Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23

Energy requirement for distributed energy resources with battery energy

storage for voltage support in three-phase distribution lines
M.A. Kashem a,∗ , G. Ledwich b
a School of Engineering, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
b School of Engineering Systems, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Received 11 March 2005; received in revised form 23 August 2005; accepted 5 January 2006
Available online 2 March 2006

Abstract
Integration of distributed energy resources (DER) into distribution systems is a new concept for improving system capacity and stability, feeder
voltage, and supply quality and reliability. This paper has addressed voltage support in distribution systems by energy injection from a battery
storage distributed energy system. An operation strategy for an inverter interface battery energy storage DER has been developed for maximum
improvement in feeder voltage with minimum energy injection from the DER. A control strategy has been proposed for inverter based battery
storage DER to regulate network voltage effectively, through operating the DER to generate real (P) and reactive (Q) power with Q priority. The
implementation of the inverter interface DER with battery energy storage will save fuel cost of DER but be of much higher capital cost than using
a rotary generator. The proposed technique has been evaluated by simulation on a three-phase distribution system with time varying loads. Test
results indicate that DER operating with Q priority offers the best solution for maximum voltage improvement. The results also confirm that DER
injecting P and Q at the ratio of maximum voltage sensitivity of line presents better solution for power loss reduction than the solution offered by
the DER operating with Q priority.
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Distributed energy resources; Energy requirement; Distribution feeders; Loss reduction; Voltage support; Battery energy storage

1. Introduction network augmentation/new construction can be deferred, system

Distributed energy resources (DER) are usually installed at
the distribution level, close to the place of utilisation, and gen-
erate power typically in the range of a few kW to a few MW.
DER are capable of injecting different proportions of real and
reactive power to the grid to support feeder voltage profile. It
is observed that the peak-demand loads are increasing all over
the world and the load factor is decreasing year after year [1]. A
huge amount of capital investment is required for construction
and enhancement of generation/transmission systems [2]. One
of the solutions to this problem is the installation of distributed
energy resources. Electricity generation by distributed energy
resources with lower emission technologies contributes to loss
reduction, and greenhouse effects through reducing environ-
mental pollution and global warming. Through utilising DER,
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 3 6226 2109; fax: +61 3 6226 7247.
E-mail address: M.Kashem@utas.edu.au (M.A. Kashem).
losses can be reduced and customers’ demands may be satisfied
instantaneously.
The area of distributed energy resources is a topical area of
research and interest has been growing rapidly worldwide in
this field. Kiprakis and Wallace [3] have proposed an intelligent
control strategy to maximise energy capture from DER installed
in weak networks. The authors in [4] have developed a digital
control strategy for a single stand-alone distributed generation
system. In [5], a probabilistic method has been developed to
predict the ability of energy storage to increase the penetration
of DER on weak electricity grids. Hird et al. [6] have developed
a control algorithm for controller to enable an increase in the
DER capacity. Ref. [7] analyses the impact of dispersed storage
and generation systems on the conventional line drop compensa-
tion based voltage regulation method at the distribution systems
with the unbalanced load diversity among feeders. Conti et al.
[8] have developed an analytical method to assess the effect of
embedded generation on voltage profile. Voltage improvement
in single wire earth return (SWER) lines with energy injection by

0378-7796/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2006.01.008
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 11

a distributed energy system has been investigated in [9]. Kashem

and Ledwich [10] have presented a voltage sensitivity based
technique for cost-effective operation of distributed generation
(DG) and developed a control algorithm to alleviate interaction
between tap changer and DG and applied in a SWER system.
Control interaction among multiple DGs are investigated in [11]
and a technique is proposed for prioritisation and coordination Fig. 1. A radial system.
of multiple DGs’ start/stop and operation.
DER inclusion not only increases the capacity of the network, tributed energy system can improve network voltage through
it also increases short-circuit capacity of network, speeds up injecting real and reactive power effectively and make rapid
transient voltage restoration especially during motor start tran- response to customer demands.
sient, and injects real and reactive power of various combinations A typical radial distribution system is shown in Fig. 1, where
at any time. Compared to DER, switched capacitors or FACT Vi is the voltage of bus i, Pi and Qi the real and reactive power-
devices only contribute to VAr compensation in a network. They flows in line i, PLi and QLi the load at bus i, and ri and xi are
are not capable of generating real power nor capable of control- the resistance and reactance of line i, respectively. A distributed
ling frequency, especially required during islanding operation energy resource (DER) is connected at bus i and injecting real
when a part of a network becomes electrically islanded. DER is power Pder and reactive power Qder . The voltage equation for
capable of stabilising an islanded network through generation voltage at bus i + 1 can be obtained as,
control and can improve reliability by ensuring supply conti-

nuity, if DER is designed for islanding operation. Pure reactive Pi2 + Q2i
Vi+1 = Vi − 2(Pi ri + Qi xi ) +
2 2
(ri2 + xi2 ) (1)
power is excellent for voltage support at transmission levels but Vi2
poor for distribution.
where
The impact of DER on existing protection system has been
addressed in [12]. There is no general protection solution without Pi+1 = Pi + PLi + Ploss i − Pder ,
explicit communication between breaker and generation unless
there is a total limit on generation infeed imposed. The key con- Qi+1 = Qi + QLi + Qloss i − Qder
cern in three-phase feeders is sensitive earth fault detection. If The real and reactive power losses for line i are
DER supplies part of fault current, detection is impaired. Studies


