THE INFLUENCE OF THE CONNECTION TECHNOLOGY

OF DISPERSED ENERGY SOURCES ON GRID STABILITY

Vu Van Thong Johan Driesen Ronnie Belmans

Department of Electrical Engineering - ELECTA

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium)
http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/electa
Email: thong.vuvan@esat.kuleuven.ac.be

Keywords: Dispersed Energy Source, Stability, Dynamic

Performance, Protection Selectivity
Abstract
The electrical power production from dispersed energy
sources or distributed generation (DG) is playing an
increasing role in the supply of electricity in the liberalized
electricity markets. DG can have a significant impact on the
power flow, voltage profile, stability and the power quality
for both customers and electricity suppliers. In this paper, the
influences of different DG technologies on the voltage
stability under disturbances, power quality problem, and
protection aspects are studied under different load conditions.
1 Introduction
The connection of distributed generation to the grid may
affect the stability of the power system, i.e. angle, frequency
and voltage stability. Traditionally, distribution network
analysis did not need to consider stability issues as the
network was largely passive and remained stable under most
circumstances provided the transmission network was itself
stable [2]. With the newly introduced distributed generation,
the distribution system becomes an active system with both
energy generation and consumption at the formerly exclusive
load nodes. Due to the increasing penetration of DG, its
impact on system security becomes significant.
Power quality has become a real problem over the last
decades due to the ever increasing use of power electronics
and sensitive load equipment. The addition of distributed
generation can have a significant effect and increases the
complexity of this problem [3]. The power injection of DG
can raise the steady-state voltage level [5], [4]. Inverter
connected generators may inject non-sinusoidal currents into
the network and cause harmonic distortion. Besides, DG units
may cause an unacceptable local rise of the voltage level. The
fluctuation of power injection of some DG technologies such
as wind turbines and photovoltaics might cause voltage
fluctuations [4], [6]. On the other hand, the connection of DG
may improve the capacity and reliability of the distribution
system [1].
DG technologies include photovoltaics, wind turbines, fuel
cells, small-scale gas turbines, Stirling-engines, and internal
combustion engines. Depending on the conversion technology
and nature of the energy source, the distributed generator can
be directly connected to the grid, through a rotating generator,
or indirectly through a DC-AC or AC-AC converter. The
ability of different technologies to supply ancillary service,
support short-circuit power and increase the power system
stability depends mainly on these connection technologies.
The behaviour of loads in a specific distribution system and
along with the network characteristic are different as well.
They can range from being an impedance load to constant-
current loads or constant-power loads, which are often related
to the load’s grid connection technology as well. This makes
a thorough impact a necessity study before connecting a DG
unit to a distribution system.
This paper aims at investigating the impact of the connection
option, direct or indirect over a power electronic converter, of
DG units and their impact on the power quality and voltage
stability of a distribution system. The impact of DG on the
short-circuit behaviour and protection selectivity is discussed
as well. The distribution system and distributed generators are
modelled using the Eurostag software package. Different DG
units are connected to an existing distribution network in
Belgium and tested for different load characteristics. Based
on the results, the system operators can know which
technology and how much installed capacity of distributed
generation connected to a certain distribution system could be
allowed on the grid.
2 Impact of DG on Power System
2.1 Studied distribution network
An existing Belgian medium voltage distribution system
segment is used to study the power quality and voltage
stability with different DG units (Fig. 1). The system includes
one transformer 14 MVA, 70/10 kV and four cable feeders.
The primary winding of the transformer is connected to the
transmission grid and can be considered as an infinite node.
 Normal operation of the distribution system is in radial mode In Fig. 2 the voltage fluctuation can be seen it correspond to
and the connections at node 111 with feeders 2, 3 and 4 are the fluctuations of injected active power of the PV system. At
normally open. times when clouds cover the sun, the power generated can
quickly drop by 60% of its previous value, causing sudden
variations in node voltages in the range 0.1%. The installed
SUB
SUB 1 2 101
101 102
102 103 104 105
105 106 107 111
103 104 106 107 108
108 109 110
110 111

capacity of PV in this study is rather low compared to the

capacity of the distribution system and the loads, so the value
of voltage fluctuation is quite limited. However, in case of a
201
201 202
202 203
203 204
204 205
205 206
206 207
207 208
208
high connection density or the connection of larger PV
systems, the voltage fluctuation problem might become more
301
301 302 303
303 304
304 305
305 severe.

401
401 402
402 403
403 404
404 405
405 406 407 408 409
The power conversion of directly-coupled generators, e.g.
wind turbines is also subject to input fluctuations, but in
Fig. 1. Tested distribution system general, these are filtered better due to the large inertia.

