Active Management of Distributed Energy Resources Using Standardized Communications and Modern Information Technologies

Due to high penetration level in some regions of distributed generators (DGs) based on renewable energy resources, information about their power delivery capabilities is becoming essential for planning and allocating resources and reserves in power system. This paper discusses the modeling of DGs in the utility control and information technology infrastructures of power system operators. The communication standards International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61400-25 and IEC 61850 and their extensions for DGs are first introduced, followed by an example of mapping wind turbine components onto a communication data model. A distribution network comprising several distributed-generation sources is then described from the control and communication point of view. Simulation results of production cost minimization and network constraint management are presented at the end, illustrating the new possibilities that a system-wide approach can provide for distributed generation.