Energy Efficiency Enhancement in a Small Industrial Facility

Small industrial utilities, connected to the distribution grid, can cause various disturbances that need to be eliminated or mitigated. Due to the complexity of the system and the large number of motors, industrial consumers may have problems with the voltage deviations caused by the excessive amount of reactive energy which is a natural consequence of their operation and construction. Since industrial consumers have to pay for both active and reactive power delivered from the grid, the goal is to reduce those costs as well as to reduce feeder loadings. Delivered energy can be reduced by installing compensation devices or by connecting photovoltaic power plant, which would produce active and reactive energy at the point of consumption. This paper analyzes the power flows and voltage conditions of a small industrial facility in three scenarios: the basic scenario, the second scenario with built-in compensation devices and in the third scenario with integrated photovoltaic power plant. For all three scenarios, power flow analysis is performed and results are presented in the form of tables and graphically.