Coordinated planning of the distribution system and regional energy network in the presence of responsive loads

Reducing loss and providing a secure power supply for customers have always been the main goal of distribution systems planners. Recently, the development of competitive electricity markets and responsive loads participation in such markets together with the integration of regional energy networks (RENs) have resulted in creating some challenges for RENs' owners to increase operating efficiency, and reduce investment costs. In this paper, to overcome these problems, a new modeling for coordinated planning of distribution networks and RENs in the presence of responsive loads is proposed and to achieve the optimal solution of the problem, the genetic algorithm is used. Operation uncertainties due to the installation of wind turbines and photovoltaic resources in RENs are considered. The probability-tree method is used to generate and model operation scenarios and their variable production, respectively. To validate and confirm the efficiency of the proposed model, numerical studies were applied on a 25-bus Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard distribution network, including two RENs equipped with responsive loads. The results show the fact that the flexibility of the demand side in the electrical sector due to the activity of responsive loads causes to increase in the installation capacity of energy resources and storages.

Automated summary

A new model is proposed to coordinate the planning of distribution networks and regional energy networks (RENs) in the presence of responsive loads, in order to overcome the challenges posed by competitive electricity markets and responsive loads participation. The results of numerical studies show that the flexibility of the demand side in the electrical sector leads to an increase in the installation capacity of energy resources and storages.