Impact assessment of simultaneous operation of photovoltaic and cogeneration power plants on industrial distribution system

Abstract

Industries with co-generation plants face unprecedented problems due to penetration of renewable energy systems such as solar power on their existing distribution networks. These problems are caused by intermittent solar power. To this end, this paper provides a detailed investigation of the effects due to sudden changes in solar power on an existing industrial distribution network connected to co-generation plants. Moreover, the case studies in this work consider simultaneous operation of a large industry having co-generation captive power plant and large scale solar photovoltaic power plant. The real-time field data for the past three years are used to check the performance of solar photovoltaic power plant, load management, power quality and other concerning issues on the distribution network. In addition to the real-time data, the simulations were performed for the solar power output under different solar irradiance conditions. Moreover, these simulations are used to assess photovoltaic integration effects on a distribution system having a co-generation captive power plant. Finally, this paper put forward photovoltaic integration guidelines to industries and policymakers interested to carry out the integration studies in the future.