Patent ID: 7398194

Claim:
A method for analyzing an electric power transmission and distribution network for assessing impacts and benefits of distributed energy resources (DER) for the electric power transmission and distribution network, to provide indication of the extent to which the transmission-level resources and distribution-level resources impact on each other, and of the merits of remedying deficiencies near their network locations, the method comprising: simulating the electric power transmission and distribution network with a single mathematical model, the single mathematical model including a plurality of transmission voltage-level elements, a plurality of distribution voltage-level elements, an interdependency between the plurality of transmission voltage-level elements and the plurality of distribution voltage-level elements, as an Energynet including the plurality of transmission voltage-level elements and the plurality of distribution voltage-level elements and the interdependency between the plurality of transmission voltage-level elements and the plurality of distribution voltage-level elements; incorporating models of one or more distributed energy resources at a plurality of network locations and voltage levels within the single mathematical model to generate a modified single mathematical model; generating a modified Energynet with the modified single mathematical model, the modified Energynet describing the effect of the incorporated models of one or more distributed energy resources on the electric power transmission and distribution network; and storing the modified Energynet in a computer storage medium.