Impact of small hydro generation on voltage profile and losses in 20 kV distribution network

Abstract

Planning in the development of electricity availability focuses on Renewable Energy power plants in support of the Government’s strong determination to suppress fossil-based energy and increase in New Renewable Energy whose mix is targeted to reach 23% in 2025. Distributed generation (DG) is one of the new approach in the installation of power plants which the plant location is no longer centralized, but it was spread on the distribution of electricity networks. Nowadays, the application of distributed generation has increased because it is a renewable energy especially small hydro of distributed power plants can affect the conditions of the distribution network. Therefore, it is necessary to know the impact of the installation of distributed power plants. This study was conducted to analyze the effects of DG connected to network at two conditions First, the distributed generation connect when under load condition in network and second, distributed generation connect when peak load condition in network. Simulation in this study was conducted using the ETAP software and The Newton-Raphson method has been used in order to calculate power losses and voltages across the network with real data of rural distribution network in Tanah Jawa, North Sumatera, Indonesia. The 20kV distribution network was used in this feeder, and it was divided into one main feeder. The results of this study are expected to provide information about the impact of the DG on voltage and power losses in distribution network. The results of the study show that the installation of DG enhances the voltage profile and ready for installation Small Hydro as DG.