Assessment of distribution grid voltage control strategies in view of deployment

Increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DER) and available monitoring devices in the power distribution grid make system services provided by DERs possible and an integral part of distribution grid operation. Numerous publications have proposed various control solutions by utilizing different capabilities of DERs and regulating devices to assist grid operation. However, very few of them have discussed the opportunities and barriers of deploying the control strategies in practice. This paper reviews some typical control solutions on providing voltage control services. Furthermore, it provides some qualitative discussions on the challenges in view of deployment. Several qualifying metrics are listed to specify the challenges from different perspectives. A metrics comparison diagram is proposed to asses deployment of a control strategy. Five case studies are presented to identify the corresponding advantages and challenges of deployment.