Distribution Network Investment Research Articles

Research on Investment Evaluation Strategy of Distribution Network Focusing on Efficiency and Benefit

High quality development of distribution network pays more attention to improving investment efficiency and benefit. Distribution network equipments and related data indicators are various, and there are many manual interventions, thus it is difficult to focus on investment efficiency and benefit through information system with direct data acquisition. This paper focuses on the investment efficiency and benefit indicators, and refines key target indicators. On this foundation, the comprehensive evaluation index system of distribution network investment is constructed. The key investment issues can be find out through penetration and correlation analysis, which are verified by selecting typical areas for investment effectiveness analysis. Considering the investment demand and investment capacity as a whole, the regional investment focuses and directions are clarified according to the differentiation level of efficiency and benefit, which can accurately improve the efficiency and benefit of distribution network investment.

Research on Forecasting Method of Distribution Network Investment Scale of Municipal Power Supply Enterprise Considering Power Supply Division and Cost Difference Level

In recent years, in order to adapt to the situation of rapid economic and social development, my country’s power supply companies have invested large-scale funds to build distribution networks, and upgraded urban and rural power grids, effectively supporting the rapid growth of power demand and the reliability of power supply. Continuous improvement of power quality. While the scale of investment in the distribution network continues to remain high, problems such as focusing on investment and neglecting revenue, focusing on project establishment and neglecting management also exist to varying degrees. Therefore, reasonably predicting the scale of investment in the distribution network and improving the lean management level of the investment and construction of the distribution network have become key issues that power supply companies need to solve. This paper takes my country’s municipal power supply companies as the research object, combines the actual business development of the company’s distribution network investment planning, and fully considers the impact of the company’s power supply district management and the level of cost differences on the investment scale of the distribution network, and builds a fit on this basis. The distribution network investment planning forecast model of the actual business work of the enterprise guides the municipal power supply enterprises to improve the lean management level of the distribution network investment and construction.

Research on Investment Trend of Distribution Network Based on Support Vector Machine

Under the new situation, with the continuous development of my country's economy and the implementation of power system reforms, higher development requirements have been put forward for the distribution network investment plan. Through the scientific and reasonable calculation of the investment scale of the distribution network, optimizing the investment scale of the distribution network and rationally arranging the investment planning of the distribution network project have become one of the key concerns of the current power grid enterprises. This paper uses fishbone diagram theory to analyze the factors that affect the investment scale of the distribution network, and selects the key factor indicators to construct a distribution network investment trend prediction model based on support vector machines. By selecting a certain region's distribution network investment for empirical forecasting analysis, and comparing with the planned investment of the distribution network in the region, the validity of the model is verified.

Research on Investment Scale Calculation and Accurate Management of Power Grid Projects Based on Three-Level Strategy

In order to improve the investment accuracy of power grid projects, this paper takes distribution network investment as the research object, and proposes a distribution network precision investment method based on a three-level strategy of region, power supply grid, and power supply unit. Firstly, building a precise investment index system for the investment scale of the regional distribution network, and calculate the investment situation through the precise investment calculation formula of the regional distribution network. Secondly, building a time sequence evaluation system for the overall construction of the power supply grid of the distribution network, and then study the prioritization method based on investment projects. The time sequence method for the overall construction of the power supply unit of the distribution network and the multi-objective optimization precision investment method based on the target grid framework. Finally, the effectiveness and operability of the above precision investment method are verified through empirical application.

Quantitative study on benefits of distribution network investment

The development of distribution network in China lags behind the transmission network seriously, which is difficult to meet the development needs of high proportion of renewable energy power system in the future. Facing the huge investment demand of distribution network, it is urgent to improve the existing extensive experience based investment decision-making method and avoid the subjectivity of qualitative index evaluation method. In this paper, the life cycle theory and input-output method are used to study the quantification of distribution network investment benefit. The quantitative models of economic benefit and social benefit of distribution network investment are established to provide support for the comparison and decision-making of distribution network projects. Finally, an empirical analysis of the investment benefit model of a high-voltage distribution network project is carried out to verify the feasibility of the research results.

