A Co-Simulation Framework for Distribution Network Analysis: Case Study of Hosting Capacity Analysis

This paper presents a co-simulation framework to analyze the distribution networks using two software (OpenDSS and MATLAB). The proposed framework is demonstrated using hosting capacity assessment as a case study, on an IEEE 123-node feeder. In addition, this paper also proposes a two-step approach for hosting capacity assessment in distribution networks. While the first step calculates the node-by-node hosting capacity, the second step multiplies the node-by-node capacity by a coefficient to calculate the network-level hosting capacity (i.e. considering all the candidate nodes can host distributed generation (e.g. rooftop PV systems) or extra demand (e.g. EV charging)). The analysis shows that hosting capacity varies based on the location of DG or load, and network topology. The presented co-simulation framework can be easily extended to perform any complex studies on modern distribution networks, and this framework can serve as a guideline to develop other co-simulation frameworks (e.g. PowerFactory with Python).