Knowledge of the impact of uncertain inputs is valuable, especially in power systems with large amounts of stochastic renewable generations. A global sensitivity analysis (GSA) can determine the impact of input uncertainties on the output quantity of interest in a certain physical or mathematical model. The GSA has not been widely employed in power systems due to the prohibitively computational burden. In this paper it is demonstrated that, via the implementation of a basis-adaptive sparse polynomial chaos expansion, a GSA can be applied to the power system with numerous uncertain inputs. The performance of the proposed method is tested on both the IEEE 13-bus test feeder and the IEEE 123-node test system, in presence of a large amount of independent or correlated uncertain inputs. The possible application of a GSA on the basis of the basis-adaptive sparse polynomial chaos expansion in power systems are discussed in terms of various sensitivities. The findings cannot only be used to rank the most influential input uncertainties with respect to a specific output, such as variances of the nodal power, but also to identify the most sensitive or robust electrical variables such as the bus voltage with respect to input uncertainties.

The recent increase in large converter-based devices like electric vehicles and photovoltaics increases supraharmonic emissions in low-voltage grids, potentially affecting customer equipment and the grid. This paper aims to give an overview of the different factors influencing supraharmonic emissions from electric vehicles and studies the propagation of supraharmonic currents through a small, low-voltage grid. Measurements in an unique lab representing a possible future household gave valuable insight on the possible developments in primary and secondary supraharmonic emissions in a conventional or power-electronic-dominated system. Emission is, for some vehicles, influenced by the type of grid connection, whereas others show no difference in emission. The supraharmonic currents mainly stay within the local installation due to absorption of nearby devices. The level of voltage distortion is dependent on the connection impedance. During the measurements, another type of interaction between devices is observed in the form of “frequency beating” and intermodulation, in some cases resulting in the tripping of residual current devices. This interaction is further analyzed in order to better understand the possible impact it can have on the grid.

To prepare for the future high penetration level of renewable energy sources, the power grid’s technical boundaries/constraints for the correct operation of powerelectronics interfaced devices need to be further examined and defined. This paper investigates the challenge of integrating Voltage Source Converters (VSC) into low inertia power grids, where the system frequency can vary rapidly due to the low kinetic energy buffer available, which used to be provided by the rotational inertia of synchronous generators. The impact of rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) on the PLL dynamics and its subsequent influence on the VSC power stage output is explained. The Bonaire island network is presented as case study. The performance of the VSC is analyzed under a fast ROCOF event, which is triggered by a short circuit fault. A down-scaled experiment is used to validate the Bonaire island network simulation results. It shows that the phase angle error measured by the synchronous-reference frame phase-locked loop (SRF-PLL) is proportional to the slope of the ROCOF and inversely proportional to its controller integral gain constant.

With the introduction of more non-linear loads, e.g., compact fluorescent lamps, electric vehicles, photovoltaics, etc., the need to determine the harmonic impact of the residential load is rising, illustrated by the many studies performed on their harmonic impact. Traditionally, these studies are performed for a single new device and single penetration level, neglecting the harmonic interaction between new types of devices, as well as giving little information at which moment in time possible problems may arise. A composite approach to access the impact of harmonic sources on the distribution network is therefore proposed. This method combines a bottom-up stochastic modeling of the residential load with harmonic measurement data and harmonic load-flows all based on a scenario analysis. The method is validated with measurement data and shows a good prediction of the current level of harmonics in a residential neighborhood for the current situation. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, case studies are performed on the IEEE European Low Voltage Test Feeder. These case studies show a marked difference between applying individual device-based models and a composite modeling approach, demonstrating why the proposed approach is an adequate method for the determination of the impact of new devices on the harmonics.

This paper presents a demand response (DR) framework that intertwines thermodynamic building models with a genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimization method. The framework optimizes heating/cooling schedules of end-users inside a business park microgrid with local distributed generation from renewable energy sources (DG-RES) based on two separate objectives: net load minimization and electricity cost minimization. DG-RES is treated as a curtailable resource in anticipation of future scenarios where the infeed of DG-RES to the regional distribution network could be limited. We test the DR framework with a case study of a refrigerated warehouse and an office building located in a business park with local PV generation. Results show the technical potential of the DR framework in harnessing the flexibility of the thermal masses from end-user sites in order to: (1) reduce the energy exchange at the point of connection; (2) reduce the cost of electricity for the microgrid end-users; and (3) increase the local utilization of DG-RES in cases where DG-RES exports to the grid are restricted. The results of this work can aid end-users and distribution network operators to reduce energy costs and energy consumption.

Aggregated Norton’s equivalent models, with parallel impedance and current injection at different harmonic frequencies are used to model the distribution grid in harmonic studies. These models are derived based on measurements and/or prior knowledge about the grid. The measurement-based distribution (sub-)grid impedance estimation method uses harmonic phasors of 3-phase current and voltage measurements to capture the response of the distribution (sub-)grid before and after an event in the utility side of the grid. However, due to increasing non-linear components in the grid, knowledge about uncertainty in parameters of such equivalent models which intrinsically describe a linear grid becomes important. The aim of this paper is to present two novel methods to calculate the uncertainty of the measurement-based Norton’s equivalent harmonic model of the distribution (sub-)grids as seen from the utility side at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). The impedance and the uncertainty calculations are demonstrated on a simulated network.