A Two-stage Approach for Renewable Hosting Capacity Assessment

Electricity distribution networks across the world are increasingly featured with renewable generation to meet sustainable energy requirements, while there is limited investment in network reinforcement. Hence, it is important to accurately evaluate the renewable hosting capacity of a distribution network to avoid any detrimental effect caused by increased penetration. In this context, this paper proposes a two-stage optimisation-based approach to calculate the maximum renewable hosting capacity of a distribution network without violating any security constraints. The approach is demonstrated using an IEEE 123-node distribution network with detailed simulations, and the results compared with two conventional approaches (experience-based and streamlined approach). The results indicate that the proposed approach can achieve higher hosting capacity as opposed to conventional approaches. In addition, this paper also presents detailed procedures to implement the two conventional approaches.