricity distribution networks manage voltage, increase their capacity to accommodate renewable energy and make better use of existing infrastructure.

EcoJoule Energy CEO Dr Mike Wishart welcomed the grant and thanked the Australian Government for supporting the continued development and deployment of Australian-developed and Australian-made grid technology.

“We welcome the Australian Government’s investment in Grid Enhancing Technologies and thank Minister Bowen and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for their support,” Dr Wishart said.

“Australia’s energy system is undergoing a fundamental transformation as rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources become a larger part of the energy mix,” Dr Wishart said.

“This transition is creating new challenges for electricity networks, particularly at the low-voltage level. It is also creating an opportunity to use smart, flexible technologies to get more from the infrastructure we already have.

EcoJoule Energy develops and manufactures advanced power quality and battery energy storage systems for distribution electricity networks in Australia and international markets. The company’s technology is currently in use in nearly a dozen countries on four continents.

The technology helps network operators manage voltage, improve power quality and accommodate growing levels of customer energy resources (CER).

Dr Wishart said the GET Grant Program recognised the important role Australian innovation would play in modernising the nation’s electricity grid.

“Australia is a global leader in the adoption of rooftop solar, but realising its full value will require greater investment in the distribution networks that connect homes and businesses,” he said.

“Network optimisation technologies can address voltage constraints and release additional capacity without relying solely on major new infrastructure.

“This project will provide valuable evidence about how these technologies can be deployed more broadly to benefit networks, consumers and the wider energy system.

“EcoJoule is proud to be contributing Australian-developed technology and expertise to this important national program.”

The GET Grant Program forms part of the Australian Government’s Rewiring the Nation program. The 14 successful projects will operate across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

Four criteria that determine whether distributed storage holds up in a low-voltage network that is no longer balanced.

The low-voltage network is no longer balanced, and it is not returning to a balanced state. Single-phase rooftop solar, single-phase EV charging and uneven load growth mean that voltage imbalance across the three phases is now the normal operating condition on most feeders.

This has a consequence for distributed storage that is often overlooked in procurement. The reliability of a distributed battery is not only a question of cell chemistry or warranty terms. It is a question of whether the asset keeps delivering in the network as it actually is, whether it avoids the failure modes that take enclosed batteries offline, whether it can be restored quickly when it needs service, and whether the operator retains control of it once it is connected.

Those four criteria are where a specification for distributed storage should focus.

Correcting the network the asset operates in

Modern networks are being driven towards unbalance. The prevalence of high power single phase generation and loads – such as PV or EV charging – introduce unbalance that interferes with 3 phase inverters that lack STATCOM capabilities.

In an unbalanced feeder, the modern utility grade BESS with STATCOM capabilities regulate each phase independently, absorbing or injecting reactive current per phase to bring phase voltages back within limits, and it maintains that correction continuously while it charges or discharges real power. It creates its own voltage headroom, then uses it.

A conventional three-phase BESS injects balanced current across all three phases. Where the feeder is already unbalanced, or sitting near a per-phase voltage limit, that inverter has little room to deliver its rated real power. It curtails, or it trips. The more single-phase DER and EV charging on the feeder, the more often this occurs.

As imbalance becomes the standard condition, an asset that corrects the condition it operates in is materially more resilient than one that depends on the condition being favourable. The specification point is independent per-phase real and reactive control, maintained continuously during charge and discharge.

Operating without air conditioning

This removes one of the most common failure and maintenance points in enclosed battery systems. Air-conditioning is an active mechanical system with its own compressors, fans and refrigerant circuit. When it fails, the battery it protects is exposed, and it is a recurring service item over the life of the asset.

It also removes the parasitic load that air-conditioning draws continuously, which improves round-trip efficiency: less of the stored energy is lost to running the enclosure. It lowers the acoustic footprint of the asset, verified by type testing, which matters wherever storage is sited near residential or community areas.

The specification points are an auxiliary-load ceiling, an acoustic limit expressed in dB(A) at a stated distance, and no active mechanical cooling as a single point of failure. Passive cooling meets these on engineering merit.

Modular service by unit swap

Modern distributed storage keeps the inverter/STATCOM and the battery enclosure as separate modules. Damage or a scheduled service event in one module is contained to that unit; the other is unaffected.

For the operator, this changes the maintenance model. Field service becomes a module swap against a spare, rather than an on-site repair. The site is returned to service in a short, planned window, and the damaged module is repaired off-site. Spares can be pooled across a fleet, so the effective mean time to restore is the time to swap a unit rather than the time to diagnose and rebuild one in the field.

Uptime therefore becomes a property of the deployment model, not only of the hardware. The specification point is independent replaceability of the power conversion and storage modules without decommissioning the other.

Operator control of the asset

Cybersecurity compliance is paramount, and legacy BESS that require a manufacturer connection or phone home introduce cybersecurity risks. Modern BESS communicate over, widely supported protocols: DNP3 and Modbus, fully controlled by the operating utility. There should be no mandatory link back to the manufacturer, and the asset does not require any connection to the vendor to operate.

This means the network operator owns the control, software and firmware lifecycle. The asset is held to the operator’s own compliance and security posture, and kept within network compliance conditions by the operator. Remote support from EcoJoule is available if the operator wants it, but it is optional, not built into how the system runs.

There are power conversion systems manufactured in Australia. For operators applying trusted-origin or sovereign-supply criteria to grid-connected devices, an increasingly common part of procurement, that origin is a material point.

The specification points are open protocol support, no mandatory vendor communications, operator ownership of the firmware lifecycle, and trusted origin of the power conversion equipment.

What this means for planners

A reliable distributed battery is one that keeps delivering in an unbalanced network, avoids the failure modes that take enclosed batteries offline, can be restored inside a short planned window, and stays under the operator’s control. None of these is decided after installation. They are architectural choices — a per-phase STATCOM front end, passive cooling with no active HVAC to fail, separable modules, and open protocols with no vendor dependency — made in the design of the asset.

These key design choices are integrated in the EcoJoule EcoSTORE pole mount BESS.

Specified as outcomes rather than mechanisms, these four criteria give a procurement team a defensible basis for selecting distributed storage that will hold up in the network as it actually operates.