The design of a transmission project is as varied in the factors that affect it as the people to which the project supplies electricity. This thesis focuses on the theoretical considerations in the design process that affect the emergence of reactive power in a system and how reactive compensation is achieved. It examines the place of theoretical concepts in reality by expounding on a field study on the construction of a new transmission power system connecting the North Western Province (NWP) of Zambia to the national grid. The thesis provides colour to these grey theoretical concepts in the form of conductor specifications, geometrical transmission tower relationships, load characteristics, population traits, transformer interactions and recommendations for improvements to the constructed grids using the analytic tools provided by the theoretical background. There is also provided some theoretical description of three recommendations made by this thesis to improve the power quality and general efficiency of the NWP. Along the way the thesis confirms the analytic calculations with reference to field documentation and programming tools such as MATLAB and Power World. It is the uniqueness of the system in terms of load demand and geography that allows for an analysis and comparison of the reactive power in the transmission network. These challenges and the possible solutions to them form the focus of the thesis.