Active management strategies such as coordinated on load tap changer (OLTC) voltage control and reactive power compensation (RPC) are frequently suggested for voltage regulation in a distribution system with a high level of distributed generation (DG). This paper proposes a control and coordination algorithm for these two active management strategies. Voltage control through OLTC is achieved by using state estimation (SE) to determine the voltage in the network. To lower the implementation cost of the proposed control strategy, pseudo-measurements are used together with real-time measurement data in the SE. Moreover, the deadband of the automatic voltage control (AVC) relay is relaxed so that the AVC relay acts on the network's maximum or minimum voltage obtained through the SE. This is found to be simpler to realize than adjusting the set point of the AVC relay. Voltage control through RPC is actualized by using integral controllers implemented locally at the wind turbine site. Furthermore, RPC from the local wind turbine is also used to mitigate an overvoltage at a remote bus on the same feeder when the remote wind turbine reaches its regulation limit. The applicability of the proposed voltage regulation algorithm is successfully demonstrated using a case study system.

As the capacity of wind power installed in a radial distribution system (DS) increases, there is a concern that it may introduce more frequent tap change operations in substation transformers. The increase in the frequency of tap changes (FTC) can accelerate the wear and tear of the tap changers. As a result, the introduction of wind power to DSs may be hindered. Hence the aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of wind power integration on the FTC in a radial DS. A case study shows that the changes on the FTC in DSs connected to relatively strong external grid is negligible up to significant level of penetration. But in DSs connected to a relatively weak external grid, a significant increase in the FTC has been observed as wind power penetration increases. Hence a further investigation is carried out to limit the FTC by using reactive power from local wind turbines. The results have shown that the methodology is very effective.