have revealed that no impairment on protection system is found Pi2 + Q2i Pi2 + Q2i
for a small DER inclusion and protection coordination is not PLoss i = ri , QLoss i = xi (2)
Vi2 Vi2
required to revise for small DER integration. When the concern
of protection is to reduce sensitivity to earth faults, the limited Voltage rise caused by the DER at its connection point is approx-
size of DER for peak looping will have a finite deterioration of imately as [5],
performance. Pder ri + Qder xi
In this paper, authors investigates voltage support in a three-
Vder = (3)
Vi
phase distribution system by a DER with battery storage system.
A technique has been proposed for minimum energy injection From Eqs. (1)–(3), it is seen that power injection by a DER
by the DER for maximum voltage improvement in the distri- reduces power losses and improves bus voltages of the network.
bution feeders with reduction of real power loss if justified. A This is due to the fact that power flows in transmission and dis-
bi-directional PWM inverter interface battery storage system tribution systems are reduced, as DER generates power locally
has been explored to implement the proposed technique and to fulfil consumers’ demands. The saving from loss reduction
the control system is designed with a P–I controller for voltage is one of the key elements to justify DER installation. Other
correction in the feeders. The paper also examines the potential benefits of DER inclusion are deferral of network augmenta-
benefits to utilise the inverter interface DER with battery storage tion, improvement of power quality and reliability, etc. DER
compared to fuel based DER for voltage support in a distribution installation also supports green power or non-polluting power
feeder. generation through using renewable energy resources.
Energy injection by a DER, Eder is related to real power gen-
2. Enhancement of voltage by energy injection from eration, Pder , and can be calculated as,
DER  t
Eder (t) = Pder (t)dt (4)
Distribution networks usually serves a range of customer 0

loads of various natures. Customer demands changes from time
to time and peak-demand occurs at a certain time of the day.
Also, new loads are being connected to the existing networks.
As a result, networks are required to be operated closed to the
voltage limit. By injecting real and reactive power locally into a
distribution network, network voltage can be improved. A dis-
Real power generation is associated with fuel requirement of the
DER. However, one can save fuel cost by adjusting the operating
point of DER to generate high Q and low P, as Q generation does
not depend on fuel. Q injection by a DER can be adjusted by
field excitation. By keeping fuel injection constant, a DER can
be operated with over-excitation for reactive power injection,
12 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23
or under-excitation for reactive power absorption. The reactive
power increases if excitation current is increased. It is impossible
to make a DER deliver real power by raising its excitation. For
small amounts of voltage correction, a DER can be operated in
Q mode to generate Q only. However, the DER may be required
to operate in P–Q mode when high values of voltage correction
are required.
3. DER controller
DER controller has been designed with the concept of P–I
controller and DER response is modelled as a low pass filter
[11]. The voltage error controlled by P–I controller is modelled
by the following equation.
 up to the kVA limit and then turns into PQ generation mode by
C = kp
V + ki
V (5)
where
V = Va − Vr , Va is the actual connection voltage of DER
and Vr is the reference voltage to be achieved by DER. kp and
ki are the proportional and integral constants, respectively.
V
is the error voltage and C is the controller-generated signal.
A DER can be operated as DER-P (real generation only),
DER-Q (reactive generation only), or DER-PQ (real and reac-
tive generation) modes. DER controller can be set to operate
any of the three modes and DER will respond based on the
control actions implemented in DER controller. Fig. 2 shows
DER operation at various DER modes. Operating the DER as
DER-P with θ = 0◦ to obtain maximum injection of P, we get
Pmax = S, where S is the size of DER in kVA. Operating the DER
as DER-Q with θ = 90◦ to obtain maximum injection of Q, we
get Qmax = S. Again, Operating the DER as DER-PQ with θ to
obtain P and Q injection, we get P = S cos θ, Q = S sin θ, where
−1 Q and reactive power at different times of the day as per customers’
θ = tan P . DER operating point can be set based on the
desired angle between P and Q. It is noted that Q injection is
almost free of operating cost, and therefore, more emphasis is
given to injection Q rather than P to improve voltage profile.
In Fig. 2, DER-PQ is operated on the line OX to maintain the
same sensitivity SR , where SR is the ratio of maximum voltage
sensitivity of line. The ratio of voltage sensitivity to real and
Fig. 2. DER operation at DER-P, DER-Q and DER-PQ modes.
reactive power generation can be determined by using the tech-
nique discussed in [11]. The operating angle θ for DER-PQ can
be determined based on voltage sensitivity of line. It is noted
that DER-PQ can be operated at DER-Q generation mode for a
limited condition and achieved the same voltage improvement
of DER-PQ. DER-PQ is operated on line OQ to generate pure
Q. The operating point S␤ for DER-PQ represents the point Qb
for DER-Q, where OQb = OP␤ + OQβ = SR × OQ␤ + OQ␤ . Sim-
ilarly, the operating point S␣ for DER-PQ represents the point
Qmax for DER-Q. All points from O to S␣ on line OX can be
projected on line OQ. Therefore, DER-Q will do the same job
of DER-PQ if DER-PQ is operated any point from O to S␣ on
line OX. By operating DER-PQ on DER-Q mode, one can save
the operating fuel cost of the DER. DER controller generates Q
adjusting P and Q generation and operating angle to operate at
the line of maximum voltage sensitivity and improves voltage
profile effectively [11]. When there is a high fuel cost, the opti-
mal incremental balance between P and Q shifts to Q injection.
But to gain maximum benefit from a given capital investment the
generator should operate at the PQ ratio for maximum voltage
sensitivity.
The main objective of DER installation is to generate real and
reactive power locally for supporting peak shaving and to satisfy
variable load demands of consumers. One of the many benefits
of DER investment is reactive compensation. DER is capable of
injecting variable reactive power by operating DER controller
as DER-Q (Q injection mode only). It is noted that synchronous
DER is capable of absorbing reactive power and can improve
power factor for leading loads in the network, or improve voltage
profile at lightly loaded condition. Compared to the capacitor,
DER has the capacity to generate various combinations of real
demands. Note however that reactive power support is much less
effective for voltage support in rural distribution lines because
of the high R/X ratio. Thus, for reasonable capital investment for
voltage support, real power injection is required.
4. Inverter interface battery storage DER
A battery storage system can be designed for a distribution
feeder to support the required energy during peak time of the
day. The storage system can be used as an alternative to the fuel
dependent DER and injects energy to the network for voltage
improvement. The battery system is connected to the AC bus
through a bi-directional PWM voltage source inverter that con-
verts AC–DC when battery system is charging and DC–AC when
it is discharging. The inverter also injects the required reactive
power to the grid for voltage improvement in the feeder. Fig. 3
shows the schematic of the arrangement for the battery system.
The size of the storage depends on the energy injection to
achieve a specified voltage for a distribution system, which
can be determined from off-line simulation for daily energy
requirement from a DER. The inverter system will be designed
accordingly to regulate voltage of the connection point. Current
and voltage at the DER connection will be monitored continu-
ously and measurement unit will measure real and reactive power
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 13

