Avaliação dos impactos da geração distribuída para proteção do sistema elétrico

Abstract

In a scenario which energy demand is increasing and environmental and financial issues pose a sort of predicament to the feasibility of large enterprises, a remarkable role is played by generating units connected with distribution or transmission systems which is called Distributed Generation, or DG. Amongst the advantages offered by DistributedGeneration are, for instance, reducing the transport of energy and thus, the reduction of electrical losses as well as the need for investments to meet new loads requirements. Governmental incentives towards this new model and the elaboration of new laws that recognize the role of the independent power producer ensuring free access to the system, granta major increase in the participation of Distributed Generation units in the Brazilian energy market. PROINFA, which stands for Incentive for Alternative Sources of Electric Energy Program, alone, aims to incorporate 3,300 MW into the National Integrated Power Systemfrom Distributed Generation. This shift may significantly modify the performance of the utilities schemes and protection equipment, requiring that new measures are adopted to ensure its proper operation.It is worth mentioning that the determination of such measures is quite challenging, since it takes into account the premise that the DG connection should not be discontinued, and also that the consumers should not struggle with such a burden. In this context, the aim of this dissertation is to assess, from the perspective of protecting the distribution system of 161 to 13,8 kV, how the DG connects to the system,listing the main impacts and solutions posed by it as well as the requirements adopted by distributors to mitigate such consequences.