Quality of voltage supply in the Southern African context

The case for ensuring the quality of voltage supply in the context of the Southern Africa situation is discussed. Several considerations and examples of problems experienced in the Eskom grid are cited to illustrate that, if appropriate consideration is given to the quality-of-supply issue at the power system planning stage, significant future cost savings can be achieved. Important lessons may also be learned from the mistakes made in developed countries, where quality-of-supply considerations have only recently become topical. Based both on measurements on the Eskom system and on a survey of international standards, voltage distortion limits have been suggested for discussion by the various interest groups.