Determining Maximum Allowable PV Penetration Level in Transmission Networks: Case Analysis - Northern Cyprus Power System

Recently, societies are motivated to invest in renewable energy sources in order to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with fossil-fuel based energy generations and meet the vast proliferation in energy demand. Consequently, integrating renewables into power systems demonstrated a promising performance in hindering the impacts of climate change, especially in regions where renewable resources are abundant. Northern Cyprus is one of those regions where it enjoys the availability of abundant solar resources. However, integrating renewables requires optimized planning in order to achieve their maximum advantages. Therefore, in this work, we aim at determining the maximum allowable PV Penetration Level (PL) considering different PV PL's as percentages of the aggregated-demand in the Northern Cypriot power system and discuss the associated carbon-emissions reduction potential. Purposefully, the objective in this paper is two-folded. First, we use system total active power-loss as a criterion to identify the maximum allowable level of PV integration into system. Secondly, we present the possibility of reducing carbon emissions according to the different PV PL's. The novelty of this paper relies on employing Weighted Integration (WI) approach for PV plants' allocation into the power system. The analysis show that the maximum allowable PV PL is 50%. This work is beneficial for future renewable energy planning in the country and contributes to the movement of the country towards the development of an emission-free society.