Investigation of the Impact of Grid-integrated Distributed Generation on MV Network Voltage using Load Flow Sensitivities

DIgSILENT Powerfactory’s Load Flow Sensitivities (ComVstab) command performs a static voltage sensitivity analysis based on the linearization of the system around the operational point. Load flow sensitivity parameters dV/dP and dV/dQ on Powerfactory 2017 can be used to determine the change in voltage on a feeder resulting from a change in active or reactive power at a point. This paper will analyze the effectiveness of using Load Flow Sensitivities (LFS) technique for analyzing the impact of DG on the voltage of MV networks and assess impact of voltage magnitude/variation on shunt capacitors and other network devices. The performance of LFS is analyzed under varying peak load conditions and varying load distributions. The impact of DG on network voltage where the injected power from DG is not equal to 1 MW or 1 MVAr is assessed using linear extrapolation. This is an assumption where the accuracy is compared to simulated results. Using linear extrapolation the LFS technique can also be used to estimate the hosting capacity at a point on a network. These combined studies determine the applicability of using the Powerfactory command, LFS, to perform simulations faster.