Power Factor Improvement in the New Civil Engineering Building at State Polytechnic of Samarinda

The State Polytechnic of Samarinda is grappling with reactive power issues, primarily stemming from the considerable number of electrical loads, including computers, fluorescent lamps, printers, air conditioners, and electric motors, present in its buildings and laboratories. As a solution, the installation of a static var compensator (SVC) is proposed to enhance the electrical power factor at the Samarinda State Polytechnic, with a specific focus on the new Civil Engineering Department building. To assess the impact on the power factor, simulations were conducted using MATLAB R2021a Simulink software. The findings reveal that the utilization of a static var compensator resulted in an average power factor increase of 25% across all experiments. However, the targeted power factor of 0.99 was not attained. Furthermore, employing the SVC led to a reduction in current in the R phase by an average of 1.8%, in the S phase by an average of 35%, and in the T phase by an average of 37%. Concurrently, there was an average increase in active power by 3.5%, while apparent power decreased by an average of 14%, and reactive power decreased by an average of 74%. Despite encountering some limitations, the implementation of SVC proved successful in enhancing the power factor in the simulation, presenting a viable solution for improving power quality in the buildings of Samarinda State Polytechnic.