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of inverter interface battery storage DER.

from voltage and current provided by CT and PT, respectively.

The control system of the inverter interface battery system will
control real and reactive power injection from the system. A P–I
controller can be designed for this purpose. A PWM signal gen-
erator generates switching signal for power switches based on
the output of the P–I controller.
Inverters are available commercially in the market. The con-
nection of inverter to the distribution grids has already been
developed [13,14]. Rules for inverter connection have been pro-
posed by Standard Australia [15]. Following the connection
Fig. 4. Per-phase equivalent circuit.
interface proposed by Standard Australia or other developers,
the distribution utilities will be able to design the inverter inter-
face battery storage DER. The capital cost of the unit is the
cost of design and installation, which can be justified well from ◦ Compare the connection voltage with the reference voltage
short-term and long-term DER benefits. The fixed cost is the generated by an oscillator. Adjust the voltage level through
maintenance cost of the DER unit and the variable cost is the increasing reactive support up to the maximum limit of the
start-stop cost of the unit. Both can be compensated and justified converter.
from DER power generation. • PQ mode:
The converter system of the DER has to be synchronised with ◦ Start injecting real power from the battery system with the
the grid [16] and the per-phase equivalent circuit diagram of the reactive injection from the converter if the connection volt-
proposed system is shown in Fig. 4. During the peak time of age is still below the reference voltage.
the day, the battery discharges and delivers power to the AC ◦ Adjust the ratio of real and reactive injection for maximum
grid through inverting action of the power converter. However, voltage sensitivity.
the battery charges during off-peak and the converter acts as a
battery charger or rectifier. In this situation, it consumes power Fig. 5 shows the phasor diagrams for the operating phases
from the grid. For voltage correction, the control system of each of the converter. Fig. 8(a) represents the converter system with
phase uses the following two modes: injecting only Q in response to low voltage correction. Fig. 8(b)
represents charging phase of battery system which draws power
• Q mode: from the AC grid. Fig. 8(c) represents the converter system with
◦ Correct voltage by the converter through supplying reactive injecting P and Q at which the battery system is in discharging
power only. mode. It is noted that DER with storage system will be charging

Fig. 5. Phasor diagrams: (a) Q injection only by converter; (b) charging phase of battery system; (c) discharging phase of battery storage system.
14 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23

during off-peak and discharging during peak time for peak shav-
ing.
As, the inverter interface DER is synchronised with the grid
system and connected at m, the power injection by DER is the
power at node m. Power delivered by the battery storage DER is
5. Implementation procedure of proposed technique
The developed technique can be applied to any type of dis-
tribution networks by following the procedure given below:

Sder = VI ∗ (6) • Design a DER controller by using the procedure discussed in

Section 3. The controller requires the following inputs:
where ◦ Voltage reference,
◦ Proportional gain constant kp of P–I controller,
E∠δ − V ∠0
I= ◦ Integral gain constant ki of P–I controller,
jX ◦ Mode of operation,
Substituting the value of I and separating the real and imaginary ◦ Voltage sensitivity ratio of line.
parts, we get • Determine the values of kp, ki and sensitivity ratio of line
through off-line analysis.
EV sin(δ) E{E − V cos(δ)} • Set the control logic to operate DER with Q priority basis
Sder = +j (7)
X X (DER-QPQ mode) to satisfy a pre-specified minimum voltage
reference.
From Eq. (7) we obtain the real and reactive power injections
• Study the daily loading patterns and voltage conditions of
as,
the system under consideration to determine the approximate
EV sin(δ) E{E − V cos(δ)} operating time of DER.
Pder = , Qder = (8) • Through simulation, estimate energy requirement for DER to
X X
satisfy the required voltage reference.
For only reactive power injection by DER, the angle δ will be • Instead of using rotary DG, design a bi-directional inverter
zero and the voltages E and V will be in phase. Substituting δ = 0 interface battery storage DER based on energy requirement
in Eq. (8), we obtain to achieve a required voltage threshold, and times for charging
and discharging.
E2 − EV
Pder = 0 Qder = (9) • Make a decision to operate the inverter interface DER at one
X of the following modes:
The control system of the converter will be operated in such (i) Inject Q only from the converter for low voltage correc-
a way that the phase angle between E and V is always zero to tion,
inject Q only with Q mode of DER for low voltage correction. (ii) Charge battery system at the scheduled time or off-peak,
For high level of voltage correction, the angle δ has to be adjusted and
to inject real and reactive power at the line of maximum voltage (iii) Discharge the battery system to inject real power with
sensitivity. The real and reactive injection can be related with the reactive power from the converter.
voltage sensitivity of line as [11], • Transfer from mode Q to mode P–Q, if required, by changing
the operating angle slowly and adjusting the ratio of real and
Pder = SR Qder (10) reactive injection to the line of maximum voltage sensitivity.
where SR is the sensitivity of line.
Substituting Pder and Qder from Eq. (8) into Eq. (10), we get 6. Test results and discussions

EV sin(δ) SR E{E − V cos(δ)} A three-phase 11 kV distribution feeder of 50 km long is used

= (11)
X X
Rearranging Eq. (11), we obtain
SR V cos(δ) + V sin(δ) = SR E (12)
Eq. (12) can be solved numerically for δ. The control system
of battery storage DER will provide the angle δ which will be
measured and adjusted to the calculated value from Eq. (12)
with the feedback control for effective real and reactive power
injection from the inverter interface storage system. The storage
system will be discharging during peak hours to improve voltage
level in the network and charging during off-peak of the day.
During charging phase, the storage will consume power from
the grid system and power consumption will become zero when
the battery system is fully charged.
as a test system to validate the proposed technique. The system
consists of 20 load buses, a tap changing transformer located
at the utility substation and a voltage regulator connected at
one-third of feeder length from the substation. The tap chang-
ing transformer changes the voltage level from −5% to +5%
in the step of 2.5% and the voltage regulator changes voltage
level from −10% to +10% in the step of 0.625%. Both tap
changer changes voltage level with a delay of 15 s. However,
DER controller responds continuously for voltage correction.
The maximum load demand of the system during peak-time is
1.2 MVA and distributed load model has been used for simula-
tion of the network. A DER of 250 kVA has been installed at
bus n − 3, where n is the furthest bus at remote end from the
substation. The base values used in calculation are 1 MVA and
11 kV. The impedance of the line is 0.3850 + j0.6380 /km. As
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23
Fig. 6. Daily load curve.
the system is highly inductive, the sensitivity study indicates
that the system requires real and reactive power injection at the
ratio of 0.8912:1 for effective voltage improvement. The source
voltage is 11 kV and source impedance is 0.713 + j1.850 . The
maximum allowable voltage drop or rise is 6% practiced in Aus-
tralia [12] and used as the hard limit for the test system.
6.1. Status of test system
Fig. 6 shows daily load demand at which the current in a day
varies from 25 to 63 A and the peak occurs approximately from
5 to 8.30 p.m. Scaling the standard day by a factor, which has
a random component, generates a synthetic daily load duration
curve for a month. The variation of power loss is shown in Fig. 7
which is approximately following the daily load demand. As
shown in Fig. 8, during the weekdays the power loss is higher
compared to the loss during the weekend. The power loss varyies
from 2.9 to 86 kW in a month. Fig. 9 indicates the levels of
Fig. 7. Variation of real power loss in a day.
15
Fig. 8. Variation of power loss in a month.
power loss and load demand over the period of a month. It also
indicates maximum power loss and peak demand of the month,
and percentage of time associated with the maximum loss and
the peak demand. From Fig. 9 for this synthetic load, it is seen
that for 5% of the time, the load demand is above 1130 kVA;
and 10% of the time, it is above 1015 kVA. However, 2% of the
time, power loss is above 60 kW; and 10% of the time, it is above
40 kW.
6.2. Voltage condition without energy injection by DER
Fig. 10 shows the changes of lowest voltage and power loss
with the increased load demands. It is found that the system
can support up to 962.5 kVA load without the distributed energy
system. However, the maximum peak is 1.2 MVA in a standard
day and therefore it cannot support the peak-time demand of the
day. The voltage level goes below the lower limit of 0.94 p.u. for
any demand above 962.5 kVA. It has been found that the voltage
Fig. 9. Power loss and load duration curve for a month.
16 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23
Fig. 10. Lowest voltage and power loss in a network.
profile falls below 0.94 p.u. for 4 h 30 min (approximately) of the
day. Fig. 11 shows that maximum loss varies from 34.5 to 86 kW
and minimum voltage changes from 0.8948 to 0.9380 p.u in a
month. However, maximum load demand varies from 0.9746 to
1.4807 MVA in the month. From Fig. 12, it is found that 0.1% of
the time, the voltage is below 0.9 p.u., 10.7% of time it is below
0.93 p.u., and 18.7% of time it is below 0.94 p.u.
6.3. Energy injection by a DER operating at the line of
maximum voltage sensitivity
A DER of 250 kVA has been connected at bus 17 of the test
feeder and operated at the mode of DER-PQ to inject real (P) and
reactive (Q) power at the line of maximum voltage sensitivity.
DER size of 250 kVA is used to demonstrate DER capability in
a distribution system at which maximum demand at peak time is
1.2 MVA. In this case, DER size is used approximately 21% of
Fig. 11. Maximum power loss and minimum voltage for a month.
Fig. 12. Minimum voltage duration curve for a month.
maximum demand. If DER penetration is increased, it will have
impact on operation, control and protection of distribution sys-
tems and the protection coordination may be required to revise.
The objective is to include a small DER in a distribution system
that does not impair, or has a negligibly small impairment on the
normal operation of the system.
The ratio of maximum voltage sensitivity for this test system
is found to be 0.8912:1. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this
mode, the reference voltage or voltage threshold for the DER
controller has been set at the value of 0.98 p.u. Fig. 13 shows
active and reactive power injection by the DER operating at P–Q
mode and at the ratio of voltage sensitivity for gradual increase of
load demand. For this mode of operation, DER starts the real and
reactive power generation only when the load demand exceeds
812.5 kVA. Fig. 14 shows loss reduction in a day with the DER
operating at the above mode. The maximum loss reduction in
the day is found to be 27 kW. It is noted that the DER is operated
Fig. 13. Real and reactive power injection by a DER operating with P–Q mode
at the line of voltage sensitivity.
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 17

Fig. 14. Loss reduction by a DER operating with P–Q mode at voltage sensitivity
ratio. Fig. 16. Daily energy requirement for a month by DER operating in P–Q mode.

only during peak time and loss reduction occurs when the DER
is operated.
Fig. 15 indicates that maximum energy of 600.2 kW-h is
required for the DER operating at P–Q mode for a reference
voltage of 0.98 p.u. At this mode of operation, DER inject both
real and reactive power at the ratio of maximum voltage sensitiv-
ity when it is operated. Fig. 16 shows daily energy requirement
by the DER for a month. It is found that at the weekend energy
requirement is lower than the requirement at weekdays.
Fig. 17 shows loss reduction in each day of the month with
DER operating in the mode of DER-PQ to inject P and Q at
the line of maximum voltage sensitivity. The maximum loss
reduction can be achieved upto 40.2 kW in a month operating
DER at P–Q mode. Fig. 18 shows power loss and load demand
for a month in percentage of time of the month. It is seen that
3.37% of time, power loss is above 30 kW; 29.1% of time, power
Fig. 17. Daily loss reduction for a month with DER operating at P–Q mode.

Fig. 15. Energy requirement and real and reactive power injection in a day by Fig. 18. Power loss and load duration curves for a month with DER operating
DER operating in P–Q mode. in P–Q model.
18 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23
Fig. 19. Daily maximum power generation for a month with DER operating in
P–Q model.
loss is above 25 kW; and 46.9% of time, power loss is above
20 kW.
It is found that 1.8% of time, minimum voltage is below
0.965 p.u.; 14.9% of time, it is below 0.970 p.u.; 59.9% of time,
it is below 0.975 p.u.; and 68.7% of time, it is below 0.980 p.u.
Fig. 19 shows that maximum real power injections for weekend
and weekdays are 75.4 and 166.3 kW, respectively. However,
maximum reactive power injection for weekend and weekdays
are 84.6 and 186.6 kVAr, respectively. Fig. 20 shows maximum
power loss for the day of the month with and without DER.
Maximum initial power loss varies from 34.5 to 86.0 kW, but
the maximum loss with DER in the system is varying from 23.9
to 45.8 kW.
Fig. 20. Daily maximum power loss for a month with and without DER operating
in P–Q mode.
Fig. 21. Power injection by DER operating on a Q priority basis.
6.4. Energy injection by a DER operating at Q priority
basis
Operating a DER at Q priority basis (DER-QPQ) has an
added advantage to DER inclusion in distribution systems. This
type of operation can improve voltage profile with less energy
injection compared to basic P–Q mode of DER operation. Some-
cases, DER operating at Q mode and injecting pure Q can solve
voltage problem, especially for low voltage correction. To val-
idate this technique, a voltage reference of 0.98 p.u. has been
used as a threshold value for DER controller. DER is operated at
Q-mode if connection voltage of DER above the voltage value of
0.94 p.u. At any value below this, DER controller turns to P–Q
mode of operation and injects power at the ratio of maximum
voltage sensitivity. Fig. 21 shows real and reactive power injec-
tion by DER operating at Q priority basis for gradual increase
of load demand. DER starts injecting reactive (Q) power when
the load exceeds 675 kVA and injecting real (P) power when the
load exceeds 1125 kVA. Fig. 22 shows loss reduction in a day
with the DER operating at Q priority basis. The maximum loss
reduction in the day is found to be 16.4 kW which is lower than
the reduction obtain by DER operating at normal mode (P–Q).
Fig. 23 shows real and reactive power injection and energy
requirement for a day by the DER operating at Q priority basis.
Maximum energy requirement for the DER is 55.8 kW-h which
is very much low compared to 600.2 kW-h required by P–Q
mode of DER for same level of voltage improvement. Fig. 24
shows energy injection on daily basis for a month by the same
mode of operation of DER. It is seen that there is no or little
energy requirement for weekend, as DER has opererated at Q-
mode only at most of the time to correct the network voltage.
Fig. 25 shows loss reduction in each day of the month with
DER operating at Q priority basis. The maximum loss reduction
can be achieved upto 40.2 kW in a month operating DER at
Q priority basis. Fig. 26 shows power loss by DER and load
demand for a month in percentage of time of the month. It is
seen that 5.5% of time, power loss is above 40 kW; 9.8% of
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 19

Fig. 22. Loss reduction by DER operating on a Q priority basis. Fig. 25. Loss reduction for a month by DER operating at Q priority basis.

time, power loss is above 35 kW; 17.2% of time, power loss is

above 30 kW; 46.6% of time, power loss is above 25 kW; 86.9%
of time, power loss is above 10 kW.
It is found that 1.64% of time, minimum voltage is below
0.965 p.u.; 17.1% of time, it is below 0.970 p.u.; 63.8% of time,
it is below 0.980 p.u.; 73.8% of time, it is below 0.985 p.u. Fig. 27
shows that maximum real power injections varies from 0 to
166.3 kW during weekend and weekdays, whereas maximum
reactive power injection varies from 153.7 to 250 kVAr. Fig. 28
shows maximum power loss in the month with and without DER
in the system. Maximum power loss with DER in the system is
varying from 31.2 to 45.8 kW.

6.5. Benefits of operating DER at normal mode (P–Q) and

DER with Q priority

As discussed in previous sections, a DER can be operated

as DER-P mode to inject pure P, DER-Q to inject pure Q, or
Fig. 23. Real and reactive power injection and energy requirement for DER
operating on a Q priority basis.

Fig. 26. Load demand and loss reduction for a month by DER operating using
Fig. 24. Energy injection for a month with DER operating on a Q priority basis. Q priority basis.
20 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23

Fig. 27. Daily maximum power generation by DER operating with Q priority Fig. 29. Load capacity, voltage enhancement and power losses with and without
basis. DER.

DER-PQ to inject P and Q at the line of voltage sensitivity. Oper-

improvement by injecting pure Q only at the mode of DER-Q for
ating at the mode of DER-P is not desirable, as P generation is
the demand up to 1125 kVA which is 38.5% better than the nor-
associated with fuel requirement and a large amount of fuel will
mal mode (DER-PQ). A comparative study has been conducted
be required. For a peak demand of 1.2 MVA at 8:15 p.m. of the
between DER at normal mode (DER-PQ) and DER with Q pri-
standard day, the maximum size of DER to operate at DER-
ority (DER-QPQ) to demonstrate effectiveness for each of them.
PQ mode for a threshold value of 0.95 p.u. is 113.6 kVA. For
Fig. 29 shows summary results for load capacity release, voltage
the same level of voltage improvement, a DER of 148.4 kVA
improvement and loss reduction with DER-PQ and DER-QPQ
is required if operated at DER-Q mode to inject pure Q only,
for the reference voltage of 0.98 p.u. It is seen in Fig. 29 that the
which is 31% higher in size. However, a DER size of 250 kVA
degree of voltage improvement by DER-QPQ is higher com-
is used in the simulation. The DER operating at Q priority basis
pared to the improvement by DER-PQ.
(DER-QPQ) for the target voltage (threshold) of 0.95 p.u. can
Fig. 30 shows energy requirements for DER-PQ and DER-
reduce power loss of 7.65 kW, but operating at DER-PQ mode
QPQ for different level of voltage improvement. It also shows
it can save up to 16.24 kW, which is 53% higher. For this test
energy saved by DER operating at Q priority basis (DER-QPQ).
system, DER, operating for the target voltage of 0.95 p.u. at the
It is seen in Figs. 30 and 31 that for higher threshold voltage
mode of DER-PQ, injects real (P) and reactive (Q) power at the
DER requires to be operated at a lower level of load demand
ratio of maximum voltage sensitivity if load demand exceeds
and needs to inject more energy. It is revealed that the operating
812.5 kVA. However, DER can improve same level of voltage
mode of a DER can play a significant role in energy saving. For

Fig. 28. Maximum power loss on daily basis for a month. Fig. 30. Energy requirement for DER for a standard day.
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 21

Fig. 32. Power loss with DER at different days of the month.
Fig. 31. Start of real and reactive injection of DER at levels of load.

