The Impact of a Current Imbalance Compensator on Feeder Compensation Equipment Operation

Typically, a feeder in a distribution system is operating with unbalanced currents. Furthermore, single-phase load-side generation can worsen this current imbalance. The use of an active current compensator has been suggested in literature as a solution because traditional compensation equipment used by electric utilities cannot fully address this issue. This paper looks at the effect that an unbalanced current compensator will have on the conventional compensation equipment installed at the substation. In addition, the positioning of this compensator relative to the other equipment is discussed. Using data from an existing distribution feeder the findings show that in most cases the use of this compensator can reduce the number of operations experienced by voltage regulators and switched capacitor banks.