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Modelling Distribution Systems with Renewable Generation under Abnormal Conditions

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2017) | Viewed by 18873

Special Issue Editors

Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, University of Napoli Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Interests: smart grid; renewable energy; power quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, 03043 Cassino, Italy
Interests: active distribution network; distributed generation; distributed energy resources; management and control; voltage regulation; decentralized and distributed control architectures; volt/var optimization; islanding operation; short-circuit analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The need for saving energy and reducing environmental impact as well as the increased demand of reliable electric supply push for the widespread dissemination of renewable generation connected to distribution networks. However, the presence of renewable generation significantly modifies the behavior of distribution systems, which, although traditionally designed under the assumption of passive networks, have become active distribution systems. Then, new technical issues must be addressed, involving both normal and abnormal operating conditions.

Normal operating conditions are the circumstances required for the proper operation of a component, circuit, device, piece of equipment, or system. They are the most frequent conditions in which power systems operate.

Abnormal conditions occur when measurable quantities, such as voltage, current and active/reactive powers go outside assigned safe ranges. Common causes of abnormal conditions are overloads, external and internal overvoltages, short and open circuits, undesired islanding, and the presence of static converters.

Several contributions and dedicated journal issues have recently appeared about the modeling and assessment of active distribution systems. However, few of them address abnormal operating conditions: This is the reason for this Special Issue.

Original and unpublished contributions discussing modeling and assessment of active distribution systems under abnormal conditions are invited. Proposals can concern the behavior of single components (photovoltaic power plant, wind farms, linear and non-linear loads, etc.), as well as of whole distribution systems. Review papers will also be considered for publication. Papers on research projects involving cooperation among researchers from academia, industries, and government will also be welcome to foster interactions among stakeholders.

Prof. Dr. Guido Carpinelli
Dr. Anna Rita Di Fazio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Photovoltaic systems under short circuit conditions
  • Wind farms under short circuit conditions
  • Short circuit analysis of active distribution systems
  • Low voltage ride through capability of renewable generation
  • Protection system operation in active distribution systems
  • Actual applications of protection systems in active distribution systems 
  • Renewable generation and abnormal voltage conditions
  • Waveform distortions assessment of renewable generation
  • Transient analysis of active distribution systems
  • Compensation of power quality disturbances in active distribution systems
  • Actual applications of compensation devices in active distribution systems 
  • Deterministic and probabilistic approaches

