Quantifying the Impact of Connection Policy on Distributed Generation

Increasing connections for distributed generation (DG), and in particular wind generation, are being sought in power systems across the world. These increased applications present a significant challenge to the existing connection policies of distribution network operators. In particular, non firm access to the network has been proposed as a method to increase the penetration of DG. The impact of the connection policies arising from non firm access are investigated in detail here. The Irish system is used as a case study, and with reference to the available energy resource and network parameters, the costs and benefits of DG are determined under a number of planning policies. The costs and benefits assessed include connection and cycling costs along with emissions, capacity value and fuel bill saving. It is shown that a significant increase in the net benefits of DG is gained if the appropriate connection policy is utilised from the outset and conversely that significant costs are incurred if ad hoc policies are employed. Furthermore, it is shown that non firm access has the scope to facilitate a significant extra amount of DG capacity.