Abstract
Most power utilities within Southern Africa are faced with the challenges of harmonic distortion due to the high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) and the use of electronic devices. There is an excessive total harmonic distortion (THD) measured at the point of common coupling (PCC). In this paper, a proposed harmonic monitoring system for large power users (LPUs) is developed. This proposed system considers harmonic limits of the individual and THD of the customers allowed injecting into the network, which should be part of the contractual electricity supply agreement (ESA). Hence, it will enable the monitoring of harmonic distortion to be smooth by determining whether the customer has passed or failed compliance for individual harmonic order and the THD of the voltage. The measurements of harmonic distortion are done using the Unipower power quality (PQ) analyzers that are connected at different points within the industrial network. Measurements of harmonic distortion of an industrial site are compared to the simulation results performed by DIgSILENT software to validate the proposed harmonic monitoring system. Based on the validation results, it is recommended that the ESA between the power utilities and the customers should consist of the harmonic limits.
Highlights
Distribution networks have power quality (PQ) challenges that compromise their performance [1].Harmonic distortion is one of the PQ challenges that are currently rising due to the increase of non-linear loads and renewable energy sources (RES) which form part of the power system [2,3,4,5,6]
This brought up the need for harmonic monitoring to be ongoing research proposing the financial solution of implementing a penalty charge to recover from the economic losses
The contribution of this paper is to propose a harmonic monitoring system, which can be used as a benchmark evaluation during the planning phase when the utility and the customers are setting up an electricity supply agreement (ESA)
Summary
Distribution networks have power quality (PQ) challenges that compromise their performance [1]. Harmonic distortion is one of the PQ challenges that are currently rising due to the increase of non-linear loads and renewable energy sources (RES) which form part of the power system [2,3,4,5,6]. To strengthen the PQ performance of the distribution network, it is important to study the harmonic distortion and its effects [1]. Many studies are concerned with PQ problems and solutions [7]. Different solutions on how to mitigate the harmonic distortion have been proposed and implemented in power systems [8,9,10]. Different approaches of harmonic distortion mitigation have been ongoing with a shortcoming in the literature on how harmonic distortion can be monitored at the point of common coupling (PCC)
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