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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 26, NO. 2, APRIL 2011

Dual Genetic Algorithm-Based Approach to Fast

Screening Process for Distributed-Generation
Interconnections
Nien-Che Yang, Member, IEEE, and Tsai-Hsiang Chen

AbstractThis paper introduces a dual genetic algorithm

(DGA)-based approach for a fast screening process for distributed
generations (DGs) connected to a distribution network. The
existing deterministic approaches overlook some operation conditions that may give rise to incorrect results and lead to wrong
decisions in practical applications. The DGA is an extension of a
traditional single genetic algorithm (GA). Owing to complicated
distribution system operating states, such as the actual topologies
and features, and the load states, it is hard to take all uncertainties into account when the latter is used. Hence, an improved
GADGAis proposed to deal with these kinds of uncertainties.
The outcomes are of value for a fast screening process for grid
interconnection applications in DGs.
Index TermsDistributed generation (DG), distribution system,
power flow analysis, power quality, voltage deviations.

I. INTRODUCTION
HE NEED to reduce greenhouse gases has led to growing
worldwide interest in renewable energy generation, especially wind power. Due to the desire for more renewable energy,
many small power sources have been hooked up to distribution
systems. The penetration of distributed generation (DG) is fast
increasing in distribution grids throughout the world, especially
in Europe. Most of the distributed generations (DGs) are, or will
be, wind powered. Wind energy is a type of clean energy, which
produces no air pollution and, therefore, has rapidly become the
most competitive energy resource among the renewable energy
resources. Hence, the efficiency of DG interconnection review
has become of more interest.
As outlined in GWECs Global Wind 2008 Report [1], [2],
global wind energy capacity could reach more than 1000 GW by
the end of 2020. Wind power could produce about 2600 TWh of
electricity per year, which would be 10%12% of global electricity demand by 2020. The CO emission factor for the conventional energy sources is about 600 g CO /kWh. Wind power
would reduce as much as 1500 million tons of CO every year.
IEC 61400 series standards are an important basis, providing reliable certification processes and acceptance criteria

Manuscript received January 22, 2010; revised June 20, 2010, September 20,
2010; accepted November 06, 2010. Date of publication January 06, 2011; date
of current version March 25, 2011. Paper no. TPWRD-00048-2010.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National
Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan (e-mail:
D9307101@mail.ntust.edu.tw; thchen@mail.ntust.edu.tw).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2010.2093542

for standards related to the design of wind turbines in Europe. In addition, rules for measurement and assessment of
power-quality (PQ) characteristics of grid-connected wind
turbines are included in IEC 61400-21 [3]. IEEE-1547 is the
standard for interconnecting distributed resources (DRs) with
electric power systems, nationwide in the U.S. [4]. IEEE-1547
offers a way to more efficiently manage distributed energy
resources and ensure the reliability of the power system.
The reduction of distribution network power loss, the release
of transmission capacity, and the enhancements of system continuity and reliability are some of the advantages of DG applications. In contrast, the parallel operations of DG with the
power grid alter the traditional operating rules of the latter and
pose new issues regarding PQ (e.g., voltage deviations, flicker,
harmonic, and frequency variation). In [5], several system issues, which may be encountered as DRs, penetrate into distribution systems, including voltage and protection issues that
have been pointed out. The voltage issues covered are the impact of DR on the system voltage, interaction of DR and capacitor operations, interaction of DR and voltage regulator, and
the impact on the operation of line-drop compensators (LDCs).
Protection issues include fuse coordination, feeding faults after
utility protection opens, impact of DR on the interrupting rating
of devices, faults on adjacent feeders, fault detection, ground
source impacts, single-phase interruption on a three-phase line,
recloser coordination, and conductor burndown. Also, the losses
of power grids, system restoration, and other network issues
have been discussed in [5].
However, the most critical impact of DG on the distribution
grid is the steady-state voltage deviation (or slow voltage variation). Hence, a simply applicable deterministic approach to
assess steady-state voltage deviations becomes imperative. For
that reason, some evaluation methods of steady-state voltage deviations have been proposed [6][9]. In [6] and [7], some concepts of deterministic approaches were presented. Slow and fast
voltage deviations, flicker, and harmonic emissions evaluation
methodologies were considered in [8] and [9].
Many studies on the maximum allowable DGs capacity
that can be connected to a distribution system without causing
system problems have been presented. In [6][9], deterministic
approaches are used to assess steady-state voltage deviations
due to DGs interconnection with the distribution network. Although deterministic approaches are widely adopted to evaluate
the steady-state voltage deviation due to DGs grid connection,
the existing deterministic approaches are too simplified to
take into account all of the system operating conditions in real

