A comparative study of impact of reactive power on ageing of synchronous machine in power system operation

The security and stability in a power system is governed by mainly two parameters frequency and voltage. The stable operation of power system depends mainly on the balance between active power and reactive power consumption and its respective generation. Nowadays, the operation of power system is kept near to its maximum stress level for maximizing the profits of the operating bodies. More priority is given to the active power market at cost of overlooking reactive power balance. This paper presents the need for emphasis on reactive power balance and adverse effect of MVar loading stress on synchronous generator. The ageing phenomenology is linked with stressed operation of the synchronous machine in order to highlight the inevitable need for reactive power management. Six bus test network is considered here for the case study.