Benefit of distributed generation on line loss reduction

Abstract

The penetration of distributed generation resources in distribution grids increasing worldwide, it is both a challenge and an opportunity for a variety of technologies and operating scenarios. The need to provide acceptable power quality and reliability will create a very favorable climate for the entry of distributed resources and innovative operating practices. Distributed resources is a term that encompasses both distributed generation and distributed energy storage. Integration of DG into an existing utility can result in several benefits. Customers could benefit from DG in term of better quality of supply at lower cost. Among the many benefits of distributed generation is a reduced line loss. The purpose of this paper is to quantify this benefit for the simple case of a radial distribution feeder with concentrated load and distributed generator. With the introduction of DG, line loss reduction can be expected. The analysis is conducted for varying locations of the distributed generator along the feeder and for varying output capacities. The results are presented in graphical form in terms of clearly-defined normalized parameters.