Dynamic Hosting Capacity for Unbalanced Three-Phase Networks
Aydin, Beyzanur
Aydin, Beyzanur
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Abstract
While the energy costs of distributed energy resources (DERs), particularly solar photovoltaics (PV), are at an all-time low, today�s distribution grid faces significant operational challenges under high penetration levels that risk system safety and reliability. Maintaining grid reliability requires defining the dynamic hosting capacity (DHC) limits of the network while respecting the unbalanced three-phase AC power flow (ACPF) physics which are inherently nonlinear. This nonlinearity makes the set defining safe prosumer imports or exports non-convex, and renders the optimization problem that defines DHC limits NP-hard. Existing DHC approaches for three-phase networks utilize linearized models like LinDist3Flow or convex relaxations which can lead to network constraint violations. These approximations introduce technical challenges or ignore critical information needed to properly restrict DHC; for instance, by bypassing phase angles and power losses, the linearized approaches cannot accurately account for Voltage Unbalance Factor (VUF) or transformer overloading. This presentation investigates the fundamental limits of unbalanced three-phase HC and the challenges of scaling analysis to larger networks. We explore how the assumptions inherent in LinDist3Flow impact the reliability of DHC results and highlight the social and technical challenges of defining a fair HC range. Furthermore, we examine the role of "inner approximations" as a method to recover feasibility guarantees and safety, while highlighting the inherent conservativeness these restrictions can introduce.
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Date
1/1/2026
Student Status
Graduate Student
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Poster
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Electrical Engineering
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College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
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Engineering