Hosting Capacity Calculation Deploying a Hybrid Methodology: A Case Study Concerning the Intermittent Nature of Photovoltaic Distributed Generation and the Variable Nature of Energy Consumption in a Medium Voltage Distribution Network

Abstract

The main methods employed for Hosting Capacity (HC) calculations are basically classified into deterministic, stochastic and time series. In this scenario, the authors herein propose a hybrid methodology, which shows efficiency and ease of implementation. Besides the method presented, it is also calculated a hosting capacity of a real feeder which was modeled and analyzed taking into consideration variations in load and power injected by distributed generation sources. The proposed hybrid method deploys just one time series with the feeder power demand data, which are easily obtained from the feeder’s origin substation. Low voltage loads were modeled by the ratio between their maximum demands and the feeder maximum demand, making easier to start up the grid model implementation. Hence, the advantages of the proposed methodology can be summarized in: (a) easy to obtain the input parameters; (b) agility in implementing the study; (c) higher processing speed and (d) results consistent with the time series method. Finally, in view of the advantages and obtained results, the proposed hybrid methodology shows itself as a promising and attractive tool for the studies of hosting capacity by the utilities.