Why is reactive power important in transmission?
Reactive power provides the important function of regulating voltage. If voltage on the system is not high enough, active power cannot be supplied. Reactive power is used to provide the voltage levels necessary for active power to do useful work.
How is power produced in a transmission?
Electricity is generated by utilities and other energy producers at various types of power plants, wind and solar farms. Electricity is “stepped up” or transformed to higher voltages at substations before it enters the network of high-voltage transmission lines.
What is reactive power and why is it important?
Reactive power is critical to maintaining voltage levels on the transmission system. But, what exactly is it? Using an analogy to a municipal water system, think of voltage as equivalent to water system “pressure” – without it water just sits in the pipes and, with too much, pipes explode.
What is the role of reactive power in transmission lines?
Increasing reactive power may be described as making the riverbed steeper while “squeezing” the water forward. This “squeeze” increases the density of the water and allows it to travel further. Similarly, reactive power is crucial in transmission lines to increase voltage upstream and“squeeze” flow downstream.
What is the difference between reactive power and imaginary power?
On the other hand reactive power is the imaginary power or apparent power, which does not do any useful work but simply moves back and forth in the power system lines. It is a byproduct of AC systems and produced from inductive and capacitive loads. It exists when there is phase displacement between voltage and current.
What causes positive reactive power in an electric circuit?
Some appliances such as electric motors and refrigerators have inductive properties. When current lags voltage, there is positive reactive power in the circuit. The most important cause of positive reactive power is the reactance of power lines themselves.