Effects of coordinated prosumer operation on power distribution systems

Abstract

The proliferation of distributed renewable energy sources and energy storage systems has presented a number of challenges for contemporary power systems. Depending on the control strategies that the users employ, the grid may experience varying levels of equipment loading. This paper aims to explore the effects on the grid from coordinated operation of energy prosumers at various levels of prosumer penetration. The results obtained by the numerical simulations depicted herein show that the differences in operating modes at high prosumer penetration levels can result in a reduction of over 2.5% in terms of peak grid transformer loading at the expense of an approximate 0.75% increase of average energy consumption.