Greetings!
Many electricity board has started calculating power factor with new method as below,
Power Factor = kWh / √ (kWh2 + kVAr(lag + lead)2)
The old formula was,
Power Factor = kWh / √ (kWh2 + kVAr(lag)2)
So, till now, the leading power factor was not an issue as it was never included in the PF penalty calculation. The penalty was mainly on the lagging PF. Under the new electricity regulations, you are liable for the penalty in case of leading power factor also.
The other change under implementation is kVAh based energy billing instead of kWh, and therefore it is required for the consumer to maintain PF near to unity.
State Electricity Regulatory Commissions in various States viz. Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab etc. have already introduced kVAh based tariff for various categories.
Challenge for Consumer:
Maintain the PF close to unit. The traditional methods of only capacitor bank will not help as leading PF will also result in penalty! The traditional methods cannot track the reactive power requirement and compensate it precisely under following conditions.
- Facilities where load variation is very wide
- The load is changing very fast
- The load is capacitive type
- Harmonics in the line current present due to non-linear loads
- No load cable capacitance
- Transformer VAR compensation when the plant is off.
So, you need new solutions which can maintain the unity PF irrespective of all above conditions.
If you are looking for the solution, Amtech is the right choice!
Amtech, a leading motor control and automation solution provider, is also one of the most trusted solution providers for power quality problems. Our PQEC (Power Quality & Energy Conservation) business vertical offers various Products and Services for power quality improvements.