Sector coupling technologies in gas, electricity, and heat networks

Current investment in distribution networks for electricity, gas, and heat is high, and the distribution networks play a prominent role in the necessary transformation of the energy system. This paper provides insights into the relationship between residential end-user decisions on heat supply and their effect on infrastructure planning. Therefore, the gas, electricity, and heat networks are analyzed together. After a review of the characteristics of the networks, the most common sector coupling technologies are compared economically and environmentally. The results show that, under the assumptions made, heat pumps are the cheapest option for residential end-users in the long run. This raises the question of whether a parallel development of three different infrastructures for the heat supply of buildings is the best path to a successful energy transition.

Storage investment and network expansion in distribution networks: The impact of regulatory frameworks

In this paper we propose a bi-level equilibrium model that allows to analyze the impact of different regulatory frameworks on storage and network investment in distribution networks. In our model, a regulated distribution system operator decides on network investment and operation while he anticipates the decisions of private agents on storage investment and operation. Since, especially in distribution networks, voltage stability and network losses have a decisive influence on network expansion and operation, we use a linearized AC power flow formulation to adequately account for these aspects. As adjustments of the current regulatory framework, we consider curtailment of renewable production, the introduction of a network fee based on the maximum renewable feed-in, and a subsidy scheme for storage investment. The performance of the different alternative frameworks is compared to the performance under rules that are commonly applied in various countries today, as well as to a system-optimal (first-best) benchmark. To illustrate the economic effects, we calibrate our model with data from the field project Smart Grid Solar. Our results reveal that curtailment and a redesign of network fees both have the potential to significantly reduce total system costs. On the contrary, investment subsidization of storage capacity has only a limited impact as long as the distribution system operator is not allowed to intervene in storage operation.

An Insight into the Impact of Solar and Wind Powers’ Probability Distributions on Distribution-Network Investments

An Insight into the Impact of Solar and Wind Powers’ Probability Distributions on Distribution-Network Investments

Multi-attribute evaluation and deviation analysis of regional distribution network investment effect

As the input ratio of regional distribution network increases year by year, higher requirements are put forward for high quality and high reliability of power consumption. Under this background, this paper involves 11 evaluation indexes from three dimensions of reliability, economy and environmental protection, and designs the evaluation index system of investment effect of regional distribution network. The multiattribute AHP-TOPSIS-entropy weight combination evaluation method for the investment effect of regional distribution networks is constructed. And select distribution network A, B, C area for example analysis, the results show that the n-1 pass rate, power supply reliability, power consumption growth and emission reduction of clean energy generation are positively correlated with the investment effect of regional distribution network.

Structural Analysis and Comprehensive Evaluation of Economic Index of Distribution Network

With the orderly advancement of power system reform and the rapid development of incremental power distribution pilots, the investment process of power grid companies has become more and more transparent and standardized. However, in the current fierce environment, how to maintain certain economic benefits in various regional distribution networks has become a problem of concern. This paper establishes a distribution network asset economic index system from the three dimensions of investment cost, operating cost, and economic benefit. The hierarchical structure of indicators is clarified based on the interpretative structural model, and the economic level is measured based on the improved analytical hierarchy process AHP-fuzzy evaluation model. Finally, the analysis of calculation examples shows that: (1) The investment cost and operating cost of the distribution network indirectly affect the economic benefits of the power grid by affecting the electricity sales. (2) The economic levels of the distribution network in the three regions of X, Y, and Z are good, medium, and poor. The region X needs to strengthen the management of distribution network investment, and the region Y continues to improve the economy from all aspects of cost and income. The first thing in region Z is to improve the level of economic efficiency.

Exploration on Prediction and Early Warning Technology for Investment Completion of 10 kV And Below Power Grid Infrastructure Projects

The external severe and complex economic situation has a great impact on the efficiency of the company’s investment implementation. The in-depth implementation of the lean investment management concept also puts forward new requirements for improving the extensive distribution network investment management mode. In addition, in recent years, the proportion of investment in distribution network projects of 10kV and below has increased, and its management mode is difficult to keep up with the new investment management requirements. Therefore, this project takes the infrastructure projects of 10kV and below as the research object, constructs the investment plan curve by studying the business rules of construction, accounting and materials, and deepens its application in the early warning of investment plan implementation based on the investment plan line, and provides an effective support tool for the investment lean management and control of distribution network.

