Voltage Var Control for Distributed Management System

The presentation gives a short introduction in the field of Distribution Management System (DMS) and one of its core applications called Voltage Var Control (VVC). VVC helps for example to improve voltage profiles in the distribution network, to correct power factors, to remove too high line loadings, to reduce power losses orto optimize reactive power flow in the network. It is commonly formulated as an optimization problem with different goal functions like for example minimization of power losses or minimization of reactive power flow under consideration of limits on control and state variables. Control variables are transformer tap positions, capacitor banks or distribution generators. Depending on the choice of the goal function, VVC gets solved by the steepest gradient method or by means of linear, nonlinear, mixed-integer linear or mixed-integer nonlinear approaches. VVC is getting very important for Distribution Management System due to developments on the energy market like growing distribution networks (mega cities), growing demand for affordable (renewable) energy, need for stability and reliability of energy delivery and last but not least for evolving smart grids. This is why a real-time capable, robust and as far as possible optimal VVC solution will be of great interest for energy distribution utilities.