Cost-based reactive power planning in distribution system considering reliability

As demand continuously increases, the unavailability of supply to customers can lead to serious damage. Thus, distribution system planning in the view point of reliability is necessary. Reactive power compensation in distribution system has a number of advantages such as improving voltage regulation, improving power factor, reducing losses and so on. This paper presents a developed method for solving the cost-based reactive power planning problem in a distribution system to reduce system power loss and to improve system reliability. The proposed method is tested with a modified system from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Thailand. Satisfactory results are obtained.