Many-Criteria Evaluation of Infrastructure Investment Priorities for Distribution Network Planning

With the liberalization of incremental distribution network investment business, more and more investment projects from various sources and diversified ownership are eligible for construction applications. This article proposes a many-criteria investment priorities evaluation method for incremental distribution network planning based on the hyperplane projection transformation. In the established many-criteria evaluation indicator system, the multi-grade indicators including economic and technical factors are adopted to comprehensively evaluate the distribution network infrastructure projects. Furthermore, the hyperplane projection transformation is applied to project the solutions from the many-objective hypercube to the normalized hyperplane. Then, the comprehensive distance quantifies the quality and balance of the distribution network infrastructure project indicators, and the investment priority rankings can be obtained. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is validated on six distribution network infrastructure projects with eleven evaluation indicators. The results show that the proposed many-criteria evaluation of infrastructure investment priorities is effective to recognize the non-dominance solutions with extremely good or extremely poor indicators.

Multi-stage compound real options valuation in residential PV-Battery investment

Strategic valuation of efficient and well-timed network investments under uncertain electricity market environment has become increasingly challenging, because there generally exist multiple interacting options in these investments, and failing to systematically consider these options can lead to decisions that undervalue the investment. In our work, a real options valuation (ROV) framework is proposed to determine the optimal strategy for executing multiple interacting options within a distribution network investment, to mitigate the risk of financial losses in the presence of future uncertainties. To demonstrate the characteristics of the proposed framework, we determine the optimal strategy to economically justify the investment in residential PV-battery systems for additional grid supply during peak demand periods. The options to defer, and then expand, are considered as multi-stage compound options, since the option to expand is a subsequent option of the former. These options are valued via the least squares Monte Carlo method, incorporating uncertainty over growing power demand, varying diesel fuel price, and the declining cost of PV-battery technology as random variables. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate how the proposed framework responds to uncertain events. The proposed framework shows that executing the interacting options at the optimal timing increases the investment value.

Research and Demonstration on Automatic Generating Algorithm of Distribution Network Investment Statistics

The statistics and guarantees of the investment completion data of the current distribution network infrastructure projects still use the traditional offline manual calculation method which lacks objective and unified calculation standards. Meanwhile, the number of distribution network infrastructure projects is large, the single investment amount is small, the completion of investment is a large workload, and the accuracy, objectivity and timeliness are poor. It is difficult to adapt to the external investment supervision, the authenticity of statistical data and the objective needs of the development of big data technology. Taian Power Supply Company actively explores the application of information technology to automatically calculate the algorithm of distribution network investment statistics, unifies the calculation standard of investment completion of distribution network projects, improves the quality of distribution statistics of distribution network investment, and improves the lean management level of distribution network investment.

Mechanisms to Coordinate Storage Investment and Network Expansion in Distribution Networks

In this paper we propose a bi-level equilibrium model that allows to analyze the impact of different regulatory frameworks on storage and network investment in distribution networks. In our model, a regulated distribution system operator decides on network investment and operation while he anticipates the decisions of private agents on storage investment and operation. As adjustments of the current regulatory framework, we consider curtailment of renewable production, the introduction of a network fee based on the maximum renewable feed-in, and a subsidy scheme for storage investment. The performance of the different alternative frameworks is compared to the performance under rules that are commonly applied in various countries today, as well as to a system-optimal (first-best) benchmark. To illustrate the economic effects, we calibrate our model with data from the field project Smart Grid Solar. Our results reveal that curtailment and a redesign of network fees both have the potential to significantly reduce total system costs. On the contrary, investment subsidization of storage capacity has only a limited impact as long as the distribution system operator is not allowed to intervene in storage operation.

Optimization Model of Distribution Network Investment Scale Based on Transmission and Distribution Prices Constraints

The traditional profit model of the grid companies has changed due to the reform of transmission and distribution prices. In this context, it is of great practical significance to determine a reasonable distribution scale for distribution networks. Based on the research method of system dynamics, this paper constructs a distribution network investment capacity measurement model and investment demand measurement model based on transmission and distribution prices constraints, and proposes an optimization strategy for distribution network investment scale under the constraints of transmission and distribution prices.

