According to Article 16, Chapter Five of the Electricity Market Customer Services Regulation; subscribers who exceed certain reactive power limits are obliged to pay reactive power charges.
For this reason, if reactive power limits are exceeded, a reactive power consumption charge is reflected on your electricity bill.
Many companies are not even aware that they are paying a reactive penalty when paying their electricity bills. When the compensation system is not kept under regular monitoring, the system balance is disrupted and the reactive penalty becomes inevitable.
The table below summarises the reactive penalty limits according to connection capacity:
| Connection Capacity | Inductive Reactive Penalty Limit | Capacitive Reactive Penalty Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Above 9 KVA | Installation of a combination meter is mandatory. | |
| Below 50 KVA | 33% | 20% |
| Above 50 KVA | 20% | 15% |
| Above 50 KVA | Compensation system is mandatory. | |
If we only have the installed capacity information of the facility, the calculation is made as follows. For example, let's assume the facility has an installed capacity of 500 kW:
Taking the coincidence factor as 0.60:
P = 500 kW × 0.60 = 300 kW
Since the power factor is to be raised from 0.6 to 0.97:
Q1 = 306 kVAR | Q2 = 78 kVAR
Qc = Q1 – Q2 = 228 kVAR capacitor required
Electrical power is essentially expressed as apparent power. Apparent power consists of active and reactive components.
The essentially useful part. It is proportional to the cosine of the phase difference between voltage and current (P = V × I × cosφ).
The useless part. Devices that generate magnetic fields such as motors and transformers use reactive power (Q = V × I × sinφ).
The cosine of the phase difference between voltage and current; also the ratio of active power to apparent power.
This is when the voltage leads in the phase difference between voltage and current. It occurs in facilities using motors, induction heaters and magnetically ballasted lighting.
This is when the current leads in the phase difference between voltage and current. It occurs in facilities with UPS units, electronic ballasts and computer systems.