A comprehensive approach to classify reactive power consumption in transmission technologies

Abstract

Reactive power consumption is an essential feature of any electrical equipment applied in electrical power systems. To accomplish its main task, i.e. the transfer of active power, an electrical device interacts with the system it is connected to. A common aim is to reduce the reactive power flow on the terminals of the equipment to a minimum. Therefore it’s necessary to compensate the reactive power consumption by means of adequate measures. This can’t be reached without precise investigation on the sources of reactive power emergence. This paper investigates the physical phenomena underlying the reactive power behavior of HVAC and HVDC transmission technologies. After having introduced a common mathematical definition of active, apparent and reactive power, reactive power is categorized and the concept is applied to analyze the aforementioned technologies.