0885-8977/$26.00 2011 IEEE

YANG AND CHEN: DGA-BASED APPROACH TO FAST SCREENING PROCESS FOR DG INTERCONNECTIONS

situations. Therefore, deterministic approaches are not always

valid to confirm that the steady-state voltage deviations caused
by DG interconnection satisfy the requirements of the rules in
IEC 61400-21.
In [10], the influences of several distribution voltage-control
methods on maximum capacity of distributed generators were
discussed. In [11], a general formula to calculate the range of the
maximum DG capacity per feeder was presented. In this general
formula, many parameters, such as the length of the feeder and
the power factor of DG were taken into account. In [12] and
[13], a method for placement of DG units in distribution networks was presented. This method is based on the analysis of
power-flow continuation and the determination of buses most
sensitive to voltage collapse. In [14] and [15], a methodology
for determining the optimal allocation of DG with respect to
all of the relevant technical constraints was proposed. In [16], a
multiperiod ac optimal power-flow technique for evaluating network capacity that accommodates variable DGs was proposed to
offer a way to measure the impact of an active network management system on maximum permissible DGs capacity. In [17],
a new efficient solution method for optimal power-flow models
was used to assess network generation capacity under security
constraints.
Distinct from the aforementioned approaches for determining
the maximum allowable capacity of DGs connected to a distribution grid, the proposed DGA approach is designed to improve the efficiency of the current initial review process. That is,
the proposed approach is not designed for evaluating a specific
DGs interconnection case with given system topologies and operation conditions. On the contrary, the proposed approach is
designed for predetermining the range of the solution sets of
possible installed DG capacities and considering the feasible
ranges of the system parameters and operation conditions for
the entire or portions of distribution systems of a power utility.
The solution sets can be applied to deal with the initial review
process to speed up the screening process for most of DGs interconnection cases without the time-consuming power-flowbased system impact evaluations.
In recent years, possibilistic and probabilistic solution algorithms, such as the fuzzy multiobjective approach [18][20],
have been widely used to deal with the uncertainty problems
of distribution system operating states. However, after multiple
comparisons of performance of the tested optimal solution techniques, genetic algorithm (GA) has been adopted for predetermining the range of the solution sets of possible installed DG capacities. The GA has been extensively used in numerous fields
due to its flexibility and efficiency. There are many successful
applications, such as phase arrangement [21], economic dispatch [22], network reconfiguration [23], capacitor placement
[24], power-flow problems [25][27], and others.
This paper is organized as follows. Section II introduces the
factors affecting steady-state voltage deviations due to DGs interconnection, Section III presents the proposed algorithm for
finding the range of solution sets of maximum allowable DG
capacities, Section IV presents test cases and results to build
the relation between the maximum-allowable DG capacity and
the short-circuit capacity at the connection point of the DG, and
Section V introduces how to use the solution sets obtained by

