Risk assessment in planning high penetrations of solar photovoltaic installations in distribution systems

The stochastic nature of several renewable energy resources adds a layer of complexity to the planning of the distribution networks. Distributed energy storage is a potential solution for buffering the intermittent supply of energy from such stochastic resources and increasing reliability. This paper quantifies the benefit of investing in battery energy storage systems (BESS) along with relatively high solar photovoltaic (PV) penetrations to defer capital-intensive investments in distribution system assets. Uncertainties in the load growth and the solar PV generation are considered in the assessment of risk by using modified risk-adjusted cost ratios. Furthermore, the size and allocation of BESS in the network system are optimized by applying a heuristic algorithm. The results are demonstrated via simulations on a typical Latin American distribution network. Simulation results indicate that the flexibility of BESS for distribution planning lies in closely accommodating the growth demand and distributed PV integration.