With the recent advances in distributed generation (DG) technology and the recent blackout in Northeast, distributed generation appears to be one of the solutions to improve the reliability and security of power supply. Low interest in building new transmission lines will result in a highly stressed transmission network and reduced levels of reliability. FERC has recognized the importance of DG and has established policies and forms of contract that can be made between the utility and DG owners as presented in order 104 FERC 61,104 (July 24, 2003). The IEEE standard 1547 has been established to govern technical requirements for the installation of DG units in distribution systems.
There are many arguments and much debate about the future of DG in USA. Producers of different types of DG are enthusiastic that DG will be widely used by many customers. Utilities have many concerns such as loosing customers and degrading distribution system safety and reliability as a result of penetration of DG units in the distribution system. Customers have their own view points, some of them look to DG for less expensive power, others see it as clean power source even if power prices get higher and some believe DG will improve power supply reliability. Investors are studying the market to find the risks and benefits associated with investment in DG. In a recent NSF/EPRI workshop on opportunities for transmission system enhancement [1], one of the recommendations to decrease transmission system vulnerability is the use of distributed generation. It was suggested that distributed generation (DG) offers promising solutions that can release the stress of existing transmission systems. It was mentioned that DG installed close to loads results in decreased power losses throughout transmission system, and provides transient stability and voltage support. It is expected that DG will have an important role in improving distribution system reliability in the deregulated power industry [2].
In our exploratory research we want to define and explore the potential problems facing DG installation, types of relationships between DG owners and utility, development of tools needed for DG parallel operation with the utility, possible effects of DG on overall power system reliability, possible role of DG in facilitating power restoration after a blackout, risks associated with investment in DG and multi-objective optimized planning for micro-grid power networks. We want to investigate these problems and explore possible solutions. It is clear that it will not be possible to solve all the problems in the framework of this SGER. The intent here is to explore the preliminary solutions for these problems and identify the future research that will be needed for more comprehensive solutions.
The proposed research should be considered exploratory particularly due to the uncertainty associated with advances in DG technology, lack of practical experience in DG working in parallel with utility and insufficient research studies in this area. On the other hand DG will continue to penetrate the market and it is important to look into the future to see the possible impacts and also develop methodologies to orchestrate the desired effects like enhanced reliability and security of power networks.
In our proposed research we want to objectively study the role that DG can play in the power market in the future. We will investigate the optimal operation modes for DG units to achieve maximum benefits for utility, DG owners and customers. Research results may encourage investors to consider DG as a low risk investment, encourage utility to consider developing control strategies and policies for DG operation, and improve distribution system reliability. SGER grant is suitable for supporting this work because of the urgent need of this research; the outcomes of this research will include many recommendations and suggested solution approaches for potential DG and micro-grid research problems. The results of this exploratory research will bring many potential problems to focus and encourage more research and development in this area.
