Assessing distribution network hosting capacity with the addition of soft open points

This paper presents an algorithm that calculates the non-concurrent per-node demand and generation hosting capacity of a distribution network. The algorithm is used to appraise the increase in hosting capacity that would result from adding a Soft Open Point (SOP) to link two networks. To visualise non-concurrent per-node hosting capacity, a stress majorization technique is applied to a United Kingdom Generic Distribution System (UKGDS) network. This creates geographically representative layouts which preserve branch length information. It is suggested that applying these techniques to the entire GB 33kV network, whilst allowing for network reconfiguration and for variation of demand and generation across the time of day and day of year, is feasible.