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the DGA to an initial review process for the interconnection applications of DGs. In Section VI, a conclusion will be drawn.
II. FACTORS AFFECTING STEADY-STATE VOLTAGE DEVIATIONS
Even though the most rigorous way for determining the
steady-state voltage deviations of DG grid connections is
power-flow analysis, transparent evaluation methods for voltage
deviations are imperative. The existing deterministic approach
proposed in [6][9] is usually used to assess steady-state voltage
deviations due to DGs interconnection with the distribution
network. DG models are like other electric devices that have
steady-state and dynamic models. In this paper, the steady-state
DG model was adopted for evaluating the steady-state voltage
deviations due to a DG being connected to a distribution network.
In general, the major factors that affect steady-state voltage
deviations due to a DG interconnection can be classified into
two groups: 1) impedance-sensitive factors and 2) current-sensitive factors. The system short-circuit capacity, the X/R ratio
of equivalent impedance viewed into the high-voltage transmission network from the primary side of the substation transformer, the rated capacity of the substation transformer, the percent impedance of the substation transformer, the X/R ratio of
the substation transformer, the size of the feeder conductor, and
the length of the primary feeder belong to the impedance-sensitive factors.
The discrete loads along primary feeder, the power factors of
feeder loads, the distribution of discrete feeder loads, total loads
of other feeders supplied by the same substation transformer
with DGs, the power factor of the total loads of other feeders
supplied by the same substation, and the voltage level of the primary feeder are included in the current-sensitive factors. These
two kinds of factors have a more or less effect on voltage deviations, case by case. Besides, the major factors listed before,
the power factor of DGs is another critical factor that affects
steady-state voltage deviation due to a DG interconnected with
a distribution grid. Hence, the power factor of DGs is considered separate from other factors.
In general, the existing deterministic approaches [6][9] can
only consider the impedance-sensitive factors and two of the
current-sensitive factors, which are the loads on the primary
feeder and the power factor of feeder loads. In other words, the
existing deterministic approaches consider the short-circuit capacity at the point of DG connection and the total active and
reactive power consumptions of the feeder loads. Therefore, imprecision is not prevented in the evaluation results by applying
the existing deterministic approaches in some cases.
III. PROPOSED ALGORITHM
The existing deterministic approaches for the maximum-allowable DGs capacity cannot consider the uncertainties in the
actual network topologies and features, and the load states.
Therefore, an evaluation approach based on the dual genetic
algorithm (DGA) is adopted to predetermine the maximum-allowable DGs capacity according to the steady-state voltage
deviation limitation and the maximum continuous operation
current limitation (thermal limits of feeders and transformers).
The DGA is adopted to deal with the uncertainty problems of
distribution system operating states. The impedance-sensitive

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 26, NO. 2, APRIL 2011

factors and the current-sensitive factors should be taken into

account in finding the maximum-allowable DGs capacity.
A. DGA
The DGA is a further extension of a traditional single GA. It
is hard to take all of the uncertainties into account using a traditional single GA, owing to the complicated distribution system
operating states. Therefore, an improved GADGAis proposed to search for the maximum-allowable DGs capacity connected to a distribution grid under given voltage limitations and
a given power factor operating condition of the DGs.
The DGA is a search technique that imitates the evolution of
organisms to find exact or approximate solutions for optimization and search problems. In the DGA search method, the population sizes, and probabilities of crossover and mutation are set
up in the initial stage. The DGA randomly generates two populations that represent one of the system network topologies and
one of the load conditions, respectively.
The DGA can be subdivided into two GAs. In the first GA, the
chromosome is used to consider the affecting factors of topologies and parameters of the investigated system network. These
factors belong to the impedance-sensitive factors. In the second
GA, the chromosome is used to consider the factors due to the
operating status of system loads. These factors are parts of the
current-sensitive factors. These two GAs are combined with the
forward and backward sweep algorithm to search for optimal solutions. The optimal solutions for the maximum-allowable DGs
capacity are represented as the maximum-allowable DGs capacity versus the short-circuit capacity at the connection point
of the DG. Since the first GA can handle the uncertainties in the
system network topologies and features, the optimal solutions
for each of the system network topologies and features are represented by a curve, to correlate the maximum-allowable DGs
capacity with the short-circuit capacity at the connection point
of the DG. Moreover, since the second GA deals with the uncertainties in the states of system loads, the optimal solution for
each system loading condition is represented as a single result,
a dot, to correlate the maximum-allowable DGs capacity with
the short-circuit capacity at the connection point of the DG.
B. Genes and Chromosomes
In the problems defined before, each affecting factor can be
regarded as a gene, and a set that integrates all affecting factors
(i.e., the control variables, together can be regarded as a chromosome). In the first stage, the control variables of the first GA
consist of: 1) the system short-circuit capacity at the primary
side of the substation transformer (SSCC); 2) the voltage level
of the primary distribution network (VLP); 3) the X/R ratio of
equivalent impedance in the high-voltage transmission network
as viewed from the primary side of the substation transformer
(XREI); 4) the rated capacity of the substation transformer
(RCST); 5) the percent impedance of the substation transformer
(PIST); 6) the X/R ratio of the substation transformer (XRST);
7) the size of the primary feeder conductor (SPFC); and 8)
the length of the primary feeder (LPF). In the second stage,
the control variables of the second GA consist of: 1) the total
loads along the primary feeder (TLPF); 2) the power factors
of feeder loads (PFFL); 3) the distribution of discrete feeder
loads (DDFL); 4) total loads of other feeders supplied by the

