Impact of distributed generators on voltage stability in transmission network

Due to the economic and environmental reasons, Saudi Arabia plans to deploy large scale grid-connected distributed generators (DGs) such as photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy systems. Detailed analyses must be carried out to study the impact of such systems on the dynamics and operational characteristics of the existing network. Main focus of this work is to investigate the improvement in voltage stability caused by the integration of PVs at the transmission level of a local network of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). The effect of dynamic reactive power support from PVs during system contingency conditions to improve the network voltage profile is presented. The performance of a large scale PV system in improving the voltage stability of the network is also compared with the fast-acting reactive power compensation equipment such as static VAR compensator (SVC).