Analysing the Technology Needs of Future Distribution Networks

This paper comes at a time when distribution network planning for distributed generation is becoming of high importance. It proposes an analysis process chosen for examining of the impact of distributed generation on the main types of distribution networks. The main objectives are to determine the impact of distributed generation on fault level, thermal constraints, statutory voltage limits, tap changer operation occurrences and losses of different networks based on the penetration level of distributed generation. The United Kingdom Generic Distribution System format has been employed for modelling the networks. Distributed generation technologies, expected to be in use by the year 2020, have been considered including combined heat and power, wind turbines and photovoltaics. Results are discussed and methods to mitigate some of these problems discussed.