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Integrating PV+Battery Residential Microgrids in Distribution Networks: How Is the Point of Common Coupling Agreed Upon?

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Sustainable Energy for Smart Cities (SESC 2019)

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Abstract

The anticipated development of decentralized electricity generation is expected to strengthen the opportunities of prosumers in the residential areas of cities, in line with the predicted establishment of renewable energy generation and storage. Based on academic research and on successful case studies, the opportunity for residential prosumers to organize in microgrids emerges as a viable and promising solution. This paper focuses on microgrids that are planned to generate electricity with a PV unit and use a shared storage system, and that opt to have a connection with the main grid. However, the point of common coupling needs to be agreed first between the microgrid operator and the network operator, and this agreement is determined by several factors and conditions beyond the basic technical and regulatory requirements. A survey of academic literature on the determinant factors for such an agreement exposes the fact that current research either focuses on the integration of individual prosumers in the main grid, or regards the point of common coupling as a given component of microgrids. We argue that neither of the two approaches is helpful in the case of microgrids vs. main grid, seeing as the agreement is not self-evident under just any circumstances, nor can the microgrid be equated to a single, large prosumer. Therefore this short paper compiles a set of determinant factors for the microgrid integration, as they emerge from academic literature, with the aim to document further research needs and support the discussion on microgrid integration.

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Abbreviations

DG :

Distributed Generation

DNO :

Distribution Network Operator

DSM :

Demand Side Management

ESS :

Electricity Storage System

EV :

Electric Vehicle

HC :

Hosting Capacity

LV :

Low Voltage

MG :

Microgrid

PCC :

Point of Common Coupling

RES :

Renewable Energy Sources

TSO :

Transmission Service Operator

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Iolanda Saviuc, Steven Van Passel & Herbert Peremans

  2. Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium

    Steven Van Passel

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  1. Iolanda Saviuc
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Correspondence to Iolanda Saviuc .

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  1. Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal

    João L. Afonso

  2. Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal

    Vítor Monteiro

  3. Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal

    José Gabriel Pinto

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Saviuc, I., Van Passel, S., Peremans, H. (2020). Integrating PV+Battery Residential Microgrids in Distribution Networks: How Is the Point of Common Coupling Agreed Upon?. In: Afonso, J., Monteiro, V., Pinto, J. (eds) Sustainable Energy for Smart Cities. SESC 2019. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 315. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45694-8_12

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