11kV Feeder Hosting Capacity Analyzer

What is 11kV Hosting Capacity Analysis in Pakistan?

Hosting Capacity, you have heared this word a lot of times as an Electrical Engineer, working on the Renewable Energy Solutions or Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Ever wonder what actually Hosting Capacity is? And why do we have to be so much worried about this And how organizations/ software houses are working to let the engineer understand this concept?
Chief Consultant, is the PEC registered consultancy firm, has taken this challenge to develop a solution which let the engineers understand the real meaning of hosting capacity.
So, back to the answer of the question, Hosting Capacity is the system's ability to accommodate the energy to and from the system without violating the permissible/ safe limits set by the regulatory Authority.
Lets understand the importance of the hosting capacity. Suppose, as an electrical engineer working in the electricity generation company, the key challenge for your organization is that it has generated alternative energy and has a motive for reducing the Green House Gases (GHG). Now, you come to the distribution company and negotiate about the local generation of electricity energy but does the existing system have the capacity to integrate clean energy aside from the conventional energy resources? why distribution company shift from a single point of energy import to multiple points of energy import?
Conterary, you are working as the planning engineer in the electricity distribution company, and consumers want to become the prosumer by installing the rooftop solar system. How will you give him go ahead and purchase the electricity from him?
All the scenarios above indicate that we have to understand the electricity distribution system from a new perspective. By deeply analyzing the system, the person who generates the electricity and the persons who distribute this energy can generate profit, reduce the system losses, and reduce depletion to the environment.
Nexus, the role of the regulatory body is deemed critical in this emerging challenge as they are responsible for safe and economical delivery of electric energy to the end consumers. In the next we explain how we understand the issue and solve the problem.

How Our OpenDSS & Synergi MDB Integration Works

Well, the basic backbone of the hosting capacity analysis is the load flow analysis of the system. An electrical engineer should be very strong in this domain, having the core knowledge of Gauss-Seidel/Newton-Raphson iterative load flow analysis, is necessary to understand how the power runs in the electricity distribution network
We map the existing infrastructure at 11 kV level and 400 V level separately, and then for the load flow analysis, we call the OpenDSS API to perform the load flow analysis to understand how the power is running in the existing system. Then, we have seven unique strategies to integrate the hosting capacity algorithms to understand how the system will behave under different future scenarios.

• Incremental Hosting Capacity
• Screen Hosting Capacity
• Distinct Hosting Capacity
• Grow Hosting Capacity
• Chief Stochastic Hosting Capacity
• Queue Hosting Capacity
• Demand-Based Future Hosting Capacity

All the strategies are enabled in our SaaS Web Application. We can use any of the strategy to estimate the amount of DER/ Solar PVs our system can accommodate without violating the technical constraints of the system. Let us explain in depth how this system works for a Pakistani Network.

• Direct MDB Parsing: DISCOs in Pakistan has the 11 kV infrastructure mapped in the MDB format compatible with the Synergi Electric sponsered by the USAID in 2013. What we did was take this MDB file of the 11 kV Network and directly transform the GIS-based electrical infrastructure to an OpenDSS distribution network object
• NEPRA Distribution Code Compliance: Next, we use the NEPRA Operating standards (OS) and Grid Standards (GS) to put the limit during the analysis that 1. No overvoltage detected in system 2. No thermal overloading of the 11 kV line. 3. No transformer loading beyound the 80% of its capacity 4. User control setting for the Reverse Power Flow at the transformer level and the feeder level
• Thermal Asset Protection: When any strategy is chosen, and the user performs the studies for the hosting capacity, the web app indicate the portion of the electrical infrastructure where thermal violation are observed. The transformer and the lines highlighted where the power flow is more than the system's capability. Thus limiting the upper point of DER integration in the distribution system.

Real-World Application: Avoiding Grid Overload

Let's dive deep into the practical application of this software module
In a practical scenario, we have taken the . MDB file from Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), which is their Sector-E underground distribution feeder. We digest the .MDB file, which was originally only run in the Synergi Electric our data transformartion within the WebAPP transform the .MDB file to an OpenDSS Network.
Let's share the analysis results with you.

• We set the 11 kV amperes to the minimum value of the grid in December at 220 Ampere at a power factor of 0.94 lagging
• We use the OpenDSS load flow analysis engine to understand the existing load flow of the network
• We select "Chief Stochastic Hosting Capacity", our proprietary algorithm to estimate the distributed PVs that can be installed in the system
• The results were shocking as it limited the hosting capacity of the system to 2218 KW
• It means if we have to allow the maximum net-metering connection on this feeder, we have to limit it to 2218 KW generating capacity of all the solar connected to the distribution feeder