Evaluation of existing optimal VAr planning tools on utility systems

Findings of an EPRI project conducting a comprehensive evaluation of optimal VAr planning/OPF tools are reported. Three selected tools were adapted to address VAr allocation studies on four large-scale utility systems. The results obtained indicate that the use of such tools offers significant savings in cost of added MVAr requirements and the number of allocated sites with reasonable and manageable computer execution times. Based on the adaptation requirements for the different programs and studies conducted, recommendations on enhancement areas for the selected tools are provided. One of the major concerns in these studies should be the implementability of the results. This requires careful design including assignment of controls and constraints that can be implemented in the field together with the available tools to provide such requirements