1、Impact of High Penetration of Distributed Generation on System Design and Operations(1。Bartosz Wojszczyk1,Omar AlJuburi2,Joy Wang3 Accenture,Raleigh 27601,U。S.;2Accenture,San Francisco 94105,U。S.;3Accenture,Shanghai 200020,China)ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the topic of massive utilityoriented dep
2、loyment of Distributed Generation (DG) in power systems。 High penetration of DG presents significant challenges to design/engineering practices as well as to the reliable operation of the power system。 This paper examines the impact of large-scale DER implementation on system design, reliable operat
3、ion and performance and includes practical examples from utility demonstration projects。 It also presents a vision for the utility of the future and describes DG technologies being implemented by utilities。KEY WORDS: distributed energy resources ; distributed generation;power system design and opera
4、tion0 Introduction Distributed generation (DG) or decentralized generation is not a new industry concept。 In 1882, Thomas Edison built his first commercial electric plant “Pearl Street”. This power station provided 110V DC electricity to 59 customers in lower Manhattan. In 1887, there were 121 Ediso
5、n power stations in the United States delivering DC electricity to customers。 These first power plants were run on water or coal. Centralized power generation became possible when it was recognized that alternating current power could be transported at relatively low costs and reduce power losses ac
6、ross great distances by taking advantage of the ability to raise the voltage at the generation station and lower the voltage near customer loads。 In addition, the concepts of improved system performance (system stability) and more effective generation asset utilization provided a platform for wide-a
7、rea/global grid integration. In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing interest in wide deployment of DG。 Commercially available technologies for DG are based on combustion engines, micro and mini-gas turbines, wind turbines, fuelcells, various photovoltaic (PV) solutions, lowhead hydro unit
8、s and geothermal systems。 Deregulation of the electric utility industry (in some countries), environmental concerns associated with traditional fossil fuel generation power plants, volatility of electric energy costs, Federal and State regulatory support of “green” energy and rapid technological dev
9、elopments all support the proliferation of DG units in electric utility systems. The growing rate of DG deployment suggests that alternative energybased solutions play an increasingly important role in the smart grid and modern utility。 Largescale implementation of DG can lead to situations in which
10、 the distribution/medium voltage network evolves from a “passive” (local/limited automation, monitoring and control) system to one that actively (global/integrated, selfmonitoring, semiautomated) responds to the various dynamics of the electric grid。 This poses a challenge for design, operation and
11、management of the power grid as the network no longer behaves as it once did. Consequently, the planning and operation of new systems must be approached somewhat differently with a greater amount of attention paid to global system challenges。 The principal goal of this paper is to address the topic
12、of high penetration of distributed generation and its impact on grid design and operations。 The following sections describe a vision for the modern utility, DG technology landscape, and DG design/engineering challenges and highlights some of the utility DG demonstration projects。1 Vision for modern
13、utilities1。1 Centralized vs. distributed The bulk of electric power used worldwide is produced at central power plants, most of which utilize large fossil fuel combustion, hydro or nuclear reactors. A majority of these central stations have an output between 30MW (industrial plant) and 1.7GW. This m
14、akes them relatively large in terms of both physical size and facility requirements as compared with DG alternatives。 In contrast, DG is: 1)Installed at various locations (closer to the load) throughout the power system and mostly operated by independent power producers or consumers。 2)Not centrally
15、 dispatched (although the development of “virtual” power plants, where many decentralized DG units operate as one single unit, may be an exception to this definition). 3)Defined by power rating in a wide range from a few kW to tens of MW (in some countries MW limitation is defined by standards, e。g.
