Why do we need it / measure it ?
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The grid has to deliver electricity to the end user. The grid has to be able to handle the shipping of energy from power plant to user.
Some users (electronics and motors, but even power lines themselves can do this) act a bit weird. They order too much electricity then have to send back the excess immediately.
The grid not only has to ship the extra power to the user, it also has to ship it back. So, this causes extra grid congestion, but the power plant gets its energy back so it doesn’t actually have to work harder or burn more fuel.
MVARs are a measure of how much power is shuffling back and forth doing nothing useful clogging up the grid.
The grid has to be able to supply enough MVARs, just like it had to be able to supply enough MW. If it doesn’t have enough, then there will be power problems like brown outs.
MVARs can be created by power plants, but they can also be created by other equipment like capacitors. Motors need VARs, but this can come from the grid, but it is common in industrial motors to fit the motor with capacitors, this way the capacitors create the VARs that the motor needs, so the VARs don’t need to come from the grid.
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