Capability of traditional radial LV distribution design to accommodate LEM trading volumes

Determine whether radially operated low-voltage distribution feeders planned under worst-case peak loading and an N-1 redundancy criterion can cope with Local Energy Market trading volumes arising from distributed energy resources connected to the low-voltage network.

Background

The paper explains that contemporary distribution grids are typically radially operated and planned under an N-1 redundancy criterion to support worst-case upstream loading, which may lead to over-dimensioned infrastructure. With Local Energy Markets encouraging higher participation of distributed energy resources at the low-voltage level, the authors highlight uncertainty about whether this traditional design can handle the volumes of trading and associated power flows.

This uncertainty motivates a need to assess the adequacy of existing radial LV feeder planning assumptions when confronted with LEM-driven DER injections and bi-directional flows, and to evaluate if reliability and operational limits can be maintained.