Fig. 1. DGA chromosome structure.

same substation transformer (TLF); and 5) the power factor of

the total loads of other feeders supplied by the same substation
(PFTL). The chromosome of the DGA is formed as shown in
Fig. 1. There are two chromosome sets (the first one is for each
set of control variables related to the topologies and parameters of the system network, and the second one is for each
set of control variables related to the states of system loads).
Encoding is performed using different gene lengths for each set
of control variables, depending on the desired accuracy.
In this paper, the same parameters were applied to the first
and second GA. The parameters are as follows:
1) population size: 20;
2) elite count: 2;
3) crossover fraction: 0.8;
4) mutation rate: 0.1.
In the proposed DGA approach, the roulette wheel method
was adopted in the parent selection procedure. The uniform
crossover was used in the mating procedure. Each gene has an
equal chance of coming from either parent. The uniform mutations at multiple points were adopted in the mutation procedure.
Mutated genes are uniformly distributed over the range of the
gene.
C. Objective Function for the First GA
The first GA is used to consider the control variables related
to the topologies and parameters of the system network. The objective function related to chromosome can be expressed as (1).
The constraint (2) defines the feasible region of the steady-state
voltage deviations limits. The equality constraint (3) defines the
specified values of the power factor of the DGs. The inequality
constraint (4) defines the feasible regions of the operating control variables for the topologies and parameters of the system
network
Minimize

(1)
is the maximum-allowable DGs capacity
in which
at the interconnection point where the short-circuit capacity is

YANG AND CHEN: DGA-BASED APPROACH TO FAST SCREENING PROCESS FOR DG INTERCONNECTIONS

equal to
and
denote the weighting factors, and
1 or 0,
1 or 0, and
1. If
1 and
0, the objective function (1) is used to search the upper
0
limit curve of the maximum-allowable DGs capacity. If
1, the objective function is used to search the lower
and
limit curve of the maximum-allowable DGs capacity

853

E. Fitness Function of the First GA

Equation (9) is the fitness of the chromosome in the first GA
of the proposed algorithm

Subject to
(2)
(3)
(4)

(9)
Maximize

where
(10)

th chromosome;
th short-circuit capacity;

F. Fitness Function of the Second GA

upper bound of the constraint;

Equation (11) shows the fitness function of the chromosome

in the second GA of the proposed algorithm

lower bound of the constraint;

spec

specified value;

steady-state voltage deviation due to DGs

interconnection with the grid;

(11)
Maximize

power factor of DGs;

(12)

maximum-allowable DGs capacity;

short-circuit megavolt ampere at the
interconnected point of the DGs;

G. Maximum-Allowable DGs Capacity Calculation Algorithm

control variables related to the topologies and

parameters of the system network, as listed in the
preceding Section III-B.
D. Objective Function for the Second GA
The second GA is used to consider the states of system
loads. The objective function related to chromosome can be
expressed as (5). The constraint (6) is identical to the constraint
(2) used to define the feasible region of the steady-state voltage
deviation limits. The equality constraint (7) is identical to the
constraint (3) used to define the specified values of the power
factor of the DGs. The inequality constraint (8) defines the
feasible region of the states for the system loads
Minimize
(5)
and
The definitions of
the preceding section

are the same as those defined in

Subject to
(6)
(7)
(8)
in which is the control variables related to the states of system
loads, as listed in the preceding Section III-B

In the second GA, a MADCCA [10] is necessary for every

generation to search the maximum-allowable DGs capacity of
the individuals within the population. Fig. 2 shows the flowchart
of the maximum-allowable DGs capacity calculation. The maximum-allowable DGs capacity of a given connection point is
calculated by a pair of given voltage limits and a given power
factor of DGs. The bisection search method is used to calculate
the maximum-allowable DGs capacity.
is the maximum-allowIn this calculation procedure,
able DGs capacity at that point under the given conditions at the
th iteration,
denotes the estimated value of maximum-allowable DGs capacity by the existing deterministic approaches,
and represent the phase angle of the grid driving-point
impedance and the phase angle between the output voltage
and current of DGs, respectively. If the existing deterministic
approaches become invalid, a related larger value will be used
as the initial value of maximum-allowable DGs capacity. In
this paper, 15 MW is selected by considering the distribution
systems of Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).
H. Optimal Solution by DGA Method
A flowchart of the evaluation of maximum-allowable DGs
capacity connected to a distribution system by the DGA is illustrated in Fig. 3. In order to apply the DGA, converting the
data of system topologies and load states into a corresponding
gene model is necessary. The first step in execution of the application program is to input the feasible regions of the system
topologies and system load states. In the second step, the feasible regions of the system topologies and system load states
are translated into the corresponding gene model. In the third

