ABSTRACT
This chapter presents recommendations and guidelines for effective Distributed generator (DG) planning. It also provides the authors’ attempt at a valid summary of DG’s importance and role in the 21st century electric power industry. The chapter explains some general guidelines and identifies several pitfalls for DG planners to avoid, the most important being the need for objectivity and consistency in all evaluation and analysis. When the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure to an area is fully developed, and loaded to near capacity, and reinforcement costs to handle expected load growth are high, DG may look particularly attractive. The seasonal energy uses of electricity and fossil fuels in many metropolitan areas often help the case for DG in this application. DG is also often an unbeatable alternative for electric power needs in some remote and sparsely populated situations. In rural areas where electric service points are far apart, even a power distribution system of modest capacity will cost a great deal.
