APPLICATION OF SHUNT CAPACITORS FOR REDUCTION OF VAR FLOWS -ISSUES AND CONCERNS

摘要

Optimal reactive power flows contribute to reduction in technical losses and improving voltage profiles. Therefore reactive power management is critical for any power utility for maintaining an efficient transmission system. Various technologies are used for optimising the reactive power flows in the system. The most common VAR control techniques used by power utilities and Industrial consumers are the shunt capacitors. However, with the electronic revolution taking place, there has been rapid penetration of power electronic equipments in Indian industries. These loads are sensitive to power quality variations and are non linear in nature. Therefore with the dramatic increase in the non-linear loads the traditional reactive power management techniques like shunt capacitors are creating problems of power quality depending on the system parameters. Some of the common power quality concerns arising out of the interaction of these capacitors with the non-linear load are discussed in the paper.