Reactive power compensation and voltage control in Jinan power distribution system

The main reasons of voltage and reactive power problems in Jinan power distribution system are unreasonable network structure, large load change ranges, lack of reactive power compensation and voltage regulation means. Based on engineering practice and current technology, some measures are presented for solving these problems. An optimal voltage regulation method is proposed for medium and low voltage (from 10kV to 0.4kV) distribution network. The regulating frequencies of no-load tap changers and capacitor banks are properly limited. Operating conditions are selected to cover load variations during a long period of time. The combinatorial optimization problem about tap-changers and shunt capacitors is solved by tabu search technology to get the global minima or acceptable results in reasonable time. The simulation results of a practical network in Jinan, China, show that the method is effective in improving the voltage profiles.