A chance constrained programming approach to integrated planning of distributed power generation and natural gas network

The growing integration of distributed electric power generators means the reliability of electricity distribution systems will increasingly depend on the reliability of primary energy resources such as natural gas supply for natural gas-fired distributed power generation. This, therefore, necessitates an integrated approach for planning both the electricity and natural gas distribution systems for the purpose of ensuring reliable natural gas supply for electricity generation. We propose a probabilistic planning approach based on the chance constrained programming method for planning these two systems in the presence of uncertain real and reactive power demand. The proposed model minimizes the investment cost of gas-fired generators, natural gas pipeline and the operation cost of the natural gas-fired distributed generators over a long-term planning horizon. The proposed integrated planning approach is used to develop a 10 years long-term plan for 9 and 33 bus distribution systems. The result shows that the integrated planning approach results in a cheaper and more reliable system in comparison with a traditional sequential planning approach.