Reactive Power Compensation - Understanding the positive and negative sides - An Expert's View

Published On: Sep 04, 2018


‘Reactive Power’ – is it for real or imaginary? is it unavoidable or essential? a problem or a solution?

…these and many such questions encircle the term ‘Reactive Power’ in electrical networks. Often used in conjunction with another popular term in the electrical network – the ‘Power Factor’, and sometimes even erroneously used as its synonym, reactive power is of immense importance. With an increasing number of devices and equipment in the modern industrial or commercial set-ups being reactive in nature, the impact of reactive power and its compensation needs a far greater attention. Further, as more and more Utilities start to penalise or offer incentives to the End Users, depending on how they manage reactive power compensation, it is important to understand one’s responsibility in this area.

In a conversation with Dr. Priya Gokhale, Professor – Dept. of Electrical Engineering at JSPM’s Jayawantrao Sawant College of Engineering, Pune, we invite you to delve upon both the positive and negative sides of Reactive Power Compensation. Dr. Gokhale has worked in various capacities at the Utility side and has also gained an extensive exposure to ground realities at End User side in the course of her research. In this interview, she offers perspectives on both sides of the coin in context of reactive power, and more importantly, helps us see the third side on which the coin attains a perfect balance.

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