Reactive power from shunt reactor

The shunt reactor works like an absorber for reactive power such as capacitive power generated by the high capacity of high voltage cables. A traditional shunt reactor has a fixed rating and is either connected to the power line all the time or switched in and out depending on the load. The active power from shunt reactors can be considered negligible.

With increasing load variations in today’s system, variable shunt reactors (VSR) are developed as a means to provide more controllability for grid operators in reactive power management by continuously adjusting the compensation according to the load variation.

On long cable lines, shunt reactors can be placed on one end only, on both end and sometimes even in between.

Symbol

$Q_{sr}$

Unit

kvar