Steady-state analysis of the effect of reactive generation limits in voltage stability

Voltage collapse phenomena are highly affected by reactive power generation limits. Saturation of the reactive power generation limits of a unit may result in a deterioration of the voltage stability. However, in some cases when the power network is operating close to the voltage collapse point, the reactive power generation saturation of a unit can change the system voltages immediately from stable to unstable; thus, a dynamic voltage collapse leading to blackout may follow. This paper presents a steady-state analysis of the immediate instability caused by reactive power generation saturation phenomena. For this purpose, the paper proposes a novel index that evaluates “when” and “why” a reactive power generation saturation will only result in a deterioration of the system voltage stability or, on the contrary, it will make the system voltages immediately unstable.