Optimization of Shunt Reactor Sizing for Reactive Power Compensation in Offshore Wind Farms-A Comparative Study

Excessive capacitive reactive power in offshore wind farms, mainly due to submarine cables, can cause voltage instability and the violation of grid codes. This paper investigates optimal shunt reactor sizing to minimize the reactor-induced increase in system losses while satisfying regulatory requirements. Traditional methods, including a pared-down approach and sequential quadratic programming, are compared against metaheuristic algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and grey wolf optimizer (GWO). A two-stage case study evaluates reactive power imbalance and optimizes reactor sizing for a 495 MW offshore wind farm located off Taiwan’s west coast. Results show that metaheuristic algorithms, especially GWO, achieve better loss reduction and adaptive sizing than traditional methods. Thus, highlighting the necessity of onshore reactive compensation for grid compliance.