Reference Voltage Adjustment Strategies for Dynamic Voltage Compensator

Modern electrical distribution networks are prone to more severe voltage fluctuations due to the presence of variable loads such as electric vehicles and renewable energy generation units. These fluctuations decrease both the quality of power and the hosting capability of the grid. In such a condition, a Dynamic Voltage Compensator (DVC) can be used to stabilize the voltage of the LV networks. DVC is generally designed to resolve voltage fluctuations reflected from MV systems maintaining the voltage on a constant value. However, it will more effectively improve the voltage quality in the grid if the reference voltage is dynamically adjusted based on measurements inside the LV system. On the other hand, the more complex measurement and coordination strategy may lead to the inapplicability of the methods. Hence, voltage reference adjustment strategies should be developed to conform to the availability of data and measurements inside the grid. Accordingly, in this paper, novel voltage reference adjustment strategies have been developed for DVC based on the measurements at the installation point of the device. In order to examine the proposed methods, they are applied to an LV grid with real measured data and the results are discussed. Based on the provided simulation results, the developed dynamic reference voltage adjustment strategies can successfully improve the quality of voltage and improve the hosting capacity of the LV network.