Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Power factor surcharge is imposed when your power factor is less than 0.95
(electricity supply above 132 kV) or less than 0.85 (electricity supply below
132 kV).
To understand power factor, we will start with the definition of some basic
terms:-
Let’s say you are at a park and it is a hot day. You order a glass of a
carbonated drink. The thirst-quenching portion of the drink is represented by
KW.
Unfortunately, along with your drink comes a little bit of foam. The foam
does not quench your thirst. This foam is represented by KVAR.
i. The more foam you have, the lower your power factor.
ii. The less foam you have, the higher your power factor.
For efficient usage of electricity, power factor must approach 1.0. Power
factor that is less than 0.85 shows inefficient use of electricity.
In our carbonated drink analogy, low power factor resulted when the foam is
large. Low power factor is caused by inductive loads, which are sources of
reactive power.
• Transformers
• Induction motors
• High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting
Low Power Factor requires high reactive power (KVAR) and apparent power
(KVA), which is the power that TNB supplies. Therefore, a facility’s low
power factor forces TNB to increase its generation and transmission capacity
in order to handle this extra demand.
By increasing power factor, customers use less KVAR. This results in less
KW, which equates to RM savings for TNB.
Low power factor causes power system losses in the customer’s electrical
system. By improving power factor, these losses can be reduced. With the
current rise in the cost of energy, increased facility efficiency is important.
Moreover, with lower system losses, customers are able to add additional
load in their electrical system.
Therefore, by raising the power factor, customers can minimize these voltage
drops along feeder cables and avoid related problems. Motors will run more
efficiently, with a slight increase in capacity and starting torque.