2.2 Voltage fluctuation with an inverter based

photovoltaic system 2.3 Direct coupled generator start-up
In order to see the voltage dip problem when a DG starts up,
In order to see the voltage fluctuation problem with DG, a
an induction generator connected at node 108 with a rated
photovoltaic (PV) system is introduced. The reactive power is
power of 3 MW is tested at a lagging power factor of 0.9.
produced by a capacitor of the inverter’s grid filter and almost
When the induction generator starts up, it causes a transient
constant, so the PV system is treated as a PQ node with
and a voltage dip up to 40% in the system and lasts for
negative power. The PV power is calculated from 5-s average
several seconds (Fig. 3). It is due to an initial magnetizing
irradiance data measured during one year in Leuven
inrush transient and power transfer to bring the generator to
(Belgium). In this study, an aggregated PV array with 50 kW
its operating speed [3]. This results in a major problem for
rated peak power is connected at node 304 Fig. 2 shows the
sensitive loads connected near the DG. If the distribution
one-hour power output of the PV system at noon of a slightly
system is equipped with an under-voltage relay and DG unit
clouded summer day. In order to isolate the voltage
has islanding protection, the voltage dip may lead to a
fluctuation impact of PV from short-time load variation at
malfunction of the protection relay resulting in an outage of
individual nodes, the loads are assumed constant during the
the system. A soft-start circuit is required for large connected
calculation. The total load in the system is 4.4 MW, 1.9 Mvar.
induction DG. Indirectly-connected generators do not cause
Since PV is fundamentally a DC source, the connection must
voltage dips when starting up as they contain inrush current
be made by means of a power electronic inverter. As such the
limiting measures.
system roughly behaves as a constant-current source.
0.045
P (M W )
0.040
Q (M Var)
2.4 Opening of one branch
0.035 A total DG capacity of 30% of the total system load is equally
0.030 distributed over nodes 108, 204, and 406. The simulations
0.025 have been carried out for induction and for synchronous
0.020
generators. All operate at power factor 0.98 lagging. One of
0.015
the 1-2 lines is opened during dynamic simulation at time t =
0.010
100 s. The distributed generators are connected at node 108,
0.005
204 and 406 with rated power 1 MW for both synchronous
0.000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
and induction generators.
Tim e (m inute)
1.0774 The voltage dips are highest with constant power load
1.0773 characteristic and lowest with impedance load characteristic
1.0772 for both synchronous and induction generators (Fig. 4 and
1.0771 Fig. 5). With the synchronous generators, after a short voltage
U (pu)

1.0770 dip, the voltage recovers close to the voltage before the
1.0769 disturbance. For induction generators, the voltage does not
1.0768 recover due to the lack of reactive power support. There is not
1.0767 so much difference between a voltage dip in the base case and
1.0766 with DG connection, being around 1%. So the connection of
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 DG in the distribution system does not significantly affect the
Time (minute) dynamic voltage stability, and in most cases it reduces the
Fig. 2: Injected power and voltage at node 304 value of the voltage dip.
 U2
2.5 Short circuit and protection selectivity
1.00
U404 The safe operation and adequate protection of the system are
0.95 U105 to be guaranteed at all times. In addition, the protection
U108 system has to be sufficiently selective, in order to optimize
0.90 the reliability and availability of the supplied power. This is
less simple than it seems since the fault current not only
0.85 comes from the main power system grid in a unidirectional
way, but also from the DG units (dispersed current sources),
0.80
making the detection far more complicated and thus the
0.75
conventional hierarchical protection method might fail.
Therefore, a more ‘active’ protection system with some form
0.70 of communication will be required to keep up the requirement
level of safety in the future.
0.65

In order to see the effect of DG on the short-circuit current

0.60
and voltage, three synchronous generators are connected to
0.55
feeder 1 at node 101, 102 and 105. The rated capacity of
every generator is 1 MVA. This study represent for the case
0.50
s that there are many opportunities to connect large penetration
99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107
of DG units to a feeder, but other feeders have not been
Fig. 3. Voltage dip when starting-up of an induction generator connected to any DG units yet. The simulation is done with a
1.020
3-phase short circuit at node 202 on the feeder 2, where there
is no DG unit on this feeder. The short circuit lasts 100 ms,
and happens at t = 100s during simulation. The results are
1.015
compared to the base case, without DG connection.

