About Reactive Power:

In recent years, the reactive power control has been the subject of a systematic study as it plays
an important role in maintaining a secure voltage profile in a large scale transmission system.
Though it is a byproduct of alternating current systems, it is needed for the acceptable
functioning of various electrical systems such as transmission lines, motors, transformer, etc.
It is essential for the operation of all most all of the electromagnetic energy devices for
producing the magnetic field. In some cases it is forcefully injected into the power system
network to maintain higher node voltage. Let us discuss the importance of reactive power in
brief.

What is Reactive Power?

It is the quantity that has become a fundamental concept to the analysis and understanding of AC
electric power system. In general, this quantity is only defined for Alternating Current (AC)
electric systems.
It is one of the total power components in an AC circuit that has its origin in the phase shift
between a sinusoidal voltage and current waveforms. It is defined as the amplitude of power
oscillation with no net transfer of energy

It is a consequence or byproduct of an AC system that travel back and forth in the power
conductor, i.e., flowing to reactive components from a source during one half cycle and back to
the source during another half cycle of an AC waveform.
The average value of power is therefore zero, which implies that the load never get consumes
reactive power. In case of a three phase circuit, at any instant reactive powers of three phases
add up to zero. To differentiate from active power which performs useful work, reactive power
is measured in VAR that stands for Volt-Ampere-Reactive, rather than in Watts.
It can be expressed as Q = S sin
Q = VI sin
Q = P tan
Where S = apparent power and P = active power.

Reactive power is temporarily stored in the form of electric or magnetic fields that flows back
and forth due to capacitive and inductive components. Reactive power can be generated as well
as absorbed by power transmission system elements by virtue of shunt susceptance and series
reactance respectively.
As discussed, it has its origin in phase shift, if current through a device lags the voltage, then the
device consumes reactive power. Depending on the phase shift between the voltage and current,
the amount of reactive power consumption of the device is decided.
Since the reactive power is simply moving back and forth in the line (transmission line or any
other conductor), it acts as an additional load. So the reactive power is considered for rating of
all cables, transformers, switchgear and other electrical equipments.
This implies that all those installations need to be designed for the apparent power which
considers both active and reactive power. If the reactive power exists in excess amounts, it will
greatly reduce the system power factor and hence lowers the operational efficiency. This causes
undesirable voltage drops, greater conduction losses, excess heating and higher operational costs.
In order to overcome these limitations, reactive power compensation techniques are generally
employed in electrical transmission systems to improve system efficiency and even for power
factor correction. On the other hand, reactive power is important for proper operation of
electrical equipment for several reasons that we will discuss briefly in this article. The aim of this
article is to give a normal statement that a sufficient quantity of reactive power is needed to run
many electrical devices as well as power system network and which is provided by the reactive
power sources exactly at the location where it is consumed.

Sources and Sinks of Reactive Power

Reactive power is generated or absorbed by many equipments connected to the power system
network. The reactive power flow through the network is therefore controlled by these
equipments. Let us have a look at these reactive power sources.

Generators: Synchronous machines able to generate or absorb reactive power depending upon
DC excitation to its field winding. It generates the reactive power when over-excited and absorbs
reactive power when under-excited. It is most commonly used source of reactive power for
voltage control.
Capacitors and Reactors: Capacitive and inductive devices are used in series and shunt
compensation techniques to control reactive power thereby to regulate system voltage and

stability. A capacitive compensator generates reactive power, whereas an inductive compensator

absorbs reactive power.
Series capacitor compensation is generally applied for transmission lines to generate reactive
power when it is most needed while shunt capacitors are installed at substations in load areas to
generate reactive power and for keeping voltage within limits. Reactors (shunt) are mainly used
to absorb the reactive power to keep the voltage down and also to compensate capacitive load on
the line.
Transmission Lines and Underground Cables: Both transmission lines and cables absorb and
generate reactive power. A heavily loaded transmission line consumes reactive power,
decreasing the voltage of the line whilst a lightly loaded transmission line generates reactive
power, increasing the voltage of the line.
Solid State Converters: There are several solid state converters in-use in power system operation,
such as HVDC converters. These converters always consume reactive power when they are in
operation. For this reason, most of the converters use reactive compensation devices to control
reactive power requirement of the converters.
Transformers: In order to produce a magnetic field, transformer need reactive power, therefore it
absorbs the reactive power. The reactive power consumption of a transformer depends on rating
and current loading.
Loads: There are many reactive power consuming loads that have a great impact on bus or
system voltage and stability. Some of these loads include induction motors, induction generators,
arc furnaces, discharged lighting, constant loads such as (induction heating, space heating, water
heating, and air conditioning.

