evolve DER Project

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The evolve DER project aims to increase the network hosting capacity of distributed energy resources (DER) by maximising their participation in energy, ancillary and network service markets, while ensuring the secure technical limits of the electricity networks are not breached.Key resultsBased on 2020 data, the study found that 51% of consumers with solar on the two LV substations studied exceeded the hosting capacity limits.Using physical curtailment based on the hosting capacity value would reduce total generation export at the transformer by 15-20%. Such a radical reduction in generation output highlights the very conservative restrictions that result from fixed physical curtailment.Using operating envelopes allows achieving an increase in the net energy export through each transformer and reduces energy export loss due to fixed curtailment.Both monthly and 30-minute dynamic operating envelopes result in greater energy export than fixed curtailment, whilst still ensuring that physical and operational network limits are not breached. Thirty-minute dynamic operating envelopes unlock greater energy export than monthly dynamic operating envelopes.One of the main advantages of dynamic operating envelopes is that they do not limit the allowed size of the installed solar PV. Using this feature of DOEs, a customer may install a large solar PV system, taking advantage of the extra solar generated throughout the day by ‘filling’ the dynamic operating envelope.

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