16、 US, IEEE 1547 defines DG up to 10MW either as a single unit or aggregate capacity)。4)Connected to the distribution/medium voltage network which generally refers to the part of the network that has an operating voltage of 600V up to 110kV (depends on the utility/country)。The main reasons why central
17、, rather than distributed, generation still dominates current electricity production include economy of scale, fuel cost and availability, and lifetime。 Increasing the size of a production unit decreases the cost per MW; however, the advantage of economy of scale is decreasingtechnological advances
18、in fuel conversion have improved the economy of small units。 Fuel cost and availability is still another reason to keep building large power plants. Additionally, with a lifetime of 2550 years, large power plants will continue to remain the prime source of electricity for many years to come. The ben
19、efits of distributed generation include: higher efficiency; improved security of supply; improved demandresponse capabilities; avoidance of overcapacity; better peak load management; reduction of grid losses; network infrastructure cost deferral; power quality support; reliability improvement; and e
20、nvironmental and aesthetic concerns (offers a wide range of alternatives to traditional power system design). DG offers extraordinary value because it provides a flexible range of combinations between cost and reliability. In addition, DG may eventually become a more desirable generation asset becau
21、se it is “closer” to the customer and is more economical than central station generation and its associated transmission infrastructure。 The disadvantages of DG are ownership and operation, fuel delivery (machinebased DG, remote locations), cost of connection, dispatchability and controllability (wi
22、nd and solar).1。2 Development of “smart grid” In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing interest in what is called “Smart Grid Digitized Grid Grid of the Future。 The main drivers behind this market trend are grid performance, technology enhancement and stakeholders attention . The main visio
23、n behind this market trend is the use of enhanced power equipment/technologies, monitoring devices (sensors), digital and fully integrated communications, and embedded digital processing to make the power grid observable (able to measure the states of critical grid elements), controllable (able to a
24、ffect the state of any critical grid element), automated (able to adapt and selfheal), and userfriendly (bi-directional utilitycustomer interaction)。 The Smart Grid concept should be viewed through the modern utility perspective of remaining profitable (good value to shareholders), continuing to gro
25、w revenue streams, providing superior customer service, investing in technologies, making product offerings cost effective and pain free for customers to participate and partnering with new players in the industry to provide more value to society. It is important to recognize that there is merit in
26、the Smart Grid concept and should be viewed in light of it bringing evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes in the industry。 In general, this market trend requires a new approach to system design, re-design and network integration and implementation needs。 In addition, utilities will have to
27、develop welldefined engineering and construction standards and operation and maintenance practices addressing high penetration levels of DG。2 DG technology landscape DG systems can utilize either wellestablished conventional power generation technologies such as low/high temperature fuel cells, dies
28、el, combustion turbines, combined cycle turbines, low-head hydro or other rotating machines, renewable energy technologies including PV, concentrated PV (CPV), solar concentrators, thin-film, solar thermal and wind/miniwind turbines or technologies that are emerging on the market (e。g。 tidal/wave, e
29、tc。)。 Each of the DG technologies has its own advantages and disadvantages which need to be taken into consideration during the selection process。3 DR interconnection requirements DR interconnection design and engineering details depend on the specific installation size (kW vs. MW); however, the ove
30、rall components of the installation should include the following: 1)DG prime mover (or prime energy source) and its power converter. 2)Interface/stepup transformer. 3)Grounding (when needed-grounding type depends on utility specific system equirements) 4)Microprocessor protective relays for: Three,
31、single-phase fault detection and DG overload。 Islanding and abnormal system conditions detection. Voltage and current unbalances detection . Undesirable reverse power detection 。 Machine-based DG synchronization . 5)Disconnect switches and/or switchgear(s)。 6)Metering, control and data logging equip
32、ment。 7)Communication link(s) for transfer trip and dispatch control functions (when needed)。4 Impact of DR integration and “penetration” level Integration of DG may have an impact on system performance。 This impact can be assessed based on: 1)Size and type of DG design: power converter type, unit r
