Reactive power control in distribution networks with dispersed generators: a cost based method

The reactive power service is one of the control area ancillary services that must be in place to make the electric energy delivery possible. It may be of interest to examine the advantage of providing the necessary reactive power support by local devices, namely shunt capacitors or Dispersed Generators (DG) where available. To this purpose the paper first defines costs for the service performed by these devices, then it proposes an optimal co-ordination method which allows distributors to select, for every operating condition, the more profitable combination of reactive sources in order to maintain the network voltage levels within a desired range and to minimise the regulation action global cost.