Network planning under uncertainties on distributed generation penetration

The necessity for flexible electric systems, changing regulatory and economic scenarios, energy savings and environmental impact are providing impetus to the development of Distributed Generation, which is predicted to play an increasing role in the future electric power system; with so much new distributed generation being installed, it is critical that the power system impacts be assessed accurately so that DG can be applied in a manner that avoids causing degradation of power quality, reliability and control of the utility system. Considering that uncertainties on DG power production are very relevant and different scenarios should be taken into consideration, traditional deterministic planning techniques cannot be sufficient to take the right decisions. For these reasons, this paper proposes a new three steps procedure, based on an heuristic optimization algorithm for the optimal network planning, considering all technical constraints, like feeder capacity limits, feeder voltage profile and three-phase short circuit current in the network nodes and on the application of the Decision Theory. Finally a case study is proposed and discussed to show the applicability of the proposed methodology and its main advantages.