Recommended strategies for grid operators using reactive power capabilities from photovoltaic plants

This investigation aims at providing recommendations to system operators on how to adequately integrate photovoltaic plants in the distribution network, whereas providing ancillary services to the upstream networks. The focus is laid on utilizing different optimization techniques to allow for effective and efficient stand alone and coordinated voltage regulation, while optimizing the reactive power flow. The main goal is to pave the way for system operators to effectively utilize the reactive power capability of PV plants for operation management purposes by means of integrating them in their SCADA system using the introduced operation strategies. On the basis of realistic PV growth scenarios put together for a Belgian medium-voltage network, extensive simulations were performed in order to verify the introduced operation strategies.