The increase of distributed generation on Enel Distribuzione´s network: State of the art, actions and strategies for integration

In recent years the scenario of the Italian electrical system is characterized by the exponential growth in connections of renewable sources power plants, which is actually revolutionizing the network planning and operation criteria. In the current legislative and regulatory framework, renewables have the right to be connected by the least cost technical acceptable (LCTA) solutions. Furthermore they have priority of dispatching and no production forecasts are required. For these reasons it is necessary to control and measure in real-time the power injected into the network by each generator in order to regulate and limit the power when required for the electrical system stability. The high number of ongoing connection requests is increasing the potential saturation of the network, with the result of a close coordination with the TSO. This paper shows, in the first part, the increase of distributed generation - in terms of requests and connections - on Enel Distribuzione´s network. In the second part are described Enel Distribuzione´s innovative technical solutions in order to better integrate the DG ensuring a safe and effective operation of the whole electrical system, with the aim, in a desirable new legislative and regulatory framework, to enable DG “active” participation. At last, many projects are now developed in order to study new methods of network operation and upgrades.