Impact of renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies on the operation and planning of smart distribution networks

Renewable energy sources (RES) are gaining an increasing importance in the distribution system and they are predicted to play a more important role in the near future. Indeed, each year new generation plants are connected to the distribution networks and it appears clear that they can be no longer considered as negative loads to be connected and forgotten. The connection to power distribution networks of the growing number and capacity of RES installations implies overcoming several technical challenges for distribution network operators, that perceive RES systems has troublemakers for the electricity system. The chapter offers a detailed view of the impacts of renewable energy sources and energy storage technologies considering their planning, management and operation on future distribution networks.