Welcome to Distributed Generation and Sustainable Electrical Energy Centre

The Centre for Sustainable Electricity and Distributed Generation is a collaborative venture building on extensive on-going research at Imperial College London,The University of Cardiff and Strathclyde University and funded by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). The Centre undertakes a range of research projects to bridge the gap between academic research and the needs of industry to work towards meeting the 2020 targets on renewable energy for the UK. Its focus is on providing fundamental research aimed at achieving cost effective integration of renewable generation and Distributed Generation (DG) into operation and development of the UK electricity system. The Centre investigates the technical and economic performance of transmission and active distribution networks and as well as the devices and systems that are connected to them with a view to develop and evaluate new concepts and solutions using software simulation or hardware testing as appropriate.

The summary report on Benefits of Advanced Smart Metering for Demand Response based Control of Distribution Networks is available on this website - April 2010 (please visit 'Publications').

The summary report on Cost Benefit Methodology for Optimal Design of Offshore Transmission Systems is available on this website - July 2008 (please visit 'Publications').

The summary report on Transmission Investment, Access and Pricing in Systems with Wind Generation is available on this website - Feb 2007 (please visit 'Publications').

The summary report on Integration of Distributed Generation into the UK Power System is available on this website - Mar 2007 (please visit 'Publications').

The summary report on Framework for development of enduring UK transmission access arrangements is available on this website - July 2007 (please visit 'Publications').

The International Workshop on Transmission access, Investment and Pricing is available on this website - October 2007 (please visit 'Events').

United Kingdom Generic Distribution System Phase Two

The UK Generic Distribution System (UKGDS) project was one of the initial projects in the Centre. Phase Two of the project will consolidate the achievements of Phase One by overseeing the rollout and initial use of the UKGDS resource and extending it in response to feedback. This will include providing support to other projects within the Centre through the provision of generic test and demonstration platforms.For UKGDS website please click the link below:

United Kingdom Generic Distribution System Resources

Operation of Active Distribution Networks

The expansion of distributed generation will necessitate the development of more active distribution networks. The planning and design of such systems is being explored in a complementary project within the Centre. This project will focus on the operation of active distribution networks by specifying novel network scenarios and event schedules that will characterise potential problems in active distribution networks. From an analysis of these scenarios, the project will review the tools currently available within Distribution Management System (DMS) and Energy Management System (EMS) offerings, determine the requirements for new tools, and thereby deliver a timely assessment of the implications of active networks on operations.

Planning of Active Distribution Networks

Assessing alternative reinforcement options in active distribution networks requires co-ordination of network investment (such as circuit reinforcement and reactive support) and operation over a wide range of system conditions. Development of active distribution networks will require balancing of expected costs, calculated over a horizon of a few years, that correspond to a trade off between: (i) annuitised cost of network reinforcement; (ii) annuitised investment costs of new compensation facilities, including costs of contracts for voltage and flow regulation services delivered by generators; (iii) costs associated with constraining generators to keep network voltages and flows within allowable limits; and (iv) costs of losses. It should be noted that these mutually interrelated decisions can correspond to different time frames: long term investment decisions and contractual arrangements active over the whole period under consideration; and short term preventive and corrective real time control of generators and other network control facilities. Therefore, a major challenge addressed in this project is to investigate and establish a methodology that co-ordinates the long term investment and contractual commitments with the short term voltage and flow driven constraint costs utilising available active and reactive controls.

Control of Doubly Fed Induction Generators for Wind-Farm Operation

For a wind farm to be connected onto the network, it must comply with the Grid Code and possess the capability of contributing to network support (e.g. dynamic voltage and frequency regulation, damping of system oscillations etc.). Work carried out in Year I has indicated that with appropriate control strategies Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG)-based wind farms can actively contribute to network voltage support, damping and contribute to frequency regulation. In Year II, DFIG control capabilities were further developed and the ways in which wind farms can be integrated and contribute to network operation were more fully explored. Additional investigations will be conducted to determine the impact of wind farms on the power network dynamic and transient stability.

Novel Protection Methods for Active Distribution Networks with High Penetrations of Distributed Generation Year II
DGSEE Protection Report Year - II

The underlying guiding force of this work is to provide a continuing support to the power industry in terms of integration of large amounts of renewable energy sources into existing distribution networks. It is evident that originally passive radial distribution systems have not been designed to cope with sizable DG penetration levels. In particular, existing protection schemes for distribution networks are challenged by the presence of DG. The current project follows directly from the initial 9-month programme of work, which provided a realistic assessment of the solution gaps and major issues associated with distribution system protection in the UK. The three issues that appear most pressing within the 2010 time perspective are: loss-of-mains (LoM) detection; protection discrimination; and protection methods and practices for islanded operation. The principal aim of the second phase of the project is to “close the gaps” in protection system architectures by proposing novel solutions in these areas.