Multi-temporal Optimal Power Flow for voltage control in MV networks using Distributed Energy Resources

Large-scale integration of variable Renewable Energy Sources (RES) brings significant challenges to grid operation that require new approaches and tools for distribution system management, particularly concerning voltage control. Therefore, an innovative approach for voltage control at the MV level is presented. It is based on a preventive day-ahead analysis that uses data from load/RES forecasting tools to establish a plan for operation of the different Distributed Energy Resources (DER) for the next day. The approach is formulated as a multi-temporal Optimal Power Flow (OPF) solved by a meta-heuristic, used to tackle complex multi-dimensional problems. The tuning of the meta-heuristic parameters was performed to ensure the robustness of the proposed approach and enhance the performance of the algorithm. It was tested through simulation in a large scale test network with good results.