1

Dynamic Reactive Compensation: Reactive

Power Fundamentals
A.M. Gole, Fellow, IEEE

in the design of STATCOM and other voltage sourced

Abstract--The panel presentation is a tutorial on the concept of converter (VSC) based dynamic compensation devices.
reactive power and discusses its implications in power systems. Reactive power can be taken from one phase and distributed
The impact of reactive power on the system voltage as well as on to the others on an instantaneous basis, thereby removing the
component ratings and component size is discussed. The concept
need for large energy storage devices such as inductors and
of reactive power and the so called ‘instantaneous’ reactive
power are presented. Finally, the mechanisms for generating capacitors (as with Static Var Compensators) or rotating
reactive power using passive and active electrical apparatus are masses (as with synchronous compensators). Only a small
presented. The presentation is an introduction to more advanced amount of energy storage is needed to cater for small
dynamic compensation concepts to be covered by the other unbalances and for reducing harmonic distortions.
presenters
II. INSTANTANEOUS, REAL, REACTIVE AND COMPLEX
Index Terms—Reactive Power, Static Var Compensators,
POWERS
Synchronous Compensators, STATCOM, FACTS
A. Basic Definitions and Relationships
The instantaneous power p(t) entering a circuit element is the
I. INTRODUCTION
rate of change of energy entering the element. It is therefore

R eactive power is an important and sometimes difficult to

understand concept in power systems. The traditional
definition of reactive power assumes the sinusoidal steady
the product of instantaneous values of the voltage across the
element and the current through it. When the circuit is
operating in the sinusoidal steady state, the inner product of
state condition, and defines reactive power as the imaginary the phasor voltage V and the current phasor I is the apparent
part of the complex power, i.e. the product of voltage and or 'complex' power S. The real part of S is the average power
current phasors. The complex power, gives an idea of the P entering the element, and the imaginary part of S is the
peak power entering a device at any instance, whereas the 'reactive' power Q. The definitions of these quantities are
average real power is an indicator of the average power in the shown in (1).
device. Hence, the size and rating of the device is determined p (t ) = v(t ) ⋅ i (t )
S =V ⋅ I *
by complex power. (1)
P = Re( S )
The control of reactive power in a network is important
Q = Im( S )
because it also impacts the voltage magnitudes. By managing
this power using dynamic compensators, the voltages in the
network can be maintained at their desired values. Dynamic Consider the simple ac circuit shown in Fig. 1, which shows a
compensation devices often employ power electronic resistive-inductive circuit excited by a fundamental frequency
(50 Hz) ac source. Typical values of voltage and current are
converters. The concept of reactive power has to be revisited
shown in Fig 2 a, with the instantaneous power p(t) and real
in this concept. An “instantaneous reactive power” or
power (P) shown in Fig. 2b. The real power P is constant,
instantaneous reactive current is often defined as use. This
whereas p(t) oscillates at second harmonic frequency. Fig 2b
apparently contradicts the earlier definition which assumes a also shows plots of P+|S| and P-|S|, where |S| is the
sinusoidal steady state condition. However, this should be magnitude of the complex power S. It is clear that the
viewed as a signal that helps regulate voltage in the network magnitude of S is a measure of the deviation of the
and which in the steady state assumes the same value as instantaneous power p(t) around the average power P.
obtained from the traditional definition. Also, different
definitions of reactive power apply in non-sinusoidal
voltage/current situations.
In a balanced three-phase system, the sum of the reactive
powers in the three phases sums to zero. This fact is exploited
Fig 1. Simple R-L Circuit
A.M. Gole is with the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada (e-mail:
[email protected]).

978-1-61284-788-7/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

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 2

a)
1
For a three phase circuit, the instantaneous power on each
0.5
v( t) phase may oscillate at second harmonic frequency, but the
i( t) 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
total power on three phases adds up to a constant equal to the
− 0.5 three phase real power.
−1 Fig. 3 shows instantaneous power waveforms for a three
phase capacitor bank. The average power P, is also shown
t
b) 0.8 and is uniformly zero. This shows an interesting property of
three phase dynamic compensators such a two-level Static
p ( t) 0.6 Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM). Using a matrix of
P 0.4 semiconductor switches, instantaneous power from one phase
P+ S can be transferred to the others, without the need for
0.2 significant energy storage as shown in Fig. 4.Their energy
P− S
storage requirement can be very low (to account for
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 unbalances and harmonics only).
− 0.2

t
time (s)

