1. Presented by: Hao Liang 2012.11.7
Voltage Regulation in Distribution Systems with Distributed Generation (DG)
Presented by: Hao Liang
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

2. Outline Introduction The Voltage Rise Problem
Optimization Based Voltage Regulation
Estimation Based Voltage Regulation
Combined Measurement and Estimation Based Voltage Regulation
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) Coordination Based Voltage Regulation
Discussions
Outline of this talk.
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

3. Introduction Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

4. Distributed Generation (DG) Integration
In the recent years, distributed generation (DG) has experienced significant growth all over the world
Potentially powered by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, DG units are able to supply the electricity demands in an more economical and environmentally-friendly way as compared with the conventional centralized generators
However, the adoption of DG units (which are intermittent in nature) poses new challenges on distribution system engineering
One of the most challenging issues is the voltage regulation, which is aimed at keeping the voltage level of the distribution system within a certain range

5. Smart Grid Communications
WAN: Fiber optics, microwave, cellular (e.g., GPRS, 3G, HSPA+, and LTE)
HAN: ZigBee, WiFi, power line communications (PLC)
NAN: ZigBee, WiFi
Focus of This Talk
Picture:

6. The Voltage Rise Problem
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

7. or Causes of Voltage Rise Model of a 3-bus feeder (no DG)
The voltage (V2) at a remote point on a feeder can be approximately calculated as
V1 – Source voltage
R + jX – Impedance of the line between the source and the remote point
P and Q – Active and reactive power flows, respectively or
in per unit
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

8. Causes of Voltage Rise (Cont’d)
Model of a 3-bus feeder (with DG)
If the DG unit injects active power into the system (i.e., the DG unit is working at unity power factor), we have
If the output of the DG unit is large, (P − PG) becomes negative. As a result, V2 can be larger than V1, which causes the voltage rise problem
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

9. Possible Solutions for Voltage Rise Problem
Network Reinforcement – The network reinforcement method aims at reducing R to mitigate the voltage rise effect. However, the cost is relatively high for upgrading the feeders
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

10. Possible Solutions for Voltage Rise Problem (Cont’d)
Generation Curtailment – When the load demand is low, some of the generation capacity (PG) can be curtailed to reduce the voltage rise, at the cost of a reduction in the profit of DG. The significance of the cost is heavily dependent on the electricity price and may be less when the electricity price is low as the load demand is low
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

11. Possible Solutions for Voltage Rise Problem (Cont’d)
Reactive Power Compensation – The reactive power compensation method requires the generator to absorb a certain amount of reactive power (Q). However, this method is not very efficient (especially for cable feeders) since the X/R ratio in distribution systems is typically much smaller than that in transmission systems. At the same time, this method results in higher losses in distribution systems
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

12. Possible Solutions for Voltage Rise Problem (Cont’d)
Voltage Regulator – The voltage rise effect can also be addressed by decreasing the source voltage V1. Remote terminal units (RTUs) are deployed at strategic locations across the network for voltage and power flow measurements. The measured information is transmitted to the voltage regulator at the primary transformer (via certain communication networks in the context of Smart Grid) for voltage control
Cost of Communications?
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

13. Optimization Based Voltage Regulation
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

14. Basic Idea
A linear programming (LP) based formulation of the optimal power flow (OPF) is considered. The objective is to minimize the annual active generation curtailment cost, while satisfying voltage and thermal constraints. The decision variables are the generation curtailment, reactive compensation, and coordinated voltage regulation (area voltage control) using OLTC
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

15. Problem Formulation
Minimize the annual active generation curtailment cost
Active power injection
Reactive power injection
Load flows of the branch ij
Limits
Tap setting of the tap-changer k
Reactive power curtailment may be correlated with the active power curtailment
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

16. Discussions
The main drawback of the optimization based voltage regulation scheme is that it can hardly be implemented in real time as it is not possible to read the information of all nodes in the distribution system. How to reduce the number of measurements is the main issue to be addressed
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

17. Estimation Based Voltage Regulation
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

18. Basic Idea A reference feeder without DG unit is needed
The key technique is the estimation of the output of generator which is connected at a remote point on the feeder
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

19. The Voltage Regulation Strategy
An additional current measurement IFG is used. The ratio EST represents the load share between feeders with embedded generation to those without generators, given by
where ITL is the summation of transformer currents. The factor EST is calculated before the connection of the DG unit or when the output of the DG unit is zero
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

20. The Voltage Regulation Strategy (Cont’d)
Then, during the operation of the DG unit, the generation output can be estimated, given by
Based on the value of IG , the voltage rise at the connection point of the DG can be calculated as
This value corresponds to the necessary voltage reduction at the substation in order to bring the voltage level at the point of DG connection within statutory limits
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

