Analysing Impact of Network Settings on the Feasible Operation Region of Urban and Rural Distribution Networks

The flexibility of the active distribution network (ADN) could be used to provide ancillary services to the transmission system operator. The feasible operation region (FOR) is a tool that aggregates the flexibility of the network by combining all interconnection power flows (IPFs) at TSO-DSO interface and could be used to validate flexibility offers that would not violate any network constraints. Several elements impact the size and shape of the FOR, such as network constraints, network settings and capability of the flexibility providing units (FPUs). The network settings consist of transformer tap positions and network reconfiguration. This paper, analyses how network settings can influence the size and shape of the FOR for the ADNs. Typical urban and rural distribution networks are used for case studies to analyse the impact of change in network setting to the FOR of the given network. Moreover, to aid network operators in decision-making, an algorithm has been devised to find out which network settings would result in the biggest and smallest FOR. As a result, the network settings can be ranked according to the size of the FOR obtained. This ranking can act as a decision tool to exploit the flexibility available in the ADNs. With this information on the network settings, the network operators can make informed decisions about the use of flexibility.