Distributed Power Generation: Technology, Economics, Environment

Abstract

Tr aditi on all y , econ omies of sca le in elect r ic ge ne r a tio n and
t r a n smis sion a nd di stributi on ga ve ri se to th e ve rtica lly int egr at ed
electr ic ut ilit y. Today th ough , new gene r ating ca pac ity is av a ila ble
fr om sm all sca le dis pe rse d plan t s cap abl e not on ly of sa tisfying p ar-
ticular localized load s but al so of displ a cin g ge nera ti ng cap a city fr om
th e cent r al s tat ion a nd of min imiz in g th e n eed for exte n sion a n d
upgr ad es of th e deliv er y cap abilities of th e int egr at ed n et work. Th ese
sma ll sca le disp er sed plant s a re r eferr ed to as Distributed Genera-
tion .
Di stribut ed Gen erat ion is a ny s ma ll sca le modul ar gene r at ion
technology t ha t is sit ua te d wit h in a ut ility's se rvice a rea and is u su-
all y int erc onn ected to th e tr an smi ssion or di st ributi on sys te m . Figur e
1 illu str at es th e placem ent of disp er sed gene ra tion facilities wit h in
th e ex ist ing util ity net work . La rger gene rato rs serv e in ut ilit y a ppli-
catio n s along th e tr an smi ssion syst em or th e subt ra ns miss ion sys te m .
Th e tran sm ission a nd subt ra ns miss ion sys t ems a re used for di strib -
uting electr ic ene rgy in bulk .
Pl a cem ent may al so be wi th ultimat e cons u me rs alo ng th e
subt r a ns miss ion sys te m . M edium sized gene ra to rs a re pla ced a long
th e subt r ans mission level or th e pri ma ry feed er level. Th e prim ar y
feed er is bet ween a subs tat ion , or ot her po int of supply, an d di stribu-
t ion tr an sform ers . V er y s ma ll gene rato rs a re placed a long t he seco nd-
ary feed er level. Th e seconda ry feeder level is a syste m wh ich con -
n ect s di str ibu tion tr an sform er s to cu st om er s.