Application of Active Power Filters for Distribution Network Performance Enhancement

The phenomenal growth in electricity demand due to population growth, industrialization, and the inadequacy of generation, transmission and distribution capacities have affected the quality of power and the overall performance of the entire power system network. In order to minimize the effect and reduce the huge cost of capacity expansion, performance enhancement of the existing transmission and distribution system which can be achieved through load compensation. Load compensation is one of the well-recognized methods for its contribution to the reduction of energy losses, along with other benefits; such as power factor correction, increase of the transfer and operation capacity of distribution networks. The presence of substantial single-phase loads, large industrial loads and the recent increase in the use of power electronic-based devices/equipment in both industrial, commercial and residential sectors due to advancement in technology and the need for energy efficiency measures contribute to the degradation of power quality in the distribution networks. The quality of electricity supply is vital as it affects both the utility and its customers. An effective compensation technique is required to solve these problems and improve the performance of the system. This paper, therefore, presents the mitigation of unbalance, reactive power and harmonic distortion for performance improvement using active power filter.