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 26, NO. 2, APRIL 2011

Fig. 2. Flowchart of the MADCCA.

step, the sizes of the populations, and the probabilities of mutations and crossovers are set up. At the same time, the initial
populations of the DGA and their corresponding chromosome
strings are generated randomly. The propagating procedure will
last until generations meet the maximum generation limit and
the solution never changes in a designated number of generations. For applying the solution sets to a review process, a general form for formulating the results obtained by the proposed
DGA is required. Therefore, in the last step, the optimal results
(upper and lower limits) by the DGA are output by two polynomials of degree 3, as shown in (13) and (14). The selection
of degrees of the two polynomials depends on the accuracy and
precision required

(13)

(14)
Fig. 3. Flowchart of the proposed algorithm.

where
IV. TEST CASES AND RESULTS
upper limit of the solution sets by the DGA;
lower limit of the solution sets by the DGA;
coefficients of the third degree polynomials.

In this paper, all computer programs were developed by the

MATLAB R2006a software package and were run on a Windows XP-based PC with an AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200 .

YANG AND CHEN: DGA-BASED APPROACH TO FAST SCREENING PROCESS FOR DG INTERCONNECTIONS

To discuss the applications of the simulation results of the

DGA, the feasible ranges of system parameters in practical
Taipower distribution systems are listed as follows.
1) The system short-circuit capacities at the primary side of
the substation transformers are typically between 400 and
8000 MVA.
2) The voltage levels of the primary distribution network are
11.4 or 22.8 kV.
3) The X/R ratios of the equivalent impedance in the highvoltage transmission network as viewed from the primary
side of the substation transformer are typically between 6.0
and 6.5.
4) The rated capacities of the substation transformer are 12.5,
25, 30, or 60 MVA.
5) The percent impedances of the substation transformer are
typically from 5% to 15%.
6) The X/R ratios of the substation transformer are typically
between 10 and 20.
7) The circuits in the Taipower distribution systems typically have main feeders of 5 to 20 km in length with
various three-phase and single-phase branches from the
three-phase feeder main. Moreover, in the program, the
length of each line segment of this radial-type feeder is
generated randomly.
8) The feeder conductors in the Taipower distribution system
are 477 AAC overhead lines or 500 MCM underground
and
cables, with unit length impedances of
/km, respectively.
9) The total loads of a given feeder are between 600 kW and
3 MW in 11.4-kV distribution systems, and are between
1.2 and 6 MW in 22.8-kV distribution systems. The power
factors of all loads are assumed to be between 0.8 lagging
and unity.
10) The total loads of other feeders supplied by the same substation transformer are between 2 and 9 MW in 11.4-kV
distribution systems, and are between 4.8 and 24 MW in
22.8-kV distribution systems. They are represented by a
lumped load connected to the bus of the secondary side of
the substation transformer. The power factor of this lumped
load is assumed to be unity because the power factor is
mostly corrected to near unity in Taipower distribution systems. In the search process, the loads on the primary feeder,
the power factors of the feeder loads, and the distribution
of discrete feeder loads are generated randomly. In other
words, the number of discrete feeder loads and the ratio of
each discrete feeder load to the total load along the primary
feeder are generated randomly.
Power utilities that are willing to apply the proposed algorithm should set up their own system parameters and operation
conditions like those listed before.
Fig. 4 illustrates the solution sets of the maximum-allowable
DGs capacity connected to a distribution system by the DGA.
The DGs are assumed to operate at unity power factor and the
steady-state voltage deviations due to DGs are limited to 2.5%,
as a percentage of the nominal voltage. Fig. 4 indicates that the
maximum permissible DGs capacity versus the short-circuit capacity at the connection point of DG is not unique. The maximum-allowable capacities of DGs are determined by the actual

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Fig. 4. Evaluation results of maximum-allowable DGs capacity connected to a

: :
1.0 and % 2.5%).
distribution system by the DGA (

DG P F =

d =

Fig. 5. Maximum-allowable DGs capacity versus short-circuit capacity at the

connection point of DG (
: :
1.0 and % 2.5%).

