Date of Award

1-1-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Amin Khodaei, Ph.D.

Keywords

Distributed generators, Distribution grids, Distribution networks

Abstract

The availability of distributed renewable energy resources and the anticipated increase in new types of loads are changing the way electricity is being produced and supplied to consumers. This shift is moving away from a network delivering power solely from centralized power plants towards a decentralized network which supplements its power production by incorporating local distributed generators (DGs). However, the increased integration of DGs into existing distribution networks is impacting their behavior in terms of voltage profile, reliability, and power quality. To determine the maximum amount of DG that distribution grids can accommodate the concept of hosting capacity is introduced.

The distribution grid hosting capacity is defined as the amount of new production or consumption that can be added to the grid without adversely impacting the reliability or voltage quality for other customers. The study of the hosting capacity is commonly accomplished by simulating power flow for each potential placement of DG while enforcing operating limits (e.g. voltage limits and line thermal limits). Traditionally, power flow is simulated by solving full nonlinear AC power flow equations for each potential configuration. Existing methods for computing hosting capacity require extensive iterations, which can be computationally-expensive and lack solution optimality.

In this dissertation, several approaches for determining the optimal hosting capacity are introduced. First, an optimization-based method for determining the hosting capacity in distribution grids is proposed. The method is developed based on a set of linear power flow equations that enable linear programming formulation of the hosting capacity model. The optimization-based hosting capacity method is then extended to investigate further increasing hosting capacity by also optimizing network reconfiguration. The network reconfigurations use existing switches in the system to increase allowable hosting capacity without upgrading the network infrastructure. Finally, a sensitivity-based method is described which more efficiently obtains the optimal hosting capacity for larger distribution systems.

The proposed methods are examined on several test radial distribution grids to show their effectiveness and acceptable performance. Performance is further measured against existing iterative hosting capacity calculation methods. Results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms traditional methods in terms of computation time while offering comparable results.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Mansoor T. Alturki

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

98 p.

Discipline

Electrical engineering

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