Voltage Regulation in Distribution Systems with High Penetration of Renewable Resources

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) have been increasing significantly around the world, but they create many integration challenges, since their output can be uncertain. As a result, short-duration voltage variations throughout distribution systems with high level of DER penetration may become more frequent, thus novel voltage regulation strategies are going to be decisive in allowing a reliable operation of these systems. This paper aimed at providing a novel strategy of voltage regulation for distribution systems with high penetration of DER, without relying in installing extra components such as voltage meters or communication systems. The strategy used an optimization process to obtain the setpoint of voltage regulators that keeps the voltage throughout the system within acceptable values, even if the output of a generator sudden varies. The results showed that the strategy can assist satisfactorily at regulating the voltage in a distribution system with high penetration of renewable resources.