Analysing the effect of decentralised low-voltage control by grid calculation

Grid-oriented control of flexible consumers is being explored in Germany and other countries to alleviate grid strain. This paper proposes a decentralised, grid-oriented control method for flexible consumers, such as heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points, using the local voltage to estimate grid conditions. The approach is implemented within a simulation environment to map higher penetrations of controlled consumers and thus analyse the grid reaction more precisely than possible in the field test. The decentralised concept is implemented into a simulation environment, a Python-based simulation with Pandapower, to project general findings from the field test. This simulation models the impact on the grid by simulating load responses to dimming, blocking signals, and re-enabling. For this purpose, uncontrolled, decentralised on / off, decentralised stepwise and centralised applied uniformly across the local grid variant are compared. The results, using an exemplary grid, show that the effects of the intervention on the controllable loads are minor. However, the findings highlight the importance of considering the catch-up effect when loads are switched back on, as this can generate new load peaks, regardless of the control strategy employed.