The Impact of Distributed Generation in the Distribution Networks' Voltage Profile and Energy Losses

The worldwide increasing demand for electricity, coupled with governmental policy changes for "green" energy has led to significant interest in distributed generation (DG). Integrating DG into an electricity network, especially close to load centres, has many significant benefits but also brings with it many drawbacks such as voltage drop, and power losses. In this paper the impact of three different types of distributed generation (diesel generator, wind turbine and photovoltaic (PV)) on distribution networks' voltage profile and power losses is studied. NEPLAN software and the extended Newton-Raphson method have been used in the analysis. The obtained results show that different types of DG influence differently the distribution network and that their precise location and size are vital in reducing power losses and improving the voltage stability.