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20349 KiB  
Article
New Power Quality Indices for the Assessment of Waveform Distortions from 0 to 150 kHz in Power Systems with Renewable Generation and Modern Non-Linear Loads
by Luisa Alfieri, Antonio Bracale and Anders Larsson
Energies 2017, 10(10), 1633; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10101633 - 17 Oct 2017
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3502
Abstract
The widespread use of power electronics converters, e.g., to interface renewable generation systems with the grid or to supply some high-efficiency loads, has caused increased levels of waveform distortions in the modern distribution system. Voltage and current waveforms include spectral components from 0 [...] Read more.
The widespread use of power electronics converters, e.g., to interface renewable generation systems with the grid or to supply some high-efficiency loads, has caused increased levels of waveform distortions in the modern distribution system. Voltage and current waveforms include spectral components from 0 kHz to 150 kHz, characterized by a non-uniform time-frequency behavior. This wide interval of frequencies is currently divided into “low-frequency” (from 0 kHz to 2 kHz) and “high-frequency” (from 2 kHz to 150 kHz). While the low-frequencies have been exhaustively investigated in the relevant literature and are covered by adequate standardization, studies for the high-frequencies have been addressed only in the last decade to fill current regulatory gaps. In this paper, new power quality (PQ) indices for the assessment of waveform distortions from 0 kHz to 150 kHz are proposed. Specifically, some currently available indices have been properly modified in order to extend their application also to wide-spectrum waveforms. In the particular case of waveform distortions due to renewable generation, numerical applications prove that the proposed indices are useful tools for the characterization of problems (e.g., overheating, equipment malfunctioning, losses due to skin effects, hysteresis losses or eddy current losses) in cases of both low-frequency and high-frequency distortions. Full article
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4636 KiB  
Article
Optimizing the Structure of Distribution Smart Grids with Renewable Generation against Abnormal Conditions: A Complex Networks Approach with Evolutionary Algorithms
by Lucas Cuadra, Miguel Del Pino, José Carlos Nieto-Borge and Sancho Salcedo-Sanz
Energies 2017, 10(8), 1097; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10081097 - 26 Jul 2017
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5219
Abstract
In this work, we describe an approach that allows for optimizing the structure of a smart grid (SG) with renewable energy (RE) generation against abnormal conditions (imbalances between generation and consumption, overloads or failures arising from the inherent SG complexity) by combining the [...] Read more.
In this work, we describe an approach that allows for optimizing the structure of a smart grid (SG) with renewable energy (RE) generation against abnormal conditions (imbalances between generation and consumption, overloads or failures arising from the inherent SG complexity) by combining the complex network (CN) and evolutionary algorithm (EA) concepts. We propose a novel objective function (to be minimized) that combines cost elements, related to the number of electric cables, and several metrics that quantify properties that are beneficial for SGs (energy exchange at the local scale and high robustness and resilience). The optimized SG structure is obtained by applying an EA in which the chromosome that encodes each potential network (or individual) is the upper triangular matrix of its adjacency matrix. This allows for fully tailoring the crossover and mutation operators. We also propose a domain-specific initial population that includes both small-world and random networks, helping the EA converge quickly. The experimental work points out that the proposed method works well and generates the optimum, synthetic, small-world structure that leads to beneficial properties such as improving both the local energy exchange and the robustness. The optimum structure fulfills a balance between moderate cost and robustness against abnormal conditions. Our approach should be considered as an analysis, planning and decision-making tool to gain insight into smart grid structures so that the low level detailed design is carried out by using electrical engineering techniques. Full article
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2145 KiB  
Article
Impact of Distributed Generation on the Voltage Sag Performance of Transmission Systems
by Pierluigi Caramia, Enrica Di Mambro, Pietro Varilone and Paola Verde
Energies 2017, 10(7), 959; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10070959 - 11 Jul 2017
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4085
Abstract
In this paper, we analysed the growing penetration of generating units from renewable energy sources in transmission power systems. Among the possible effects of the interaction of distributed generation (DG) with transmission systems, we considered the abnormal operating conditions caused by short circuits [...] Read more.
In this paper, we analysed the growing penetration of generating units from renewable energy sources in transmission power systems. Among the possible effects of the interaction of distributed generation (DG) with transmission systems, we considered the abnormal operating conditions caused by short circuits in the transmission systems and the resulting voltage sags that occur in the network. A systematic method is presented for analysing the voltage sag behaviour of any transmission system in which large DG units are connected to the transmission system by means of High Voltage/Medium Voltage (HV/MV) stations. The method proposed for obtaining the voltage sags is the fault position method (FPM), from which we derived a graphical visualization of the during-fault voltage (DFV) matrix as a valuable tool to obtain an immediate measure of the propagation of voltage sags in the network. The results obtained were based on a portion of a real transmission system. The system that we considered is an actual portion of the Italian transmission system, and all of the quantities we used were obtained from the data of the Transmission system operator (TSO). Full article
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4612 KiB  
Article
A Modified Bird-Mating Optimization with Hill-Climbing for Connection Decisions of Transformers
by Ting-Chia Ou, Wei-Fu Su, Xian-Zong Liu, Shyh-Jier Huang and Te-Yu Tai
Energies 2016, 9(9), 671; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9090671 - 23 Aug 2016
Cited by 58 | Viewed by 5232
Abstract
This paper endeavors to apply a hybrid bird-mating optimization approach to connection decisions of distribution transformers. It is expected that with the aid of hybrid bird-mating approach, the voltage imbalance and deviation can be mitigated, hence ensuring a satisfactory supplying power more effectively. [...] Read more.
This paper endeavors to apply a hybrid bird-mating optimization approach to connection decisions of distribution transformers. It is expected that with the aid of hybrid bird-mating approach, the voltage imbalance and deviation can be mitigated, hence ensuring a satisfactory supplying power more effectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of this method, it has been tested through practical distribution systems with comparisons to other methods. Test results help confirm the feasibility of the approach, serving as beneficial references for the improvement of electric power grid operations. Full article
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