Defence of dissertation in the field of Power Systems and High Voltage Engineering, M.Sc.(Tech.) Ammar Arshad

Maximizing Photovoltaic Integration in Power Distribution Networks

Increasing renewable integration in the distribution networks is having adverse effect on the voltage quality due to their intermittent nature. Classical centralized voltage control strategies are bound to become complex and computationally time-consuming with the increasing number of distributed energy resources in the network. With the development of smart grid technologies, such as agents, the focus is shifting towards the distributed control strategies. Agents are the intelligent entities that are able to devise control strategies based on the readily available data from the network. Therefore, multi-agent system based control strategies are being developed that can take control action with minimum latency. Moreover, distribution network operators have to identify and mitigate the problems arising with the renewable-integration in the networks and try to maximize the penetration level while maintaining the network constraints within the standards.

This dissertation developed a distributed voltage control methodology for the distribution networks to be employed in the smart grid environment. The control mainly utilizes the grid-tied inverters for improving the voltage quality. Moreover, the hosting capacity studies are made for the Finnish distribution networks that will be a benchmark for revising the grid codes to maximize the photovoltaic integration at the customer vicinity. This study also proposes various techniques that can be employed to enhance the photovoltaic penetration in geographically distinct regional grids.

Opponent: Dr Poria Divshali, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Custos: Professor Matti Lehtonen, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation.

Thesis web page

Contact information: Ammar Arshad, [email protected]