Development of Planning and Operation Guidelines for Strategic Grid Planning of Urban Low-Voltage Grids with a New Supply Task

Abstract

In contrast to rural distribution grids, which are mostly “feed-in oriented” in terms of electrical power, urban distribution grids are “load oriented”, as the number of customer connections and density of loads in urban areas is significantly higher than in rural areas. Taking into account the progressive electrification of the transport and heating sector, it is necessary to assess the required grid optimization or expansion measures from a conventional, as well as an innovative point of view. This is necessary in order to be able to contain the enormous investment volumes needed for transforming the energy system and aligning the infrastructures to their future requirements in time. Therefore, this article first explains the methodological approach of allocating scenarios of the development of electric mobility and heat pumps to analyzed grids. The article continues with describing which power values need to be applied and which conventional and innovative planning measures are available for avoiding voltage band violations and equipment overloads within the framework of strategic grid planning. Subsequently, the results of grid planning studies are outlined and evaluated with an assessment model that evaluates capital as well as operational costs. On this basis, planning and operation guidelines for urban low-voltage grids are derived. The main result is that low-voltage grids can accommodate charging infrastructure for electric mobility, as well as heat pumps to a certain degree. In addition, it is concluded that conventional planning measures are not completely avoidable, but can be partially avoided or deferred through dynamic load management.

Keywords

• charging infrastructure
• grid planning
• heat pumps
• load management
• low-voltage
• planning and operation guidelines