# Smart Grid Architecture for Rural Distribution Networks: Application to a Spanish Pilot Network
## 5 Study Case
### IDPRs Contributions in the Electrical Network
inclusion of DGs by consumers a posteriori might affect the currents flows in the PN (see scenario (3)). For instance, note that, during the central hours of the day, while distributed photovoltaics are generating, the currents through the three phases of the system can result in being greatly unbalanced. The deployment of IDPRs guarantees the balancing of currents (see scenario (2)), even in the case of having DG (see scenario (4)). Therefore, IDPRs solve possible inaccurate planning for the provision of supply to consumers and the effect of unplanned DG deployment by the distributor, or other unexpected changes in the habits of consumers. Analogous to the management of active power, IDPRs can help to minimize reactive power flows in the PN. This can be observed in Figure 13, comparing reactive power flows per each of the three phases of the system and for all computational scenarios. As can be noted, since reactive power compensation is done at the SS level--where the IDPRs are installed--, the net reactive power exchanged at the point of connection of the PN with the external grid is not cancelled, due to reactive power consumption in MV lines and transformers. Such cancellation is not pursued in this case, since reactive power consumption guarantees that currents are delayed from voltage waveforms, favouring the proper operation of electrical protections. The above described application of the IDPRs helps to reduce the loading of the transformers at SSs. As can be noted in Figure 14, in scenario (1), the transformer of the most important secondary substation (the first SS) is quite loaded, reaching almost 65% in loading. Thanks to the IDPR (see scenario (4)), the loading decreases down to 50% at most. A similar effect can be experimented with while comparing scenarios (3) and (4), thus considering DG. In this case though, it is important to note that, without the inclusion of IDPRs, the deployment of DGs (scenario (3)) could be translated into higher loadings for transformers (see the loading for transformer in the third secondary substation) while compared to the base case, in which there is no DG (scenario (1)). For instance, the transformer in the third secondary substation in scenario (1) is loaded up to 20% during the central hours of the day, and its loading reaches up to 40% (so increases by a factor of 2) in scenario (3). With the inclusion of an IDPR in this SS, the loading of the transformer  
Figure 12: Net active power exchanged per phase with the external grid by the PN with and without including Intelligent Distribution Power Router (IDPRs). during the central hours of the day decreases down to 5% approximately (so decreases by a factor of 4 compared to the base case). Thus, IDPRs, while providing the above described services, can greatly contribute to the integration of renewables, expand the useful life of infrastructures and make the most of their utilization. It is important to note that other functionalities of IDPRs, such as those related to the exploitation of the embedded BESS, can serve to expand the applicability of these devices for the provision of other  
Figure 14: Transformer loading for each scenarios. Figure 13: Net reactive power exchanged per phase with the external grid by the PN with and without including IDPRs. services, such as time shifting of active power flows for techno-economic optimization of the PN and improvement of security of supply to consumers.