Optimal reactive power planning for distribution systems with nonlinear loads

The objective of this paper is to derive a systematic algorithm to decide the optimal location and size of shunt capacitors and filters for distribution systems with harmonic distortion. In this paper, the problem of reactive power compensation is first formulated as a nonlinear programming of minimization of real power loss, energy loss and capacitor cost under voltage constraints. The nonlinear programming problem is solved by the MINOS package to determine the optimal locations and sizes of shunt capacitors. The harmonic load flow is then applied to solve the total voltage harmonic distortion factor and the filter design is executed to solve the harmonic distortion and reactive power compensation simultaneously. To demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed methodology, a sample distribution feeder has been selected for computer simulation.<>