Flat tariff has always been the default condition for residential customers in Italy and only starting from July, 1st 2010, the Italian Authority for Electricity and Gas (AEEG) approved the entry into force of a mandatory time-of-use (ToU) tariff at two-part rate periods. In order to assess the impact of the tariff in the short and medium term among Italian customers, R.S.E. has started a research project on residential loads and demand, in collaboration and under the patronage of AEEG. The results of such analysis show that, even if there has been a limited shift of consumptions from peak hours to off-peak hours, the change in the behavior of the users is not negligible. Particular attention has been paid to the possible causes that have contributed to limit the amount of energy shifted from peak hours to off-peak hours and to analyse some possible solutions in order to make the tariff more effective.
Nowadays, and in the next future, the increase of the Dispersed Generation (DG) will alter significantly the operation of distribution networks. The attention is focused here on the HV/MV interface, where an inversion of power flow on the HV/MV transformer feeding the MV network, can take place as a consequence of the DG increase. This particular condition has not been considered so far in the design of the electric protection devices of the HV/MV substations and can lead to critical situations. For the purposes of this paper, the time percentage when the MV network injects power into the HV (transmission or subtransmission) network is assumed as a possible indicator of the "active" behavior of MV networks. The proposed research focuses on the analysis of the degree of DG penetration capable to lead to such an inverse power flow: the aim is to point out how much DG can be connected to the MV electric distribution networks assuming to accept a predefined threshold, in terms of yearly hours, of Inverse Power Flow (IPF).
This paper describes a procedure developed by the authors with the aim to evaluate the capability of Medium Voltage (MV) busses to accept power injection from dispersed generators and to support the distribution system operators in facing the growing penetration of dispersed generation, especially due to Renewable Energy Sources (RES).\ud
This simple procedure simulates an increasing power injection at every bus of the considered sample and checks the violation of operating limits in order to determine the maximum admissible nodal injection. The procedure is applied to a huge network data set, corresponding to real Italian MV grids and representing a significant subset (6%) of the system. Results presented in this paper could be a robust and statistically significant background for technical and economic considerations about the limits for\ud
penetration of dispersed generation in the Italian system
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