Key performance indicators for RES integration in LV distribution networks

The accelerated development of renewable energy sources (RES) technology and their enhanced integration into the low voltage (LV) distribution network require changes in the network operational procedures. New technologies like smart inverters developed within EU FP7 project INCREASE have been developed in order to help the Distribution System Operators (DSO) in keeping the network parameters within the operational limits. On the transmission level standard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been in use for years in order to assess the benefits and the added value of new controls and technologies. Due to the different network characteristic of the LV distribution networks and different control problems to be solved, those KPIs are inadequate to assess the impact of new technologies in distribution network. In the paper, a set of modified KPIs for assessing the impact of newly developed controls in the LV distribution network are presented, as developed in the INCREASE project.