Distributed Generation (DG) at Alabama Power isn't a new idea or concept. Alabama Power Company has many locations that supply onsite generation when necessary to provide adequate capacity for the peak conditions. The "New Opportunity and Challenge" occurred when a commercial endeavor wanted to provide a substantial amount of electricity on a continuing basis to a rural area. Alabama Power was asked to determine the feasibility of providing approximately two megawatts of continuous generation approximately nine and one-half miles from the existing substation. This project was unique due to the location of the load center (six miles away) and proposed generator along with the construction types of the distribution line. On a technical standpoint, these factors all together created a challenging project for the engineers. When DG is placed on the rural distribution line, voltage cycles must be considered for both peak and non-peak conditions. If the voltage at valley (the least loading time of the year) is at the upper end of the regulator bandwidth, then a higher distributed generator voltage output must be obtained to deliver energy to the customers. The state regulating agency requires the maximum delivered voltage to be less than 128 volts. But, with load centers being six miles away from the generation a very high output voltage must be produced. Alternatives must be explored to add load to the distribution system where voltage limits will not be exceeded.
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