ABSTRACT
Distributed power (DP) refers to the process and concepts in which small to medium (a few kWup to 50 MW
or more) power generation facilities, energy storage facilities (thermal, flywheel, hydro, flow, and regular
batteries), and other strategies are located at or near the customer’s loads and premises. DP technologies
installed near customers’ loads operate as grid-connected or islanded resources at the distribution or
subtransmission level and are geographically scattered throughout the service area. DP generation harnesses
renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, such as solar insolation, wind, biomass, tides, hydro, waves,
geothermal, biogas, natural gas, hydrogen, and diesel, in a distributed manner. DP also includes several
nonutility sources of electricity, including facilities for self-generation, energy storage, and combined heat and
power (CHP) or cogeneration systems.