DG P F =

d =

network topologies and features, as well as the load conditions.

Generally, the maximum-allowable capacities of DGs to be installed are restricted by the limitation of steady-state voltage
deviation ruled by interconnection codes and maximum continuous operation current of the feeder according to the network
topology and feature.
To perform fast screening for the interconnection applications
of DGs, Fig. 4 is redrawn as Fig. 5. In the same way, Figs. 6 and
7 show the case that the DGs operate at a power factor of 0.95
leading and 0.85 lagging, respectively. The solution sets of the
maximum-allowable DGs capacity connected to a distribution
system by the DGA, shown in Figs. 57, can be distinguished
into four regions.
1) Region I: If the reviewed cases are located above the upper
limit curve and below the maximum continuous operation
limit line, the steady-state voltage deviations due to DGs
will be greater than the specified steady-state voltage variation limitations of 2.5%. However, the operation currents

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TABLE I
COEFFICIENTS OF THIRD DEGREE POLYNOMIALS BY SOLUTION SETS OF THE
DGA WITH VARIOUS POWER FACTORS OF DGS

Fig. 6. Maximum-allowable DGs capacity versus short-circuit capacity at the

: :
0.95 leading and % 2.5%).
connection point of DG (

DG P F =

d =

Fig. 7. Maximum-allowable DGs capacity versus short-circuit capacity at the

: :
0.85 lagging and % 2.5%).
connection point of DG (

DG P F =

d =

due to the DGs may fit the maximum continuous operation

limitation.
2) Region II: If the reviewed cases are located between the
lower and upper limit curves, and below the maximum continuous operation limit line, the operation currents due to
DGs may fit the maximum continuous operation limitation. However, the steady-state voltage deviations due to
the DGs cannot be determined by the curves because they
may vary with the actual network topologies and features
as well as the load conditions. Therefore, if the case is located in this region, supplementary review is required.
3) Region III: If the reviewed cases are located below the
lower limit curve and the maximum continuous operation
limit line, the steady-state voltage deviations due to the
DGs should be limited to 2.5%, and the operation currents due to the DGs should also fit the maximum continuous operation limitation. That is, a case located in this

region will pass the screening criteria of the steady-state

voltage deviation limitation and the maximum continuous
operation current limitation in the fast screening of the application of interconnected DGs to a distribution network.
4) Region IV: If the reviewed cases are located above the maximum continuous operation limit line, the operation currents due to the DGs will not satisfy the maximum continuous operation limitation nor the security limit, and will not
be allowed to be interconnected to the distribution system.
The upper and lower limit curves of the solution sets by the
DGA can be represented as (13) and (14). For the specific conditions of a typical Taipower distribution system described before,
the coefficients of the third degree polynomials of the solution
sets obtained by the proposed DGA with various power factors
of DGs are shown in Table I.
The developed application figures relate the short-circuit capacity at the connection point of DG, power factor of DGs, limitation of the steady-state voltage deviation, and maximum-allowable DGs capacity. Hence, in the initial review process, the
utility engineer just needs to employ the right application figure
for the given interconnection case and then the interconnection review can be decided simply for most DG interconnection
cases.
V. APPLICATIONS
In this paper, the DGA-based approach is proposed to fast
screen an application for interconnection of DGs to a distribution grid in a review process. If the reviewed case is located
below the lower limit curve obtained by the DGA, it will pass
the reviewing process in a very short time period. In contrast,
if the reviewed case is located above the upper limit curve obtained by the DGA, it will fail to pass the reviewing process. If
the reviewed case is located between the lower and upper limit
curves, supplementary reviews or studies are required to determine whether the DGs of interest can or cannot be interconnected with a distribution system.
In order to demonstrate the validity of the solution sets obtained by the proposed DGA under the specific conditions of a
typical Taipower distribution system described before, a practical Taipower distribution system, shown in Fig. 8, is adopted
as a sample system.
In this sample system, the short-circuit capacity at the primary
side of the substation transformer is 780 MVA. The voltage level

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TABLE III
MAXIMUM-ALLOWABLE DGS CAPACITY OBTAINED BY THE DGA WITH
VARIOUS POWER FACTORS OF DGS

TABLE IV
MAXIMUM-ALLOWABLE DGS CAPACITY OBTAINED BY EXTREME VALUES
DETERMINISTIC POWER-FLOW ANALYSIS WITH VARIOUS POWER FACTORS
OF DGS

Fig. 8. Practical Taipower distribution system.

