Overview and Comparisons of Existing DG Interconnection Standards and Technical Guidelines

Owing to technology innovations, electricity market liberalization and environmental concern, many small-scale generators, or distributed generation (DG), using both renewable energy and fossil fuel resources, are rapidly brought to the power networks. The connection of DG may change the operation and the topology of distribution systems. This may influence voltage control, protection regime, safety issues, etc. of the system when coupling, operating, and shutting down small generator units. Technical requirements and standards of DG interconnection are different from country to country, making international harmonization difficult. This paper aims to give an overview and to discuss those differences.