Voltage Stability and Reactive Power - Introduction of Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources in a Power System

Abstract: The electricity demand increases rapidly, and in order to mitigate climate change the power production needs to be renewable and free from green house gas emissions. When solar and wind power are introduced in the system, voltage instability might become a problem. This study aims to investigate voltage stability and the effects of reactive power compensation. It is done by performing power flow analysis on a simulated power system model in Jämtland, Sweden, with a large share of wind power and a relatively small share of sun power. The simulations are made in MATPOWER (MATLAB). The results reveal that the voltage levels in this study remain stable, with the reactive power being the limiting factor. The use of passive reactive power compensators, like shunt reactors, does not keep reactive power levels in the system within set limits. This study shows that in order to achieve that, active reactive power compensators are required.