Technical grid connection guides for distributed electricity generation systems: A new DERlab database has come alive

Abstract

The increasing share of distributed energy resources (DER) in electricity production requires new sources and techniques in grid support services to keep the quality and reliability of power supply high. Addressing this matter, DER systems are required to follow technical grid connection requirements determined by distribution system operators (DSOs). Currently, these requirements widely differ from country to country. Recent studies suggest developing unified grid connection requirements for DER on the international level. This unification currently is the main activity for DSOs and standardisation organisations in the field of grid-connected DER. To support this activity, the present article (i) offers a status report on recent studies relevant to the harmonisation of DER grid connection requirements, and (ii) identifies and discusses current DER grid connection guides, namely standards of international and European standardisation organisations, as well as regulations of national DSOs from Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Switzerland (German-speaking part) and the United Kingdom. The guides are collected and grouped according to the technical area and technology in a database: http://dergridrequirements.net. The database is a tool for finding relevant DER grid connection guides for a specific region, technical area and/or technology. The target audience of the database is DER system developers.