Enhancing the integration of renewable sources in
distribution systems using DC-links
A. Marano-Marcolini, E. Romero-Ramos, A. Gomez-Exposito, J.M. Maza-Ortega, J.L. Martinez-Ramos
alejandromm@us.es, eromero@us.es, age@us.es, jmmaza@us.es, jlmr@esi.us.es
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Seville
Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
Abstract—This work proposes the use of DC-links between
existing radial distribution feeders so that full advantage is taken
of their maximum capacity, which is particularly important
when new distributed generators are to be connected at the
distribution level. An optimization tool is developed to determine
the optimum settings for the DC-link control variables, in order
to maximize the penetration of dispersed sources subject to
customary electrical constraints. Simulation results regarding two
real networks are presented to illustrate the former advantages.
Also, improvements in system operation resulting from the
presence of DC-links are studied and discussed. A real loss model
for the DC link is considered in all test cases.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Traditionally, medium voltage systems are operated in a
radial arrangement. The low degree of reliability for these
radial networks is improved by adding emergency ties that
provide alternative routes for power supply in case of outages
or scheduled interruptions. These links end with an open
switch so that radial structure is maintained during normal
conditions. The improvements that would result by closing the
normally open links are well known [1]: power lines would be
less loaded, better voltage profile, a reduction of power losses,
etc. However, radial systems are easier to operate and more
economic to protect, at least when all the customers connected
to the network are passive loads, as the direction of power
flows, from distribution substations to consumers, is known
in advance in those cases. This advantage has prevailed over
the former limitations until now, but the increasing presence
of distributed generators at the medium voltage starts to argue
this radial operation topology.
Distribution companies are increasingly facing the problem
that a great deal of distributed generators (DG) apply to
connect to their radial systems. In many occasions, the utility
is forced not to admit all of them due to the fact that, with
all the generators supplying power, the system would be at
“full load”, that is, some power line ampacities or voltage
magnitudes would be out of limits. If the system was operated
in a meshed way, a higher DG penetration would result as has
already been proved [2]. This mesh operation would allow the
deferment of investments needed to meet with the growing
energy demand, no matter if it is consumed or supplied.
Unfortunately, actual radial systems are very difficult to
operate as a network due mainly to two reasons: firstly, a
rise in the short circuit current in each node that would
HV MV
Substation 1
DC-link NO
location
HV MV
Substation 2
Fig. 1. Typical distribution topology
imply the substitution of the existing circuit breakers [3],
and secondly, important inversions in new advanced protection
schemes would have to be carried out.
A way to circumvent these problems, at the same time
the improvements associated with a meshed operation are
achieved, consists of using DC-links [4]. DC-links take ad-
vantage of the full capacity of the distribution system so that
new distributed generators can be connected to the system [5].
Such DC-links connect two or more feeders, usually at remote
points, making power flows from each other possible and
offering new alternative routes to carry all the supplied power
from generators to distribution substations. Additionally, the
reactive power supplied or consumed by the inverters of the
DC-link constitute new control variables to take into account in
order to incorporate as much dispersed power as possible [6].
This work formulates the optimization problem that re-
sults by considering this new control devices in order to
improve as much as possible the operation of the system
from different points of view. The mathematical problem is
formulated rigorously including a real model for the DC-link
in section II-A. Simulation results regarding two real networks
are presented in section III, while section IV summarizes the
main contributions of this work.
II. S YSTEM MODEL
Figure 1 shows the classical topology for medium voltage
systems. Only two feeders have been detailed for the sake of
simplicity, while other feeders from distribution substations
are represented by concentrated spot loads. The two feeders,
 Pl Pm
Ql Qm
AC DC
DC AC
l m
Fig. 2. Back-to-back converter
leaving different distribution substations, extend along a cer-
tain number of secondary distribution transformers where dis-
persed generators and consumers are connected. Both feeders
could be connected through a switch that should be normally
open to force the radial system topology. A meshed system can
be easily constructed by installing a DC-link between those
two points where the open switches are located.
Next, the mathematical model for all the components of
the power system and the resulting optimization problem are
formulated.
A. DC-link
DC-links can have different configurations. The one consid-
ered here is based on the so-called voltage source converter
(VSC). Figure 2 shows a back-to-back device consisting of
two VSCs sharing a common DC bus. The most economical
topology has been considered, namely the 6-pulse two-level
bridge.
When this converter is installed between two feeders via
transformers, the power flow thorough the link can be adjusted
to system requirements in both directions. Note that the sum
of the active powers injected by the converters on each feeder
must be zero as no storage of generation is connected to
the DC bus. Additionally, thanks to the self-commutating
technology, reactive power at both sides of the converter can
be controlled, that is, voltage magnitudes at the furthest buses
of both feeders can be regulated independently, which provides
an important operational advantage, as will be seen later.
Consequently, the DC-link contributes with three new control
variables: both reactive powers injected at each terminal bus
of the converter, Ql and Qm , and one of the active power
injections, Pl or Pm . These two last quantities are related by:
Pl + Pm = 0 (1)
Additional equations must be added to properly model the
internal losses of IGBTs and diodes, that is, the switching
elements in the VSC. Both the switching and conduction losses
of the IGBTs and diodes are considered. The losses model
used in this work is the one proposed in [7]. A quadratic
polynomial equation is used to compute the IGBTs losses.
The polynomial coefficients are determined using information
from manufacturers’ computing programs. The loss equation
formula for each IGBT-diode pair is:
Ploss = aI 2 + bI + c (2)
where constants a, b and c depend on the IGBTs manufacturer,
and I is the RMS current through each IGBT. A 3 MVA
VSC is considered by using one of the most powerful existing
IGBTs from ABB. Notice that equation (2) represents the loss
of each IGBT in the VSC, six in total for the adopted two-level
bridge.
Note that these active power losses must appear in the
balance equation (1), that is, the active power flow leaving
one feeder must be equal to the active power flow arriving to
the other one plus the power losses in both converters. So, if
this more realistic model is considered for the back-to-back
arrangement, the equation (1) must be rewritten as,
Pl + Pm + Plloss + Pm
loss
=0 (3)
where Plloss and Pm
loss
denote power losses at each VSC.
B. Optimization formulation
Any optimization problem has a general formulation con-
sisting of a scalar objective function f to minimize or maxi-
mize, along with equality and inequality constraints that must
be enforced during the solution process. The mathematical
problem can be formulated in a general way as,
min f (x, u)

