| The modernization of electrical distribution systems using modern technologies of automation, control and measurement is known as the smart grid. This modernization and the adding of more and more renewables (solar, wind) to the grid result in significant changes for grid operators and planners and require the use of new tools for computer simulations. Also, in the case of northern regions such as Quebec, advanced measurement allows the use of electric thermal storage heating systems.;One of the goals of this work is to study the possibility to use thermal storage to integrate wind energy to the grid. Also, one of the other objectives, is to measure the impact of electric thermal storage heating on the customer and on the grid. To study these questions, load models, mainly electrical heating, and electrical grid models need to be used and developed. This is why new simulation tools are studied.;Three open source simulation tools are presented: OpenDSS from EPRI, GridLAB-D from PNNL and APREM from Polytechnique Montreal. For comparison, two cases are simulated: the first one is the calculation of annual losses of a distribution line with the addition of distributed generation and the second one is the annual energy savings of a voltage control over a distribution line. Results show that OpenDSS is the fastest. Also, it appears that thermostatically controlled loads models provided by GridLAB-D offer interesting opportunities to perform conservation voltage reduction calculations.;The impact of electrical thermal storage heating systems on the distribution system is discussed. Simulations show that a typical residential customer in Quebec, using time of use rate, could save 15% of its total annual electricity bill by using central electric thermal storage. From a distribution substation point of view, simulations show that a penetration rate of about 4% of this type of heating system may create a third peak during night without a better form of control. Control of water heaters and central electric thermal storage related to wind generation is presented. Results showed that 28 MW of water heaters load or 3.35 MW of electric thermal storage load are needed to follow 1 MW of installed wind generation over a 6 hours period of time. |
