Effects of Distributed Generations' Integration to the Distribution Networks Case Study of Solar Power Plant

Abstract

All over the world, the Distributed Generations (DGs) integration to power system has increased in the recent years due to economic, environmental and technical advantages. Turkey which has the huge solar potential has focused on integrating both licensed and unlicensed solar power plants by providing 10 years of purchasing guarantee as an incentive for the electricity producers from solar energy. However, the integration of DGs has several negative effects on the distribution networks (DNs). This work is concerned with investigating the possible challenges that may arise due to integration of PV based DGs on the existing distribution networks. Short circuit current level with respect to variation in MW integration is studied for the case the utility network is weak and strong. When the utility network is strong, the integration effect of inverter based DGs like solar power plants were observed insignificant. However, for the weak utility networks, the integration of inverter based DGs has been observed to have significant influence. Finally, directly integrated DGs (without inverter) are considered to reveal its difference with the non-inverter based DGs. As the case study, the distribution network integration of a solar power project, which is found in the Antalya region of Turkey, is investigated. This is 12 MW solar power plant designed to be connected to the local distribution network in Antalya. It is concluded that the effects of directly integrated DGs are observed more prominent compared to the inverter based DGs. DigSILENT Power Factory simulation tool is used for the study.