Comparison of Economical and Technical Photovoltaic Hosting Capacity Limits in Distribution Networks

Samar Fatima,Ammar Arshad,Matti Lehtonen,Mahdi Pourakbari-Kasmaei,Verner Püvi

doi:10.3390/en14092405

Abstract

Power distribution networks are transitioning from passive towards active networks considering the incorporation of distributed generation. Traditional energy networks require possible system upgrades due to the exponential growth of non-conventional energy resources. Thus, the cost concerns of the electric utilities regarding financial models of renewable energy sources (RES) call for the cost and benefit analysis of the networks prone to unprecedented RES integration. This paper provides an evaluation of photovoltaic (PV) hosting capacity (HC) subject to economical constraint by a probabilistic analysis based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to consider the stochastic nature of loads. The losses carry significance in terms of cost parameters, and this article focuses on HC investigation in terms of losses and their associated cost. The network losses followed a U-shaped trajectory with increasing PV penetration in the distribution network. In the investigated case networks, increased PV penetration reduced network costs up to around 40%, defined as a ratio to the feeding secondary transformer rating. Above 40%, the losses started to increase again and at 76–87% level, the network costs were the same as in the base cases of no PVs. This point was defined as the economical PV HC of the network. In the case of networks, this level of PV penetration did not yet lead to violations of network technical limits.

Highlights

The economical and reliable provision of power to the customers is the prime motivation of distribution network operators
The cost of the network losses is calculated by carrying out load flow analysis again for the optimal network after PV addition that is compared to the cost of the losses of the network before PV addition as calculated in step 2
The determination of hosting capacity for three regions revealed that the network hosting capacity for a network case considered is subject to changing the specifications of network components

Summary

Introduction

The economical and reliable provision of power to the customers is the prime motivation of distribution network operators. A transition from passive to active networks has introduced the prosumers in energy networks. The prosumers are the energy network entities that can either generate sufficient energy for meeting their own energy demand or produce more energy to trade the surplus energy with other energy users [5,6]. In this way, prosumers enable bidirectional power flow by selling and buying electricity. Distributed generation in the network is beneficial in terms of reduction in carbon footprint but enhances the network efficiency by a reduction in energy price [9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion