Meshed vs. radial MV distribution network in presence of large amount of DG

Until now, distribution networks are regarded as a passive termination of the transmission network, with a radial structure, unidirectional power flows, and a simple and efficient protection scheme. In presence of a large amount of distributed generation (DG), distribution networks will gradually, but ineluctably, change towards a new kind of active networks. The most revolutionary change, needed to efficiently allocate so much DG, could be represented by the adoption of a meshed network architecture. For this reason, in the paper new possible arrangements for distribution networks have been deeply investigated and compared with the radial scheme. Steady state and dynamic simulations have been performed, considering a portion of the real Italian distribution network, and voltage profile, power losses, short circuit currents and grid reliability have been analyzed.