Abstract
Renewable Energy Sources are becoming widely spread, as they are sustainable and low-carbon emission. They are mostly penetrating the MV Distribution Networks as Distributed Generators, which has determined the evolution of the networks’ control and supervision systems, from almost a complete lack to becoming fully centralized. This paper proposes innovative voltage control architectures for the distribution networks, tailored for different development levels of the control and supervision systems encountered in real life: a Coordinated Control for networks with basic development, and an optimization-based Centralized Control for networks with fully articulated systems. The Centralized Control fits the requirements of the network: the challenging harmonization of the generator’s capability curves with the regulatory framework, and modelling of the discrete control of the On-Load Tap Changer transformer. A realistic network is used for tests and comparisons with the Local Strategy currently specified by regulations. The proposed Coordinated Control gives much better results with respect to the Local Strategy, in terms of loss minimization and voltage violations mitigation, and can be used for networks with poorly developed supervision and control systems, while Centralized Control proves the best solution, but can be applied only in fully supervised and controlled networks.
Highlights
The use of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) is becoming widely spread around the world, as they are sustainable, require low maintenance, and are low-carbon emission resources [1]
This paper focuses on voltage control algorithms, which can be classified into three main groups [16]: (1) Local Control, which relies on local measurements, (2) Coordinated Control, an evolution of Local Control, working with a base telecommunication system, and (3) Centralized Control, which involves the complete observability and controllability of the Distribution Networks (DN)
This paper proposes innovative voltage control strategies, which are designed to be compatible with various stages of the development of supervision and control systems for large DNs: (i) Local Control for
Summary
The use of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) is becoming widely spread around the world, as they are sustainable, require low maintenance, and are low-carbon emission resources [1]. Union has enforced the Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU [2], where the new overall EU target for RES coverage of total energy demands has been raised to 32% by 2030. There are clear benefits of RES, the most notable being environmental impact, a high penetration of renewable Distributed Generators (DGs) in MV Distribution Networks (DN) causes important technical challenges, as it involves a change of paradigm in their operation: they are evolving from passive, demand-only networks to active networks. Energies 2020, 13, 3293 planning and limited real-time HV/MV transformer On-Load Tap Changer (OLTC) control [3]. Instead of continuously dropping from the primary substation, it can take any shape, and cannot be controlled through the HV/MV OLTC transformer alone
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