Optimal siting and sizing of distributed energy storage systems via alternating direction method of multipliers

Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) will have an important role in the optimal operation of Active Distribution Networks (ADNs). Within this context, this paper focuses on the problem of ESSs optimal siting and sizing. Following similar approaches already proposed by the Authors, this paper proposes a multi-objective procedure that accounts for various ancillary services that can be provided by ESSs to ADNs. The proposed procedure takes into account the voltage support and network losses minimization along with minimization of the cost of energy from external grid and congestion management. For the case of large-scale problems, accounting for networks with large number of nodes and scenarios, the selection of the solution methodology is a non-trivial problem. In this respect, the paper proposes and discusses the use of the Alternative Direction Method of Multipliers in order to define an efficient algorithm capable to treat large-scale networks and, also, address the issue of the optimality of the solution. A real large-scale network with real profiles of load and distributed photovoltaic generation is used as the case study to analyze the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.