Penetration of photovoltaic parks in subtransmission networks. Calculation methodology

At present, the energy policies applied worldwide are gradually migrating towards the use of renewable distributed generation as primary energy sources. Among these sources, photovoltaic parks are presented as one of the most convenient alternatives due to its modularity and low operation and maintenance costs. This work proposes a methodology, to determine the power modules of a set of photovoltaic parks projects to be installed in 33 kV subtransmission networks. Within the technical criteria used to evaluate the stable operation of the parks, we calculate the rapid variations of power generated as a result of the intermittence of the solar resource and then simulate the voltage fluctuations caused by them on the nodes of the network. The obtained results show that in the subtransmission networks the admitted levels of penetration of distributed generation of non-manageable type present restrictions according to the number of photovoltaic parks, their geographic dispersion and the short-circuit power of the nodes where their installation is evaluated.