Cost of optimal placement of a CHP plant within existing UDN

The objective of this paper is to develop algorithm that gives insight in the CHP plant connection method and provide means of determining the optimal placement of a CHP generating plant that can be connected within the existing urban distribution network (UDN), which correspond to least cost technically acceptable (LCTA) principle and the UDN long term network planning policy. Environmental awareness and sustainable development on long-term diversification of energy source are key points on the agenda of energy policy-makers. According to the European commission cities account for about 80% of energy use and generate up to 85% of Europe GDP. They are perceived as the source of today's economic and environmental challenges as well as the solution for a sustainable future. The fact that the more 70% of the EU-28 population lives in urban areas with urbanization rates expected to continuously increase, it is thus pivotal to help development and work towards economically viable and environmentally sustainable solution of energy supply in European cities. CHP generation is the most efficient way of energy supply in urban area available today. It delivers significant benefits to its host facilities and UDN to which is connected. Economic viability of CHP generation for many sites requires integration with the UDN for backup and supplementary power needs and in some case to export of excess power to the UDN. CHP system integration into existing UDN entail installation costs. How these integration costs are distributed will have considerable impact on development and implementation of CHP generation in urban areas. A optimal placement in UDN is a process that deals with the determination of the optimum allocation and size of CHP unit to be installed into existing UDN subjected to the network operational constraints that include: technical, environmental and financial. It is a complex mix of numerous linear/nonlinear optimization problems.