Fig 2. Relationship between instantaneous p(t), real (P) and complex (S)
powers

This is why complex power is an important quantity in

electrical power engineering. While the average power is Fig 4. Three phase STATCOM constructed with matrix of switches
small, 0.3 pu in the case in Fig. 2, the instantaneous power can
reach a much larger value of 0.7 pu. The circuit element (here
the R-L circuit) must be large enough to store and release III. REACTIVE POWER COMPENSATION APPARATUS
energy to account for this deviation. Therefore the size and Some reactive power compensation devices are shown in Fig.
hence cost, of the element is determined by the complex 4. These can include static elements such as fixed inductors,
power rather than the real power. capacitors or filters; and dynamic devices that switch in and
When the element has no dissipative or source elements, it out these energy storage elements such as thyristor controlled
absorbs zero average power and by (1), the complex power S inductors (TCR) or thyristor switched capacitors (TSC) [1].
is all reactive, i.e. |Q| = |S|. Hence, the size and cost of any
reactive power producing element (such as an inductor or
capacitor) is governed by its reactive power rating. The size of
dynamic compensation equipment such as thyristor controlled
reactors (TCR) or thyristor switched capacitors (TSC) that
uses these elements is therefore directly a function of the
C
L

reactive power rating. The sign of reactive power can be

positive or negative. For inductors, the reactive power
C

C
L

entering is positive or lagging, and for capacitors, it is Inductor

negative or leading. or Filter TCR or TSR TSC
Capacitor
B. Three Phase Complex Power
Fig 4. Typical Reactive Power Compensating Devices using passive elements
for energy storage
1

Reactive power can also be provided by adjusting the

Pa ( θ ) 0.5 magnitude of a voltage source behind a reactance. An early
Pb( θ ) example of this is the synchronous compensator, which is a
synchronous machine delivering only leading or lagging
Pc( θ ) 0 120 240 360 reactive power. A more recently introduced device, shown
P in Fig. 5, is the STATCOM which was mentioned in the
− 0.5
previous section.

−1

θ
( degrees )

Fig 3. Three phase instantaneous power and real power in capacitive element

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 3

In this scenario, with an undervoltage situation, dynamic

compensation devices that are in automatic voltage control

5000.0 [uF]
2 2 2
Ica A Ag1 g3 g5
60.0 [MVA]
Usa
Icb B
#1 #2
B
Usav
operation, will continue to increase their reactive power
Usb
Icc C 115 [kV] C
supply with the aim of increasing the voltage. However, the

5000.0 [uF]
actual result will be the opposite, and the voltage will run
13.8 [kV]
Usc

g4
2
g6
2
g2
2
down. This is a case of voltage instability. In a power system,
STATCOM studies must be conducted to identify potential configurations
Fig 5. A Voltage Sourced Converter (VSC) Based Compensator: STATCOM
that may lead to voltage instability. Operating guidelines must
be set to minimize the chances of getting into such
configurations.

IV. SYSTEM IMPACT OF DYNAMIC REACTIVE V. REFERENCES

COMPENSATION
[1] N. G. Hingorani and L. Gyugyi, Understanding FACTS - concepts and
A. Voltage Control technology of flexible ac transmission systems, New York: IEEE Press,
2000.
Dynamically changing the reactive power supply at a busbar [2] CIGRE WG Report “Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) for
can affect the voltage at the busbar. Fig. 6 shows a simple Arc Furnace and Flicker Compensation” CIGRE WG 14.19, Sept 2003.
resistive load connected to an ac source by a transmission line
represented by its reactance Xl. By adjusting the magnitude of
the compensation reactance Yc (for example employing a VI. BIOGRAPHIES
TSC), the magnitude of the ac bus voltage can be affected. A.M. Gole (S-’77-M’82–SM’04–F’10) Ani Gole
obtained the B.Tech. (EE) degree from IIT, Bombay in
1978 and the Ph.D. degree from the University of
Manitoba in 1982. He currently is Distinguished
R=0
Professor at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Gole is a
Xl V member of the original development team for the
PSCAD/EMTDC program, and continues to conduct
Yc = wC

research on the modeling of power systems with embedded power electronic

R

apparatus. Dr. Gole is the year 2007 recipient of the IEEE PES Nari Hingorani
FACTS Award. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of
Manitoba, Canada.

Fig 6. Controlling busbar voltage V with reactive compensation

This basic voltage controlling ability can be used to achieve

improved system performance. For example, by controlling
the midpoint voltage of a long transmission line, the maximum
power transmission limit can be doubled. Very rapid control
of the reactive current, as is possible with fast acting dynamic
compensators such as the STATCOM can also be used to
rapidly control the voltage at an arc furnace connection
busbar, thereby greatly reducing flicker [2].
B. Voltage Instability
Dynamic reactive compensators work on the assumption that
increasing the reactive power supply (capacitive) increases
voltage, i.e. ∂Q / ∂V >0 . However, under certain circumstances,
for example when the value of line impedance Xl in Fig. 6 is
so large that Yc > (1/ Xl ) , increasing the reactive power supply
causes a decrease in ac voltage, i.e. ∂Q / ∂V <0 .

Fig 6. Voltage Instability

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