For three phase four-wire active power filters （APFs）, several typical power theories and corresponding current reference generation strategies are induced, p-q, d-q, unify power factor （UPF） and instantaneous active current （IAC） methods are analyzed and compared with each other. The interpretation of active and reactive currents in non-sinusoidal and unbalanced three-phase four-wire systems is given based on the generalized instantaneous reactive power theory. The performance and the characteristic are evaluated, and the application conditions of current reference generation strategies are concluded. Simulation results under different source voltages and loads verify the evaluation result.
