INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF SUPPLY IN FUTURE ELECTRICITY NETWORKS

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Traditional assessment of quality of supply is based on the results of several independent studies, in which analysis of system performance is usually performed separately from the analysis of end-user performance. This approach requires additional analytical and computational efforts, as the outputs of these studies have to be post-processed and combined before the overall quality of supply can be assessed. Being modular in nature, traditional quality of supply assessment is also often partial.This first-grant Project introduces a major change to traditional quality of supply assessment. It proposes a generalised framework for the successful integration of reliability, power quality, security and other relevant aspects of quality of supply analysis in an all-inclusive methodology, capable of assessing both system and end-user performance. The proposed research goes beyond a simple integration, and formulates two important additional requirements for this generalised framework. The first one is that the proposed methodology should be fully applicable in future electricity networks, while the second requires inclusion of economic assessment in the quality of supply analysis.In order to be fully applicable in future electricity networks, the proposed methodology requires integration of key elements of the dynamic analysis of generation, system and load contributions to the overall quality of supply performance in an improved numerical simulation model that can accurately resolve sub-second/sub-cycle responses. This is a necessary prerequisite, because existing component models and system simulation procedures cannot be directly used for correct analysis of substantially higher levels of dynamic interactions in future flexible and actively controlled networks, with high penetration of distributed generation, wide implementation of demand side management and application of highly efficient, intelligent and automated control, monitoring, protection and communication infrastructures.The expected outcome of the proposed research is a set of new indices and performance indicators, which will be able to quantify any improvement or deterioration of quality of supply performance due to, for example, a change in system configuration, installation of new components or upgrading of the old ones, or application of new automation/control functionality. This will allow direct correlation of achieved benefits with the known or estimated costs of each applied measure or action. In that way, a more accurate cost-benefit analysis and economic assessment, benchmarking and validation of the overall system and end-user quality of supply performance will be included in the analysis. Besides being essential for promoting true competitiveness and correct regulator policies, improved cost-benefit evaluation tools will allow economic appraisal of planned changes and help in allocating more accurate value to each system and end-user owned or provided asset, function or service.At the final stage of research, specific application procedures of the proposed general quality of supply assessment methodology will be developed. These will include procedures for tracking the underlying causes of variance in actual quality of supply levels and balancing the performances of average and worst served users, improved techniques for correlated disaggregation of system indices, and various custom-tailored routines for practical benchmarking and contractual purposes. The analysis will include more detailed guidelines for the implementation of key aspects of the proposed methodology in different network configurations, with different distributed generation penetration levels and different control strategies, or for particular end-users and load sectors. Specific applications of cost-benefit analysis will include assessment of influence of actual or required quality of supply levels on revenue cap regulation, tariff adjustment and system or end-users investments.