Standards and Technical Guidelines for the Interconnection of Renewable Energy Sources into the Grid (Distribution Networks)

Interconnection of renewable energy sources into the grid is a relatively new advancement for supplying power into the distribution network.). Unlike the conventional centralized generation units which are located faraway from the load, this new development uses distributed generation units which are connected close to the load. The distributed generation units range small scale units of a few kW to medium size of about 100 MW. In order for renewable energy sources (RES) to be incorporated into the electricity power supply (EPS) or grid, certain technical requirements and guidelines need to be met before interconnection so that the RES may not adversely affect the normal operation of the network. In developing countries like South Africa, RES are not yet integrated to the grid and therefore there is still a need to develop standards and guidelines that will suit the integration of these sources to the grid. This paper discusses and gives an overview of some of the technical interconnection issues and guidelines that have been applied and experienced in developed countries in Europe and America. The objective of the research is to investigate whether we could adapt these standards and guidelines to suit our local network. Due to limited time availability, this paper will mainly focus on wind energy sources.