Low voltage issues and its mitigation in Southern regional grid in India

Abstract

Reactive power and voltage support is an essential service to ensure secure power system operations. Low voltages in the transmission grid pose threat to operational security of the grid. Certain control areas in the Southern regional grid in India experience severe low voltages during peak demand period. This paper provides an overview of the different methods being used by the grid operator to access the voltage stability of 400kV buses which experience low voltage in Southern regional grid in India, discusses various short term and long term measures which have been taken up for mitigating the issues related to the management of reactive power and voltage support.