EPRI Volt/Var Workshop Marks Start of Industry-Wide project

July 20, 2010
The Electric Power Research Institute recently hosted a Volt/Var workshop in Quebec that marked the beginning of an industry-wide project to define load models.

The Electric Power Research Institute recently hosted a Volt/Var workshop in Quebec. The workshop marked the beginning of an industry-wide project to define load models that can be used to understand the benefits and predict the savings impacts of new voltage control strategies.

During the forum, 10 utilities described their voltage control strategies, and discussions focused on current problems in the industry. More than 60 people participated in this workshop, which followed the EPRI Power Quality and Smart Distribution conference.

Tom Rizy, chairman of the new IEEE Volt/Var task force participated and discussed the various activities of this effort, which will help address some of the industry issues. One of the most important issues is the need for the development of consistent load models. This includes voltage response characteristics, so that accurate assessments of system impacts of new investments in voltage control can be made. The EPRI-led collaborative effort is addressing this and will be coordinating with the IEEE Volt/Var task force so the results can be shared throughout the industry.

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