TABLE II
DISTRIBUTIONS OF DISCRETE LOADS FOR A PRACTICAL TAIPOWER
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

of the primary distribution network is 11.4 kV. The rated capacity of the substation transformer is 25 MVA. The longest
length of the main feeder is 8.95 km. The main feeder conductors are 477 AAC overhead lines. The distributions of discrete
load demands for this practical Taipower distribution system are
shown in Table II. The total load of other feeders supplied by the
same substation transformer is represented as a lumped load between 2.36 and 8 MW. The total load of the feeder of interest is
between 700 kW and 2.22 MW.
The system parameters and operation conditions of this
sample system are all within the corresponding ranges of the
predetermined data for typical Taipower distribution systems
listed in Section IV. Thus, the curves shown in Figs. 57 and

Table I can be applied for fast screening of an interconnection

application of DGs. Three cases are used to demonstrate the
validity of the solution sets obtained by the proposed DGA.
The DGs is connected to Bus A17, A11, and A7 in Cases
13, respectively. And the short-circuit MVA at the connection points of DG is 30, 48, and 68 MVA, respectively. From
Figs. 57, or Table I, the upper and lower limits of maximum-allowable DGs capacities can be obtained as shown in
Table III. According to the given limitation of 2.5% of the
steady-state voltage deviations ruled by local interconnection
codes, the maximum-allowable DGs capacities connected to
this sample system obtained by the extreme values deterministic
power-flow analysis are shown in Table IV for comparison.
The results of all cases evaluated by the extreme values deterministic power-flow analysis are located between the upper and
lower limit curves obtained by the proposed DGA. That is, when
the system parameters and operation conditions of the interconnection cases are all within the predetermined ranges given by
a utility, the solution sets obtained by the proposed DGA can
cover most interconnection cases in their own distribution systems. It should be noted that the coverage and accuracy of the
solution sets obtained by the DGA depend on the predetermined
ranges of system parameters and operation conditions. That is,
the wider the ranges of system parameters and operation conditions given, the larger the range of Region II, which is the undetermined region, obtained. Therefore, if the solution sets obtained by the proposed DGA can cover most application cases of
DG interconnection and are within reasonable ranges, the time
for the reviewing process will be reduced substantially.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a DGA-based approach to evaluate the maximum-allowable DGs capacity was presented. The DGA solution technique is adopted to deal with the uncertainty problems
of distribution system operating states. The proposed approach
is designed for predetermining the range of the solution sets of
possible installed DG capacities and considering the feasible

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 26, NO. 2, APRIL 2011

ranges of the system parameters and operation conditions for

the entire or portions of distribution systems of a power utility.
One or more solution sets of the upper and lower limit curves
obtained by the DGA can be applied to deal with the initial review process to speed up the screening process for most DGs
interconnection cases without the time-consuming power-flowbased system impact evaluations. The proposed methodology
and results of this paper are of value to improve the reviewing
efficiency of applications for DG interconnection.
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Nien-Che Yang (M09) was born in Taiwan on July

20, 1977. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National Taiwan
University of Science and Technology, Taipei,
Taiwan, in 2002, 2004, and 2010, respectively.
His research interests include three-phase powerflow analysis, distributed generation system operation and analysis, interconnection evaluation studies
of distributed generations, feeder automation and
energy-loss computation in low-voltage networks, as
well as microgrid and electric vehicles.
Dr. Yang is a member of the Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society.

Tsai-Hsiang Chen was born in Taiwan on March 15,

1953. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University
of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, in 1980
and 1982, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1990.
Since 1982, he has been on the faculty of National
Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and is
now a Professor of Electrical Engineering. Currently,
his research interests include power system modeling
and simulation, energy conservation, distribution-management systems, microgrid, and electric vehicles.