For a long time, the planning of power systems has considered technical and economic aspects related to Supply Side Management. Given that this traditional planning approach is not very flexible, and due to new technological trends like the adoption of smart grids, it has become necessary for demand to play an active role in the operation of power systems. This raises the need to implement a new process for power system planning, focusing on technologies such as microgrids with Demand Side Management, which contribute to the sustainable development of communities. In this paper, a comprehensive review of microgrid planning, considering energy end‐user participation through Demand Response, is carried out. In addition, the main features and implications of Demand Response programs in microgrid planning are presented. As a contribution, in order to trigger a paradigm shift on how power systems are planned, the benefits of bottom‐up microgrid planning are presented.

In this paper the results of audible noise measurements to ten no-load distribution transformers are presented using the sound pressure method. The tests were done in the Audible Noise Laboratory of Universidad del Valle, according to the requirements described in the Colombian Technical Standard NTC 5979. The tests allowed to verify the conformity of the product in respect with the audible noise limits established in the Colombian Technical Standard NCT 5978. In addition, it was possible to identify the effect of noise emissions of two transformers when making variations of voltage in the power source. It was found that the noise level emitted by the transformers under test is considerably lower than the limits established in the standard and it is significantly affected by the voltage of the source supply.

The reliability of the power grid is a constant problem faced by those who operate, plan and study power systems. An alternative approach to this problem, and others related to the integration of renewable energy sources, is the microgrid. This research seeks to quantify the potential benefits of urban community microgrids, based on the development of planning models with deterministic and stochastic optimization approaches. The models ensure that supply meets demand whilst assuring the minimum cost of investment and operation. To verify their effectiveness, the planning of hundreds of microgrids was set in the city of Santiago de Chile. The most important results highlight the value of community association, such as: a reduction in investment cost of up to 35%, when community microgrids are planned with a desired level of reliability, compared to single residential household microgrids. This reduction is due to the diversity of energy consumption, which can represent around 20%, on average, of cost reduction, and to the Economies of Scale (EoS) present in the aggregation microgrid asset capacity, which can represent close to 15% of the additional reduction in investment costs. The stochastic planning approach also ensures that a community can prepare for different fault scenarios in the power grid. Furthermore, it was found that for approximately 90% of the planned microgrids with reliability requirements, the deterministic solution for the worst three fault scenarios is equivalent to the solution of the stochastic planning problem.

En este trabajo se presenta un modelo conceptual para la concepción técnica de micro-redes, aplicado a un caso de estudio en Colombia. El modelo considera aspectos como: el levantamiento de la topología del sistema eléctrico, la preselección de tecnologías de generación, la priorización de la demanda eléctrica, localización de generadores distribuidos por medio del Índice de Estabilidad de voltaje SI (Stability Index), dimensionamiento y estrategias de operación de generadores distribuidos, modelo de componentes y evaluación del desempeño de la micro-red en aspectos como: perfil de tensión de los nodos y gestión óptima de potencia de la micro-red. El modelo conceptual desarrollado fue aplicado a un caso de estudio para la región del Valle del Cauca, Colombia, la cual presenta áreas urbanas y agroindustriales adecuadas para la investigación. Se utilizó la herramienta computacional de análisis de sistemas de potencia Neplan® para la evaluación del desempeño en estado estable de la micro-red.Palabras clave: Gestión óptima de potencia, índice IREG, índice SI, micro-red, recursos energéticos distribuidos.

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