Stochastic Hosting Capacity of Low Voltage Distribution Systems Using Polynomial Chaos Expansion

Power distribution systems are going through a paradigm shift with more installed renewable energy sources (RES) in consumer premises than ever. Power distribution systems were designed assuming that consumers will just consume electricity without generation. The introduction of generation at the consumer-level makes the low voltage system more complex, requiring detailed analysis of the impact of the distributed resources. When planning the distribution to accommodate for future scenarios, a multi-dimensional stochastic problem must be solved, involving a large number of variables: load pattern of the consumers, location of the load, RES generation profile, location of RES, connected capacity of the RES, etc. The objective of this PhD is to computationally tackle the calculations involved in this impact study through the reduction of the dimensions. The key in the calculations is that the distribution system operators are mostly interested in the outliers and their probability of occurring. The study will provide the system operators tools to support their decision regarding the installation of high RES in the existing network.