Flicker caused by operation of industrial technology

Abstract

There are more and more electrical devices operating in industrial plants which impact negatively on the distribution network. The EN 50160 standard defines the voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by the public distribution system and it is a problem for a distribution network operator when the voltage quality in the distribution network does not comply with the requirements of the EN 50160 standard because of complaints about voltage quality. Such a complaint is justified and the distribution network operator has to pay a penalty and has to remedy the situation. This paper describes a problem of flicker in the medium-voltage distribution grid when the flicker is produced by one customer operating a forging press. The remedies from the side of the distribution network operator and the customer with the aim of reducing the flicker level in the grid are described.