21. Discussions
This scheme does not take advantage of the instantaneous measurements obtained from a communication network, which is expected to be deployed in the next generation power grid (also referred to as the smart grid)
This scheme requires a reference feeder without DG
In addition, the scheme is used to solve the voltage rise problem, while the low voltage point (below the statutory limit) can hardly be detected
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

22. Combined Measurement and Estimation Based Voltage Regulation
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

23. Basic Idea
Investigate both real-time measurements and statistical estimation
Specifically, based on the information of real-time measurements and load profile, the voltage magnitude at each network node (supplied by the primary substation) can be estimated with certain accuracy
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

24. Voltage Estimation
A weighted least squares method is used, where the state variables are defined with respect to the node voltage magnitudes and relative phase angles, given by
where xj represents the state variables, Ns is the number of state variables, zi denotes the ith measurement, Nm is the number of measurements, fi is a function relating ith measurement to state variables, and σi is the variance of the ith measurement
Three types of function fi is used, which relates the state variables Vi, Vk, θi, and θk to the measurements Pinj, Qinj, and Vi, given by
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

25. Voltage Estimation (Cont’d)
Power flow equations, which can be solved by using the
Newton-Raphson method
For state estimation on a distribution network, we have Nm ≪ Ns. However, the necessary condition for a weighted least squares state estimation algorithm to have a unique solution is Nm ≥ Ns
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

26. Voltage Estimation (Cont’d)
Power flow equations, which can be solved by using the
Newton-Raphson method
Therefore, the pseudo measurements which are derived from offline data, can be used to provide unmeasured quantities, so that Nm ≥ Ns
In this work, the unmeasured quantities are Pinj and Qinj at load nodes and so pseudo measurements are used for these. The measurements are assumed to be independent normal random variables, with variance being greater for pseudo measurements than for real-time measurements
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

27. Discussions
The combined measurement and estimation based voltage regulation scheme is very complicated which requires the solution of non-linear equations. How to reduce the complexity and apply the scheme in real time is still an open issue
Moreover, the performance of the scheme heavily depends on the load models. How to improve the modeling accuracy based on load profiles is interesting and requires future research
In addition, the voltage controller used in this work is not optimized, which potentially degrades the efficiency of voltage regulation
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

28. RTU Coordination Based Voltage Regulation
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

29. Voltage Profile Estimation
RTUs are deployed at the DG and capacitor connecting buses
Theorem 1. For the voltage profile of a feeder, maximum voltage can happen only at the DG connecting buses, capacitors connecting buses, and the substation bus, provided that the R/X ratio of the feeder is constant along the whole feeder
Theorem 2. There exists a minimum voltage point in between two DG connecting buses if and only if, for both DGs, the voltage of the DG neighboring bus, in the direction of the other DG, is less than the voltage of the DG bus
Directly Measurable
Need to be Estimated
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

30. Voltage Profile Estimation (Cont’d)
Assume the load between two DG units is concentrated halfway between them. The minimum voltages calculated by DG1 and DG2 are, respectively, given by
In order to get a better estimation of the minimum voltage, we take the average:
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

31. Voltage Profile Estimation (Cont’d)
In order to achieve voltage regulation, each RTU measures the following information
1) The voltage of its element bus
2) Active and reactive power flow in lines connected to its element bus
3) The voltages of the immediate neighbor buses of its element bus
Based on the measurements, each RTU can perform the following calculation
1) Measure a maximum voltage point
2) Check one part of the condition for the possibility of the existence of a minimum voltage point between its element and any neighbor element
3) Estimate the value of the minimum voltage point on each side of its element, if it exists
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

32. Voltage Profile Estimation (Cont’d)
A communication network is established for the RTUs to pass the calculated information to the voltage regulator
Data passing starts from the farthest RTU towards the voltage regulator
Along the data passing path, each upstream RTU updates the maximum and minimum voltages based on the information received from its downstream RTU
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

33. Voltage Regulator Operation
When the information with respect to the maximum and minimum voltages are received by the voltage regulator, the following operations are performed:
1) If the absolute maximum voltage is greater than maximum permissible voltage, then the voltage regulator will decrease the current tap position till the maximum voltage of the feeder is within the permissible range
2) If the minimum voltage of the feeder is below the minimum permissible voltage, then the voltage regulator will increase the tap position to bring the minimum voltage into the permissible range
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

34. Discussions
The RTU based voltage regulation can efficiently utilizes the instant measurements at the generation buses. However, how to integrates the estimates of the loads to improve the voltage regulation performance is still an open issue
The scheme is not optimized for certain objective functions
The reliability of the communication network?
Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group

35. Thank you! Broadband Communications Research (BBCR) Lab
Smart Grid Research Group