Optimization for Non-Firm Capacity Contracts for Maximized Grid Utilization

With the increasing integration of renewable energy resources and rising demand, distribution system operators (DSOs) are encountering significant challenges in providing new capacity contracts. This is primarily due to congestion in distribution networks, leading to long waiting lists for customers. In response to these challenges, this paper introduces a method for effective congestion management, aligning with the new regulatory framework in the Netherlands that proposes non-firm capacity contracts for new customer connections. The paper employs a second-order cone programming-based optimization framework to tackle these issues. Initially, we formulate an optimization problem to determine non-firm capacity limits by minimizing the cost of curtailment for the DSO. Subsequently, a second optimization problem focuses on maximizing grid utilization by identifying the maximum load that the distribution networks can support. The proposed method is tested on the IEEE 33-node test feeder under various simulation scenarios. The results indicate that the new capacity limits effectively prevent congestion and enhance grid utilization by calculating the additional loads that can be connected to different nodes of the feeder.