Integrated Planning for Transition to Low-Carbon Distribution System With Renewable Energy Generation and Demand Response

This study presents an integrated methodology that considers renewable distributed generation (RDG) and demand responses (DR) as options for planning distribution systems in a transition towards low-carbon sustainability. It is assumed that demand responsiveness is enabled by real-time pricing (RTP), and the problem has been formulated as a dynamic two-stage model. It co-optimizes the allocation of renewables [including wind and solar photovoltaic (PV)], non-renewable DG units (gas turbines) and smart metering (SM) simultaneously with network reinforcement for minimizing the total economic and carbon-emission costs over planning horizons. The behavior compliance to RTP is described through a nodal-based DR model, in which the fading effect attended during the load recovery is highlighted. Besides, uncertainties associated with renewable energy generation and price-responsiveness of customers are also taken into account and represented by multiple probabilistic scenarios. The proposed methodology is implemented by employing an efficient hybrid algorithm and applied to a typical distribution test system. The results demonstrate the effectiveness in improving the efficiency of RDG operations and mitigating CO₂ footprint of distribution systems, when compared with the conventional planning paradigms.