Reactive Power and Voltage Control Issues in Electric Power Systems

Abstract

This chapter was prepared primarily for "non power" engineers to intro- duce reactive power and voltage control concepts, and to identify several issues that remain as research challenges in this area. It begins with ba- sic definitions and information on reactive power, and then focuses on problems that have been known for many years and have surfaced re- cently in power system operations. These problems are described in the framework of traditional security analysis used in control centers throughout the world. The research challenges identify areas where collaboration between power systems engineers and applied mathemati- cians could yield major advances in power system reliability.