g(x, u) = 0
s.t.
h(x, u) ≤ 0
where vector x comprises the dependent variables and vector
u consists of control variables.
In this work, complex node voltages are the dependent
variables, that is, voltage magnitude and angle at each node,
Vi and θi . The control vector u is composed of the previously
presented control variables related to the DC-link: reactive
power injected or consumed from each VSC and the active
power flow trough the DC-link.
The equality constraints are obtained imposing at each node
the power balance equations,
 
Pig − PiL = Vi Vj Gij cos(θij ) + Vj Bij sin(θij ) (4)
j
 
Qgi − QL
i = Vi Vj Gij sin(θij ) − Vj Bij cos(θij ) (5)
j
where Sig= Pig
+ jQgi is the total complex power injected
by dispersed generators connected to bus i, SiL = PiL + jQL i
is the total complex load power demanded at bus i, and Yij =
Gij + jBij is the ij-element of the bus admittance matrix.
HV/MV transformers at distribution substations are equipped
with automatic tap changers to keep the voltage magnitudes at
head nodes of feeders to a constant value. So, equations (4) and
(5) are replaced by Ui = Visp |αi for each node i from 1 to ng ,
ng being the total number of distribution substations. Finally,
equation (1), forcing the null generation or consumption of
active power from the converter, is the last equality constraint
to consider in the optimization problem.
 Inequality equations h are defined by the following electri- Feeder 1
10000
cal constraints,

S (kVA)
1) Conductor ampacity: thermal limit of overhead or un- 5000

derground lines,
0
5 10 15 20
max
0 ≤ Iij ≤ Iij (6) Feeder 2
300

S (kVA)
2) Voltage limits: voltage magnitudes must be in a specified 200
range, 100
V min ≤ Vi ≤ V max (7) 0
5 10 15 20
Hour
3) Converter capacity: The apparent power through each
voltage source converter can not exceed its rated power,
Smax , 3 MVA for the simulated DC-link, Fig. 3. Loading evolution for both feeders of Network A.

0 ≤ Sl ≤ Smax 1500

P (kW)
(8)
0 ≤ Sm ≤ Smax 1000

l, m being the DC-link terminal buses. The total appar- 500

ent power associated to each converter must include the
power losses defined by (2).
At this point, it is worth remembering that the main benefits
of the installation of DC-links are, on the one hand, the
increased feeder loadability by sharing spare capacity between
the interconnected feeders and, on the other hand, the addi-
tional control of voltage magnitudes by taking advantage of the
capacity of the converters to absorb or supply reactive power.
Different objective functions can be considered depending on
the main control goal. If the goal is to increase the penetration
of DG, then the objective function of the optimization problem
is,
 The benefits of using a DC-link on a real network, from
max Pig , (9)
i consists of two feeders connected to the same substation. One
where Pig represents the new power injected by distributed
generator at bus i, and the sum is extended to those nodes
where distributed generators are to be connected.
An alternative objective function could be to minimize
power losses for a fixed generation and load profile, that is,
minimizing the total active power injected by each distribution
substation to the medium voltage network under study,
ng

min Pj (10)
j=1
ng being the total number of distribution substations.
Those objective functions will be considered in the next
section by applying them to real distribution systems.
III. R ESULTS
This section is structured in two subsections. The first one
presents the results concerning the power loss minimization.
And the second one presents the results obtained with the
objective of increasing the DG penetration.
5 10 15 20
1500
Q (kvar)
1000
500
5 10 15 20
Hour
Fig. 4. Active and Reactive power through the DC-link. The total reactive
power is presented, i.e., the addition of the injections in both terminals.
A. Power loss minimization
now on Network A, are shown in this section. This network
of them is a long line connecting rural loads (feeder 1), while
the other is a short urban line (feeder 2). The first one has
higher loads than the second one for the whole day long.
The rural feeder is working at about half its nominal capacity,
meanwhile the urban feeder has most of its capacity unused.
Figure 3 shows the power demand evolution during a whole
day for both feeders. A representative winter day is used to
obtain the results, as this is the season with highest power
demand for this network.
The OPF described in Section II-B is used with the objective
function defined in equation (5), that is, the objective is to
reduce the active power injected from the substation. The
results of this problem provide the proper control variables
for the back-to-back device (Pl , Ql and Qm ).
The DC-link must be rescheduled each time the loading
conditions vary. In this case, the aforementioned OPF is
executed 24 times, one for each hour of the considered day.
Doing so, the active power through the DC-link and reactive
power injection at each bus, Ql and Qm , that reduce the system
looses are obtained. Figure 4 shows these results. The lower
plot represents the total reactive power managed by the DC-
 30 kWh using the DC-link, representing a reduction of about 20
%.
Loss reduction (%)

