As a part of the master's thesis, a large number of scenarios with the addition of different numbers of photovoltaic power plants, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers on the grid were simulated in order to analyse their impact on the network conditions. The increasing number of aforementioned devices can cause problems in the normal operation of the network, such as over- or under-voltage and line or transformer overload. Two methods of improving the network conditions were tested: the so-called conventional method, which involves replacing or upgrading network elements, and the so-called alternative method, which makes use of the flexibility of the electricity generation or consumption offered by the abovementioned devices.
The simulations were carried out using the previously designed Grid Planning Tool and realistic models of the low-voltage networks in Slovenia. The production and consumption profiles of the included devices were generated within the simulation tool.
Software used is based on Python programming language and the OpenDSS tool. Three different scenarios were simulated for the Luče pilot site and the network conditions for each scenario were presented separately. In addition, the two ways of improving the network conditions are presented and compared. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out for the four networks considered, through which a threshold number of devices was determined, for which the network conditions would remain within the permissible limits in the current network configuration. All the results are presented graphically (the time course of the observed quantities) and tabulated with the calculated parameters.
|
