Assessing the economic impact of distributed generation on voltage regulation in distribution networks

This paper presents a methodology for economic assessment of the investments required for maintaining distribution networks within regulatory limits of voltage and voltage step change, while considering the connection of distributed generation (DG). Here, Static Var Compensators (SVCs) are utilized to regulate voltages. A modified voltage sensitivity method aimed at evaluating the effect of DG on SVC deployment, in terms of both location and capacity, is applied. Under liberalized electricity markets, this proposal may provide a common ground for deriving efficient economic signals to either penalize or incentivize DG connection according to its impact on the network´s performance.