6.6. Battery size and fuel requirement

the voltage threshold of 0.95 p.u., maximum loss reduction is
higher by DER-PQ compared to the reduction by DER-QPQ.
For other voltage thresholds, it is constant due to the fact that
DER is operated at maximum level of injection at maximum
load demand and generates real and reactive power at constant
rate for all cases.
Table 1 shows DER responses for threshold voltage of
0.98 p.u. The table also shows the maximum load demand, max-
imum system loss and minimum voltage at the presence of DER
for weekdays and weekends of the month. The energy contribu-
tions by DER-PQ and DER-QPQ have been given in Table 1.
Fig. 32 shows power losses with DER at weekdays and week-
ends of the month. It is seen in Fig. 32 that in most of the
days loss reduction by DER-PQ is higher than the reduction
by DER-QPQ. The summary results for the month for differ-
ent level of voltage improvement are given in Table 2. It is
found that DER, operating with Q priority, requires to inject
less energy compared to the energy injection by DER-PQ for
same level of voltage improvement. The table also shows power
loss and energy requirement with DER for different voltage
thresholds.
From the above discussion, DER-QPQ is found to be superior
to the other strategies, as it can raise the voltage level with less
energy. The DER energy is associated with DER fuel require-
ment. For larger energy demand, DER requires larger amount
of fuel intake. For rotary DER, engine specific fuel efficiency
curves are not linear, more like a bath–tube curve with peak effi-
ciency at about 80% load factor and dramatic drop in specific
fuel efficiency below about 50% load factor. This information
is provided by Generation Business Solutions Division, Ergon
Energy, Queensland, Australia. According to the fuel efficiency
curve, more fuel is required to produce the energy at low load
factors compared to the fuel requirement for the same energy at
high load factors. However, DER will be operating at low load
factors as well as at high load factors and will produce energy
to correct the voltage.
The specifics of fuel efficiency depend on the use of specific
technologies, i.e. diesel, gas turbine, fuel cells. For a first com-
parison, energy demand is assumed approximately proportional
to the total monthly cost of fuel. For this study, DER-QPQ is
chosen to design the battery size and to estimate the fuel require-
ment for the DER.

Table 1
DER responses in a month (threshold 0.98 p.u.)
Average values Maximum load Maximum loss (p.u.) Minimum voltage Energy (p.u.-h) Energy (p.u.-h) saved Time (h) of no
demand (p.u.) (p.u.) produced by DER-QPQ DER energy
DER-QPQ DER-PQ DER-QPQ DER-PQ DER-QPQ DER-PQ DER-QPQ DER-PQ

Weekdays in week 1 1.3535 0.0424 0.0368 0.9575 0.9562 0.1429 0.6469 0.5040 17.600 6.300
Weekend in week 1 1.0545 0.0366 0.0253 0.9692 0.9632 0 0.0994 0.0994 24.000 17.500
Weekdays in week 2 1.3603 0.0414 0.0366 0.9564 0.9564 0.1237 0.6448 0.5211 17.800 6.400
Weekend in week 2 0.9749 0.0313 0.0240 0.9684 0.9637 0 0.0920 0.0920 24.000 17.125
Weekdays in week 3 1.2904 0.0413 0.0317 0.9626 0.9615 0.1645 0.6656 0.5011 15.400 6.250
Weekend in week 3 1.0731 0.0366 0.0257 0.9697 0.9637 0.0026 0.1086 0.10605 21.875 12.000
Weekdays in week 4 1.3488 0.0420 0.0359 0.9580 0.9580 0.1652 0.6540 0.4888 17.550 6.450
Weekend in week 4 1.1217 0.0406 0.0266 0.9704 0.9636 0.0013 0.1069 0.10565 22.125 12.375
Weekdays in week 5 1.3278 0.0418 0.0342 0.9594 0.9594 0.1582 0.6298 0.47155 17.375 6.625
22 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23

DER-QPQ

1041.6
575.4
575.4

361.3
1.0 (p.u.)

DER-PQ

28892.2
1295.6
29468
939.8

187.8
DER-QPQ

1100.9
335.9

463.0
6078
0.99 (p.u.)

DER-PQ

15375.0
21453
954.4
979.6

241.3
DER-QPQ

1208.8

Fig. 33. Rating of battery and fuel requirement of DER.

230.7

560.5
3305

If using an inverter based DER, a battery is required to meet

0.98 (p.u.)

DER-PQ

the real power requirements of compensation. The size of battery

15129.4
15129
975.8
703.0

258.3

depends on the energy requirement of every day for a particular

voltage specification. Table 3 shows the battery size and DER
fuel requirement estimated based on DER-QPQ. The target volt-
DER-QPQ

age or threshold voltage can be varied from 0.95 to 1.0 p.u. The
1306.1

1599.1
170.3

577.5

lowest target of 0.95 p.u. is chosen to raise the minimum voltage

level on both sided of the DER. The highest target 1.0 p.u. is
chosen to give the tap changers a chance to improve the voltage
0.97 (p.u.)

DER-PQ

condition of the system. For the above range of voltage spec-

1020.4

8925.4
10525
520.3

286.0

ification, the largest energy requirement in a worst day of the

month also varies from 22.1 to 575.4 kW-h. Therefore, the size
of battery should be 575.4 kW-h to meet all voltage requirements
DER-QPQ

and daily energy demand. Also, the battery can be charged any-
1445.4
105.2
375.1

597.8

time over a total of 361.25 h in a month (>50% of the time),

as this is the maximum amount of time available for recharg-
ing in which the system does not require any external energy
0.96 (p.u.)

DER-PQ

to meet the customers’ demands. However, a minimum time of

1109.2

6926.4
6551.3
389.3

302.5

6.5 h is available in a day for charging the battery. Inverter based

DER with battery as an input can be designed to save fuel cost.
The above size of battery for inverter DER will satisfy the daily
DER-QPQ
Energy requirements for a month for different reference voltages

energy requirement provided that DER can be operated in Q pri-

1555.3

685.3
22.1
33.5
Reference voltage

ority mode. Monthly energy requirements by DER are computed

for the range of voltage thresholds and tabulated in Table 3. For
0.95 (p.u.)

this range of voltage specification, the total amount of energy

DER-PQ

1253.1

4089.2
4055.7

requirement in a month varies from 4055.7 to 28892.2 kW-h.

237.3

409.0

The maximum amount of energy requirement for the month is

28892.2 kW-h, which is associated with a target voltage thresh-
Energy saved by DER-QPQ (kW-h)

old of 1.0 p.u. As the fuel cost is associated with energy and
can be predicted from the amount of energy requirement, the
cost of fuel required by DER is proportional to 28892.2 kW-h.
Energy of the month (kW-h)
Largest daily energy (kW-h)
Power loss in a month (kW)

Time of no DER energy (h)

Fig. 33 shows the rating of battery and fuel requirement of DER

for different voltage levels.
Battery size has been estimated based on the worst case sce-
nario of daily energy requirement, assuming that battery storage
DER injects energy during peak time and once in a day only. In
Table 2

other words, in worst case, battery discharges only once in a day

to satisfy a lower level of voltage threshold. For the daily pattern
 M.A. Kashem, G. Ledwich / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 10–23 23

Table 3
Battery size and DER fuel requirement estimated based on DER-QPQ
Reference voltage/DER threshold voltage 0.95 (p.u.) 0.96 (p.u.) 0.97 (p.u.) 0.98 (p.u.) 0.99 (p.u.) 1.0 (p.u.)

Inverter battery solution

Battery size (kW-h) 22.1 105.2 170.3 230.7 335.9 575.4
Minimum time available for charging in a day of a month (h) 17.2500 7.2500 7.2500 7.2500 7.0000 6.5000
Total time available for recharging the battery in a month (h) 685.25 597.75 577.50 560.50 463.00 361.25
Field generator solution
Fuel saved by DER-QPQ for a month (Fuel requirement is 4055.7 6551.3 8925.4 15129.4 15375.0 28892.2
associated energy injection) (kW-h)

presented in this paper, there is no recharge time available that
would help for optimal hourly charging and discharging sched-
ule if the system is designed for high level of voltage correction.
This is due to the fact that for some cases of voltage thresholds,
DER may be required to operate continuously in the peak time
and may not have opportunity to re-charge in the same day. The
design of battery size has considered only worst case scenario
consisting of largest daily energy requirement in a month, with
continuous DER operation once in a day, and without having
opportunity of more than one charging or discharging in the
same day.
7. Conclusions
This paper has presented a technique to design a DER with
battery energy system based on level of voltage correction for
a distribution network. In the proposed technique, an inverter
interface DER is used to demonstrate the design technique of
the battery storage DER for injecting real (P) and reactive (Q)
power with Q priority. The size of battery system has been min-
imised with operating the battery storage DER at Q priority
basis. However, the size will increase gradually for increasing
the level of reference voltage or desired level of voltage correc-
tion. Q injection from the converter system of the DER and P
injection from the battery are coordinated in a manner that the
DER system will start operating with Q injection and continue
for the case of low voltage correction. The operating point will
be adjusted to the level of maximum voltage sensitivity of lines
for high level of voltage correction. Implementation cost of the
battery storage DER can be justified from voltage enhancement,
load capacity release, loss reduction, and fuel saving as required
by rotary type DER.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and cooper-
ation of Ergon Energy personnel in providing data and advice
on the operation of distribution systems.
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