Integrating Direct and Indirect Load Control for Congestion Management in LV Networks

With the energy transition, capacity challenges are expected to occur more frequently in low-voltage (LV) distribution networks. In the literature, several direct and indirect load control methods have been suggested as solutions to alleviate network congestion. Direct methods involve the network operator directly controlling appliances at the households, while indirect methods aim to motivate end-users to shift their consumption through price changes. In this paper, the direct and indirect methods are combined into an integrated approach, making use of the advantages of both methods. An agent-based architecture is adopted so that distributed and computational intelligence can be combined to ensure a smooth coordination among the actors. A sensitivity-based curtailment scheme is used to incorporate the unbalanced loading condition of the LV networks. The efficiency of the proposed integrated approach is investigated through simulations in the unbalanced IEEE European LV test feeder. Simulation results reveal up to 94% reduction in congestion by the integrated approach, while maintaining the required levels of supply in the network.