A multi-agent system approach for optimal microgrid expansion planning under uncertainty

Power system planning for modern distribution networks is undergoing a change because of distributed power generation and grid ancillary services. The vast electricity retail utility industry with many distribution network operators plans generation and transmission expansion planning for determining optimal investment decisions. This paper addresses this planning problem in a decentralized and distributed context.This paper introduces a coordinated decision making approach for optimal investments in generation and transmission expansion planning problems for distribution networks. The distribution networks are further classified into microgrids. Considering an agent as the functional information exchanging entity just like an energy meter with the objective to coordinate the expansion decisions of participants; a novel math-heuristic optimization model Coordinated Microgrid is presented. To simulate the coordination of information a multi-agent-system based coordinated decision making method is adopted and the value of coordination is investigated. The evolutionary vertical sequencing protocol, a heuristic method, is developed and implemented to simulate the coordination process among agents on the top level. The proposed protocol produces smart permutations of microgrids for coordination. On the bottom level, a two-stage chance-constrained stochastic MILP formulation for investment decisions with operational uncertainties is modeled. For market clearing a nodal-pricing scheme is adopted that maintains the Nash equilibrium among and across the microgrids for energy transactions. The proposed model is tested with consumption, network configuration data from three islands in west-coast of Norway. The models are solved to optimality and results lead to the observations that the value of coordination lies in profit increment of individual microgrid. The novel protocol proposed demonstrates an advantage of retrieving smart permutations from combinations of microgrids. In summary, CoMG is a novel expansion planning model for optimal investments in modern power distribution networks.

Why Distributed?: A Critical Review of the Tradeoffs Between Centralized and Decentralized Resources

The recent proliferation of distributed energy resources (DERs) is creating new options for the delivery of key electricity services, including energy, firm capacity, operating reserves, and even alternatives to transmission or distribution network investments. Rooftop solar photovoltaics (PVs) have the highest profile of these resources, but DERs include any generator or energy-storage device connected at distribution voltage levels and characterized by relatively small capacities (e.g., a few kilowatts to a few megawatts). In addition, improved power electronics and communication and control technologies enable more efficient and dynamic electricity consumption as well as the ability for flexible demand (demand response) to serve as a DER in many contexts.

Distributed multi‐area load flow for multi‐microgrid systems

Due to deregulation of distribution network investment businesses, geographically divided microgrids may be owned and operated by different entities. In this study, distributed multi-area load flow (LF) calculation method that can preserve the operational independence of each entity is necessary. However, conventional fixed-point iteration-based distributed LF (DLF) algorithm may encounter convergence problems in active distribution networks integrated with high penetration of distributed generators (DGs). In this work, the authors propose a more general and novel DLF algorithm to better accommodate the integration of DGs. In this algorithm, the original non-convex LF model for multi-microgrid systems is convexified into a second-order conic LF problem and then decomposed into a regional LF subproblem using a modified alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The conventional ADMM is enhanced by asymmetric decomposition and partial boundary penalty relaxation with regard to the specific LF problem structure to accelerate the convergence procedure. Numerical tests on an IEEE 69-bus distribution system and a 345-bus system show that the proposed method outperforms the fixed-point iteration-based DLF method.

Equipment Operation and Maintenance Management of Shanghai Power Distribution Network After Power System Reform

At present, China is in the process of reforming the electric power system. The reform of the power system has a significant impact on the investment and construction of power distribution network. Therefore it is indispensable to focus on fine management of the operation and maintenance of equipment.In this paper, the current situation of distribution network in China including Shanghai has been presented. Then, based on the influence of policy documents of power system reform, not only its impact on the operation and maintenance of the power grid enterprise and the distribution network equipment but also measures to enhance the economic benefit of distribution network has been discussed. Furthermore, by analyzing each equipment and the probability and severity of its defects according to the defect data in production management system (PMS), the methods of the whole life cycle cost (LCC) and the potential failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) have been applied to analyze the operation and maintenance of the distribution network from the two aspects of the economy and reliability. Finally, focus on acceptance as well as operation and maintenance management measures in the current distribution network has been put forward.