Impact of solar photovoltaics on the system stability of the Zambia national grid
type: CreativeWork
description: The use of renewable energy sources is one of the crucial components of the contemporary issues of sustainable development. Sustainable energy development gives a rationale to have resources that are economical, environmentally friendly and whose social effects are acceptable. However, the potential for a large-scale shift from the use of conventional fuels to renewable energy for electricity generation remains a highly debated issue especially in developing countries. The major argument is that large-scale implementation of renewable energy poses significant challenges to legacy power systems due to temporal fluctuations, geographical dispersion of renewable energy resources and the presumed inadequacy of the existing power grids which are still dependent on traditional power generation technologies. In this study, the impacts of integrating Solar PV power generation on an existing grid were investigated. The investigations were performed by modelling and simulations in power system software (DIgSILENT PowerFactory). The highlights of the investigation results are that there was alteration of voltage levels, changes of line losses, reversal of power flows and improvement in steady state voltage stability depending on level of penetration of Solar PV and the operating condition of the given injection point. The study concluded that a loss of Solar PV power generation had more adverse effects than a startup of such a power plant. Further, the study concluded that changes in solar irradiance may not result in adverse impacts on the stability of the grid provided that the generation is within the limits for which the grid is capable of handling a total loss of generation. For the Zambian grid, the study concluded that with a non-cumulative scenario, up to 123 MW at Leopards Hill and 121 MW at Lusaka West Substations of Solar PV could be injected into the 132 kV busbars resulting in additional loading of about 25.5 % and 31.5 % on the respective busbars, without adverse…
abstract: The use of renewable energy sources is one of the crucial components of the contemporary issues of sustainable development. Sustainable energy development gives a rationale to have resources that are economical, environmentally friendly and whose social effects are acceptable. However, the potential for a large-scale shift from the use of conventional fuels to renewable energy for electricity generation remains a highly debated issue especially in developing countries. The major argument is that large-scale implementation of renewable energy poses significant challenges to legacy power systems due to temporal fluctuations, geographical dispersion of renewable energy resources and the presumed inadequacy of the existing power grids which are still dependent on traditional power generation technologies. In this study, the impacts of integrating Solar PV power generation on an existing grid were investigated. The investigations were performed by modelling and simulations in power system software (DIgSILENT PowerFactory). The highlights of the investigation results are that there was alteration of voltage levels, changes of line losses, reversal of power flows and improvement in steady state voltage stability depending on level of penetration of Solar PV and the operating condition of the given injection point. The study concluded that a loss of Solar PV power generation had more adverse effects than a startup of such a power plant. Further, the study concluded that changes in solar irradiance may not result in adverse impacts on the stability of the grid provided that the generation is within the limits for which the grid is capable of handling a total loss of generation. For the Zambian grid, the study concluded that with a non-cumulative scenario, up to 123 MW at Leopards Hill and 121 MW at Lusaka West Substations of Solar PV could be injected into the 132 kV busbars resulting in additional loading of about 25.5 % and 31.5 % on the respective busbars, without adverse…
author: Phiri, David.C.
language: en
keywords: Renewable energy sources., Renewable energy.
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:05:59Z
provider: University of Zambia
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Zambia