Evaluation of power factor correction on a system basis

IN planning future load capabilities for a system having integrated transmission and distribution facilities, it is important that the economic limits be known for supplying the system's reactive loads with shunt capacitors. In the majority of the many cases^1,2 dealing with the economics of capacitor application, treatment is made of only the resulting benefits to a particular portion of the system, or to a particular item of system costs, such as the savings in losses. A true evaluation of load power factor correction should, however, include all the simultaneously resulting benefits from the location of the capacitor back to the alternate source of reactive supply. The over-all benefits should be appraised on the basis of: 1. Costs for facilities to generate with synchronous equipment, transmit, and distribute reactive loads. 2. Costs for compensation of voltage regulation caused by the transmission and distribution of reactive loads. 3. Costs for losses. 4. Costs incurred because of changes in system stability limits.