Optimum planning of renewable energy resources in conjunction with battery energy storage systems

The immense deployment of renewable energy resources (RES) have gained significant interest in distribution networks, which creates great challenges for distribution network planners and operators. One way of mitigating such challenges is to combine the integration of RES with energy storage systems (ESS). However, appropriate combination of both RES and ESS requires new planning methodologies in distribution networks that take into account the special features and characteristics of such new resources i.e. RES and ESS. To that end, this paper presents a new algorithm for optimum planning of RES in conjunction with Battery ESS (BESS) in distribution networks. The objective of the proposed planning algorithm aims to minimize the overall capital and operational costs. The proposed formulation of the planning problem takes into account the implementation of smart inverters control to optimally schedule the active and reactive power outputs of RES and BESS units. Further, several technical constraints are taken into consideration, including maximum reverse power at the substation, maximum number of RES connections, voltage technical limits, and thermal limits of cables and overhead lines. The formulated problem has been solved using a combination between metaheuristic technique and deterministic technique. Several case studies have been carried out to test the effectiveness of the proposed planning methodology.