Profitable, Plug and Play Dispersed Generation: The Future?

By Roald de Graaf and Johan Enslin

Historically, each generation of power plants has tended to be larger than its predecessor. In the 1980s, however, the size of newly constructed generating units began to decrease. The relatively small new generating units are usually connected to distribution networks, which are not designed to host power generators. It is expected that distributed generation (DG) will transform distribution networks in the future. This paper discusses the opportunities offered by DG, but also the consequences of increased DG penetration and elaborates on some of the steps to be taken to facilitate further growth. It is concluded that for a further increase of DG penetration two key issues need to be resolved: new business models need to be developed and implemented and interconnection standards for power and data interfaces need to be further developed and harmonised.