Development of a network curtailment assessment tool to accelerate connection of distributed energy resources

For electricity network operators, the challenge of accommodating a high penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) is resulting in higher network utilisation, more dynamic and volatile power flows, more complex distribution planning and operation, and increasing whole system interactivity, often beyond what the network and operation systems were designed for. Enabling DER connections in a cost-effective and timely manner must be balanced with the limitations on access to networks, avoiding costly and time-consuming network reinforcements where possible. To achieve that, this paper presents a Constraint Identification and Curtailment Assessment Tool (CItCAT) that can efficiently support connection designs and future exploratory network analysis for complex networks. It provides a means to understand the level of risk to a network of accommodating flexible connections and provides customers with high value information to justify investment decisions. The development, user journey and benefits from deploying this tool are discussed in this paper.