33、ating, unit impedance, protective relay functions, interface transformer, grounding, etc。 2)Type of DG prime mover: wind, PV, ICE, CT, etc. 3)Intended DG operating mode(s): load shaving, base-load CHP, power export market, Volt-Var control, etc。 4)Interaction with other DG(s) or load(s)。 5)Location
34、in the system and the characteristics of the grid such as: Network, auto-looped, radial, etc. System impedance at connection point。 Voltage control equipment types, locations and settings。 Grounding design。 Protection equipment types, locations, and settings. And other. DR system impact is also depe
35、ndent on the “penetration” level of the DG connected to the grid. There are a number of factors that should be considered when evaluating the penetration level of DG in the system。 Examples of DG penetration level factors include: 1)DG as a percent of feeder or local interconnection point peak load
36、(varies with location on the feeder)。 2)DG as a percent of substation peak load or substation capacity。 3)DG as a percent of voltage drop capacity at the interconnection point (varies with location on the feeder)。 4)DG source fault current contribution as a percent of the utility source fault curren
37、t (at various locations)。4。1 DG impact on voltage regulation Voltage regulation, and in particular voltage rise effect, is a key factor that limits the amount (penetration level) of DG that can be connected to the system. Fig. 2 shows the first example of the network with a relatively large (MW size
38、) DG interconnected at close proximity to the utility substation。 Careful investigation of the voltage profile indicates that during heavy load conditions, with connected DG, voltage levels may drop below the acceptable/permissible by standards。 The reason for this condition is that relatively large
39、 DG reduces the circuit current value seen by the Load Tap Changer (LTC) in the substation (DG current contribution). Since the LTC sees “less” current (representing a light load) than the actual value, it will lower the tap setting to avoid a “light load, high voltage” condition。 This action makes
40、the actual “heavy load, low voltage” condition even worse。 As a general rule, if the DG contributes less than 20 of the load current, then the DG current contribution effect will be minor and can probably be ignored in most cases。 However, if the real power (P) flow direction reverses, toward the su
41、bstation (Fig. 4), the VR will operate in the reverse mode (primary control). Since the voltage at the substation is a stronger source than the voltage at the DG (cannot be lowered by VR), the VR will increase the number of taps on the secondary side; therefore, voltage on the secondary side increas
42、es dramatically. Bidirectional voltage regulators have several control modes for coordination with DG operation。 Bidirectionality can be defined based on real (P) and/or reactive (Q) power flow。 However, reactive power support (Q) from DG is generally prohibited by standards in many countries. There
43、fore, VR bidirectionality is set for cogeneration modes (real current)。4。2 DG impact on power quality Two aspects of power quality are usually considered to be important during evaluation of DG impact on system performance: voltage flicker conditions and harmonic distortion of the voltage。 Depending
44、 on the particular circumstance, a DG can either decrease or increase the quality of the voltage received by other users of the distribution/medium voltage network. Power quality is an increasingly important issue and generation is generally subject to the same regulations as loads。 The effect of in
45、creasing the grid fault current by adding generation often leads to improved power quality; however, it may also have a negative impact on other aspects of system performance (e。g. protection coordination). A notable exception is that a single large DG, or aggregate of small DG connected to a “weak”
46、 grid may lead to power quality problems during starting and stopping conditions or output fluctuations (both normal and abnormal)。 For certain types of DG, such as wind turbines or PV, current fluctuations are a routine part of operation due to varying wind or sunlight conditions。 Other types of DG
47、 such as ICE or CT can also have fluctuations due to various factors (e。g. cylinders misfiring and pulsation torque one misfiring in a 1800 rpm engine translates to 15 Hz pulsation frequency)。 Harmonics may cause interference with operation of some equipment including overheating/ de-rating of trans
48、formers, cables and motors leading to shorter life. In addition, they may interfere with some communication systems located in the close proximity of the grid. In extreme cases they can cause resonant overvoltages, blown fuses, failed equipment, etc。 DG technologies have to comply with pre-specified by standards harmonic levels. In order to mitigate harmonic impact in the system the following can be implemented: 1)Use an interface transformer with a delta winding or ungrounded winding to minimize injection of triplen harmonics。 2)Use a gro