Importance of Reactive Power

Reactive power is both the problem and solution to the power system network for several
reasons. It plays an important role in the electrical power system for various functions such as
satisfying the reactive power requirement, improving the voltage profiles, decreasing the
network loss, providing sufficient reserve to ensure system security in emergencies, and other
several functions. Let us discuss some of the reasons in brief, which makes reactive power so
important.

1.Voltage Control
A power system, therefore, must be designed so as to maintain those voltage variations by
providing voltage-control equipment at suitable places. The most common method of
maintaining the voltage profile is through injecting and absorbing reactive power. In general,
increasing reactive power causes the system voltage to rise while decreasing reactive power
causes voltage to fall.

The voltage control equipment is placed in two or more than two places (by avoiding long
distance transmission of reactive power due to excessive reactive power losses) in the power
system network because there will be different voltage drops in different sections of transmission

and distribution systems and also load characteristics will be different in various circuits of the
power system.
Most commonly this equipment is placed at power generating stations, transmission substations
and feeders.
Different techniques are used for controlling voltage in the power transmission line such as
excitation control, tap-changing transformers, shunt capacitors, series capacitors, synchronous
condensers, and boosters. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on
the suitability, availability and expensiveness, these methods are employed for controlling the
receiving-end voltage.
In case of highly loaded condition (i.e., reactive power demand is more than that of the supplied),
the more current is drawn from the supply that leads the receiving-end voltage to fall drastically.
If there exists greater voltage drop, it causes to trip the generating units, equipment failures and
overheating of motors.
Under this condition, automatic operating mechanism or relays activate the reactive power
equipment such that reactive power is increased (for instance, generator excitation terminal
voltage is increased to provide more alternating current to the alternator) to bring back the
voltage to rated value. This is also achieved with series reactors and series capacitors.
In case of light loaded condition (i.e., power demand is less than the supply of reactive power),
receiving-end voltage rises to a greater value. It will cause to insulation damage to machines,
lower power factor and automatic tripping of equipments.
Under this condition, additional reactive power in the lines is compensated by automatic reactive
power compensation equipments such as synchronous condensers, excitation control by
alternator, shunt capacitors and reactors.

2.To Satisfy Reactive Power Demand

Some loads such as transformers and HVDC converters need reactive power for their proper
functioning. When the loads have large reactive power demand, the voltage drop will take place.
As the voltage drops, more current will be drawn from the supply to maintain the power, causing
the lines to consume more reactive power and hence voltage drop further. This will lead to
voltage collapse if voltage drops too low. This voltage collapse causes to tripping of generators,
instability of the system and tripping of other equipments connected to the power system.

This voltage collapse is due to the fact that the power system unable to supply reactive power
demand of load which is not being met due to shortage of reactive power generation and
transmission.
In order to overcome this, reactive power sources like series capacitors are connected to the loads
locally where reactive power is required by the loads. However, utility companies charge
consumers as a penalty for reactive power demand if the loads draw excessive reactive power
over allowable reactive power demand.

3.To Reduce Electrical Blackouts

Inadequate reactive power in electrical power system network has been a major reason in power
outages in worldwide. As discussed, insufficient quantity of reactive power causes voltage
collapse that ultimately leads to the shutdown of generating stations and various equipments.
Some of these blackouts include, at Tokyo in July 23, 1987; at London in Aug 28, 2003; at
Sweden and Denmark in Sep 23, 2003.

4.To Produce Magnetic Flux

Most inductive loads such as motors, transformers, ballasts and induction heating equipments
require reactive power in order to produce a magnetic field. In every electrical machine, a part of
input energy, i.e., reactive power is consumed for creating and maintaining magnetic flux to do
so. However, it leads to lower the power factor. In order to achieve the high power factor,
capacitors are generally connected across these devices to supply the reactive power.
This is a small note on the significance of reactive power. Hope you get an idea on this concept.
Perhaps, you have a great knowledge on this topic, so please feel free to add any comments,
experiences and more information about this topic in comment section below.
Engr. Atikul Alam
Khulna University of Engineering & Technology
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