20

B. Increasing the DG penetration

10
The case evaluated here represents a real problem in a
0 distribution network, Network B. This system consists of two
feeders departing from the same substation. Both feeders are
−10 equally loaded, but one of them (feeder 1) has a DG connected
0 5 10 15 20 25
Hour
to its further terminal. This DG is currently providing 3 MW
of power without providing reactive power support. If new
DG want to connect by a near point, the voltage of the further
Fig. 5. Loss reduction in percentage using a DC-link. terminal reach the highest allowed value.
The benefits obtained inserting a DC-link between the
TABLE I
E VOLUTION OF THE DC- LINK LOSSES IN K W FOR THE 24 HOURS .
problematic feeder and the other one are assessed here.
In the initial conditions, slightly increasing the power in-
Hour Loss Hour Loss jected from the DG leads to infeasible high voltage in the DG
1 23.37 13 25.57
2 23.37 14 25.71
connection bus. If a reactive compensator is connected to that
3 23.37 15 25.85 bus the allowed injected power is 4.18 MW. Now, the limit is
4 23.37 16 25.45 caused by the ampacity of the feeder.
5 23.37 17 25.30
6 23.37 18 25.26 Using a DC-link leads to further improvement. Not only is
7 23.37 19 26.06 the back-to-back device able to absorb the required reactive
8 23.37 20 26.57 power, but also allows the active power generated from the DG
9 23.89 21 27.47
10 25.78 22 28.04 to be transferred to the second feeder, increasing the capacity
11 25.70 23 27.07 of the whole system.
12 25.52 24 25.64 Using the OPF with the objective defined by (9), the
following results are obtained for a 3 MVA DC-link:
• Active power flow through the device (Pl ): 2.69 MW
link, that is, the result of adding |Ql | to |Qm |.
Note that the active power flow through the DC-link follows • Reactive power injection to feeder 1 (Ql ): -1.25 Mvar
the trend of feeder 1 demand. It is minimum for hour 7 and
• Reactive power injection to feeder 2 (Qm ): 0.49 Mvar
maximum for hour 22, coinciding with the lowest and highest
demand values, respectively. The DC-link force a higher power With these controls the feeder 1 could accept 6.9 MW till the
flow through the unloaded feeder 2, which implies a decreased ampacity of its lines is reached. This represents an increment
power flow through feeder 1. of a 130 % with respect to the original case, and 65% with
Active power losses depend on line resistances and the respect to the case of adding a reactive power compensator.
squared currents, assuming that the line resistances of both
feeders have equivalent magnitudes, the best situation will be IV. C ONCLUSIONS
achieved when both currents are approximately the same. In an
ideal situation, this is what the DC-link should do. Two facts This paper presents the benefits of using DC-links in dis-
affect, however, this condition. One is the power limitation tribution networks. A detailed model of the IGBT losses is
of the back-to-back device, forced by the IGBTs maximum implemented for taking into account the losses of the back-to-
current flow, 3 MVA in this case. The other is the power losses back selected configuration. The formulation of the OPF used
of the DC-link itself, which according to (2) increase following to obtain the proper DC-link control values is also depicted.
a second order polynomial equation of the current. Results concerning two real networks are presented. The
The achieved loss reduction, in percentage, can be seen in first network is used to demonstrate the DC-link influence
Figure 5. Notice that for certain hours, particularly those in in decreasing the total active losses. This goal is achieved
which the feeder 1 is less stressed, no reduction is achieved, leveling the load of the feeders using the DC-link properly.
instead a small increment happens. This is due to the DC-link The second network is used to show that, using DC-links,
power losses. For these hours, the benefit obtained transferring the DG connected to distribution networks can be increased
power from one feeder to the other is counteracted with the allowing the efficient use of the full capacity of the feeders.
DC-link losses. Table I depicts the active power losses of the The proposed OPF, working with different objective func-
back-to-back device. tions, can be used to adjust the DC-link controls to the loading
Despite the DC-link losses, the global effect is extremely conditions of the distribution network, searching for low losses
positive as the total power losses (computed for the whole when few DG is connected and increasing the penetration
day) decrease from an initial value of 1247.8 kWh to 992.5 capacity when needed.
 A PPENDIX
This appendix is a short abstract of [7] depicting the method
used to compute the IGBT losses.
The exact computation of IGBT losses involves the use of
precise physical models requiring transient simulation tools
with integration time steps lower than 0.1 μs. This compu-
tation technique is clearly not suitable for the optimization
problem presented in this paper, so that a simplified compu-
tation of losses is proposed. The alternative chosen in this
work to model power losses is to use the data given by the
manufacturer of power electronic components.
Nowadays, manufacturers such as Semikron, ABB or Mit-
subishi offer free software for computing the power losses
of their products. ABB has developed a program for the
computation of power losses called SimulationTool for the
high power range of IGBTs [8]. Semikron has a web-based
power loss computation program called SemiSel for the low
and medium power IGBTs [9]. Finally, Mitsubishi offers the
software Power Module Loss Simulator for the high power
range of IGBTs [10].
In spite of being different programs for computing device
power losses, all of them are based on the same assumptions,
being possible to calculate the power losses for a particular
application such as a single-phase or three-phase VSC con-
sidering several factors like rated power, rated current, rated
power factor, ambient temperature, etc. It is important to know
which of these factors are the key parameters affecting the
power losses in order to derive a simplified model from the
data given by the manufacturers throughout these simulation
tools. In this sense, a huge number of simulations have been
carried out in order to asses the power loss dependance on
the operational parameters used to compute the power losses.
As a result, the commutation frequency, the DC voltage and
the RMS value of the current have been determined as the
key parameters affecting the IGBT power losses. However,
it is important to note that for the given application the
commutation frequency and the DC voltage are kept constant.
As a consequence, the IGBT power losses depend exclusively
on the RMS value of the current. The following quadratic
equation is proposed to relate the power losses given by the
manufacturer, Ploss , to the RMS phase current of the VSC, I:
Ploss = aI 2 + bI + c, (11)
where the parameters a, b and c are unknowns that have to be
adjusted using the power loss computation programs provided
by the manufacturers. Once the operational conditions of the
converter (such as DC bus voltage, switching frequency, power
factor, ambient temperature, etc.) have been established, a
number of simulations varying the converter phase current,
I, from no load to its rated value are carried out, yielding the
simulated power loss curve as a function of the phase current.
Then, the parameters a, b and c are adjusted using a least-
mean-square technique.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the support provided by
Endesa under the Novare research program, and by the Spanish
MEC under research projects ENE-2007-63306 and ENE-
2007-68032-C04-02.
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