1.010 Fig. 6 illustrates the short-circuit current through branch 2-

Impedance load
201 of feeder 2, with DG connection case and base case. The
1.005 short-circuit current running through branch 2-201 is higher
Current constant load
with DG connection case. This is due to the fact that the
Base case
generators of feeder 1 supply more to short-circuit current
1.000
Power constant load
(Fig. 7). Higher short-circuit current results in faster operation
of protection system. This helps eliminate the short circuit
faster, due to most distribution systems are using over-current
0.995

protection.
0.990

s In Fig. 7, the short-circuit current running through branch 2-

98 100 102 104 106 108 110
101 is shown. For the base case, the loads on feeder 1 is only
supplied from the substation, the current during the normal
Fig. 4. Voltage dip at bus 2 with synchronous generator operation is higher compared to DG connection case. When a
short circuit occurs on feeder 2, the current on feeder 1 drops.
1.020
Impedance load However, when the feeder is supported by generators, the
1.015
Base case generators supply short-circuit power during the disturbance.
Current constant load The oscillation current after eliminating the fault is higher
1.010
Power constant load than the short-circuit current in this case. This is due to the
acceleration of the generator. If this value is higher than the
1.005
threshold of setting relay current, the protection may react and
1.000 trip this healthy feeder.
0.995
Fig. 8 shows a voltage dip at node 2 when a short circuit at
0.990
node 202 occurs. There is a voltage fluctuation with DG
connection due to the transient behaviour of the DG unit.
0.985

In case of indirectly-connected generators, the short-circuit

0.980
s current contribution is lower, and may not be noticed, as the
99.5 100.0 100.5 101.0 101.5 102.0 102.5 power electronic front-ends are current-limited.
Fig. 5. Voltage dip at bus 2 with induction generator
 kA
4.0 3. Conclusions
With DG connection The power quality, voltage stability and protection selectivity
3.5
Base case are studied in this paper within an existing distribution
3.0 system. The study is carried with different load characteristics
and DG technologies.
2.5

The connection of variable power sources to the system

2.0
causes voltage fluctuations. This problem might become a
1.5
real problem when larger penetration of uncertainty DG
sources exists in the system. This may impact the system
1.0 security operation, when the system is not strong and spinning
reserve is not large enough to cover the variation of those
0.5 uncertainty resources.
0.0
99.5 100.0 100.5 101.0 101.5 102.0
s The impact of DG depends on the applied technologies. The
synchronous generators equipped with exciter and governor
control system help to restore the voltage after a disturbance
Fig. 6: The short-circuit current through branch 2-201 with
the contribution of DG currents happening in the system. The connection of large induction
might cause a big voltage dip when starting. A soft-start
circuit is suggested to use with this technology.
kA

0.40
With DG connection The connection of DG significantly influences to the short
circuit current both on the faulted feeder and healthy feeders.
Base case
0.35 A higher short-circuit current in the faulted feeder helps to
eliminate the fault faster. However, A higher short-circuit
0.30 current in healthy feeders, where a large penetration of DG is
connected to, might results in tripping unwanted feeders.
0.25

0.20
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Belgian “Fonds voor
0.15
Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen” for its financial
support of this work and the IWT for granting a GBOU
0.10
research project to support this research. J.Driesen holds a
postdoctoral research fellowship and of the Belgian “Fonds
99.5 100.0 100.5 101.0 101.5 102.0
voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) - Vlaanderen”.

Fig. 7: The short-circuit current through branch 2-101 with References

the contribution of DG currents
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PU
Marcel Dekker, New York, 2002
1.0 [2] CIGRE TF 38.01.10, “Modeling new forms of generation
and storage,” November 2000
0.9 [3] N. Jenkins, R. Allan, P. Crossley, D. Kirschen, G. Strbac:
With DG connection “Embedded Generation,” The Institute of Electrical
0.8
Base case Engineers, London, 2000
[4] N.C. Scott, D.J. Atkinson, J.E. Morrell: “Use of load
0.7
control to regulate voltage on distribution networks with
embedded generation,” IEEE Trans. on Power Systems,
0.6
Vol. 17, No 2, pp.510 –515 (2002)
[5] T. Vu Van, J. Driesen, R. Belmans: “Impacts of embedded
0.5
generation on voltage stability of distribution system,”
0.4
Universities Power Engineering Conference, Greece, Sep.
2003
99.5 100.0 100.5 101.0 101.5 102.0
[6] A. Woyte, T. Vu Van, K. Purchala, R. Belmans, J. Nijs:
“Quantifying the occurrence and duration of power
fluctuations introduced by photovoltaic system,”
Fig. 8: The short-circuit voltage at node 2
PowerTech, IEEE, Italy, June 2003