VVC in the Smart Grid era

VVC facilities that maintain acceptable voltage at all points along the distribution feeder and maintain high power factor have been a fundamental requirement for all electric distribution feeders. Recent Smart Grid initiatives have created growing interest in the deployment of more advanced Volt-VAR systems for efficiency improvement, demand reduction, and better overall asset utilization. This paper identifies the ideal characteristics of the VVC system, describes several alternatives for accomplishing the VVC requirements and explains how well each approach provides the characteristics of the ideal system..