Utilization of physical devices for the improvement of power quality indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic and uncoordinated integration of low carbon units

COVID-19 affected numerous sectors and changed traditional people’s behavior. The restrictions led to a decrease in consumption in industrial and business sectors, while electricity consumption in households significantly increased. To determine the correlation between COVID-19 and power quality (PQ), consumption curves relevant for different pandemic periods are used in the analysis of multiple PQ indicators in a real-world low voltage distribution network. The hard lockdown consumption curve is used as the reference for future scenarios with a high share of low carbon (LC) units including PVs, heat pumps, and electric vehicles. Simulations show that COVID-19 negatively impacted technical conditions in distribution networks and different methods based on the utilization of physical devices are tested to mitigate disturbances. We additionally test the potential of implemented methods in the decrease of technical and financial losses. Almost all methods contribute to the decrease of network losses, which is significantly important to Distribution System Operators (DSOs) due to the recent increase in electricity prices. The final contribution of the paper is finding a correlation between the PQ disturbances and financial losses. Results show the impact of the value of voltage unbalance on network losses, while other indicators do not present a significant problem. The results of simulations and drawn conclusions could be used as a guide for DSOs facing the uncoordinated penetration of LC units. Also, setbacks of the implemented method are detected as a first step in the further improvement of technical conditions.