Techno-economic analysis of reactive power sources

This paper presents different options to provide reactive power in electricity grid systems. Since conventional power plants are being phased out and the reactive power demand tends to increase, alternative technologies are needed to cover it. reactive power sources are being defined and specified in this submission. A technical evaluation and an economic analysis of selected reactive power sources are carried out, based on interviews with manufacturers and operators. As well a multifactorial techno-economic comparison of the evaluated reactive power sources is presented. The technical analysis addresses reactive power control-ranges, stochastic parameters, lifespans, electrical losses and dynamics of re-active power sources. It states that power electronics allow faster setpoint changes than mechanical technologies can achieve, but at the same time this is associated with the highest electrical losses of the reactive power sources considered here. Considering the economic analysis, relative investment costs per reactive power of conventional compensation systems turn out to be the most cost-efficient. With regard to the multifactorial techno-economic comparison, it is im-portant not only to standardize on reactive power that can be provided, but also to include the additional system-relevant properties of technologies in the evaluation as well as the costs in operation.