Case Study: LV Management with SA Power Networks

The project investigated a range of strategies which SA Power Networks could employ to respond to future challenges on the LV network. EA Technology identified the following management strategies to cater for the uptake of DER:

• Static limits – allocating a static maximum export limit to each new DER owner.
• The dynamic template model – understanding where capacity might be exceeded and issuing export limits based on representative network.
• The fully dynamic model – understanding where capacity might be exceeded and issuing export limits based on full network model.
• Network augmentation – increases the hosting capacity on constrained circuits by upgrading network infrastructure.

After identifying representative LV circuits, EA Technology performed detailed power flow analysis to determine the DER hosting capacity of these circuits. Using the Transform Model, EA Technology’s proprietary techno-economic modelling tool, the financial value of each of these strategies to SA Power Network’s customers was assessed by investigating the cost to implement each strategy against the value created to the general mass of customers by avoiding DER curtailment caused by LV network limitations. Different growth scenarios were created, and net costs and investment regret was assessed to decide upon the final best approach.

It was found that the Dynamic Templates approach could achieve tens, or in some cases, hundreds of millions in customer savings over 15 years compared to the static limits strategy.

This approach clearly allowed SA Power Networks to understand which of the possible strategies delivered the best value moving forward and represented least overall cost to both the network (augmentation expenditure) and the customer (energy curtailed).

SA Power Networks could then use the modelling outputs to communicate with customers about the options for investment going forward and to get their input and support their business plan.

SA Power Networks were also able to gain full support of their regulator AER and their full funds request granted as AER believed that the modelling work performed by EA Technology provided robust evidence.

An extract from their determination states:

EA Technology have vast experience in LV network solutions. Here are some of our key expertise:

Other relevant projects we have worked on: