Centralized vs distributed generation. A model to assess the relevance of some thermal and electric factors. Application to the Spanish case study

Deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in electrical networks is full of controversies. Advantages of DER have been largely addressed in the literature. Original reasons for centralized paradigm and the problems in regulations caused by the DER arrival are reviewed. In fact, there is still no clear regulations over them for facilitating their adoption at the same time that guaranteeing the recovery of transmission and distribution costs. Regulators should bear in mind how DER affect centralized technologies in order to establish frameworks that are allied with the current policies for their country technology mixes. Countless are the factors that can tip the scale towards one of the paradigms. In this paper, several of them which affect both paradigms are presented and studied using a mix integer programming model. This model could be used for developing studies on the relations between DER and centralized generators and the factors presented in this paper such as tariffs, DR, system requirements or the use of heat pumps that affect the optimal technology capacities. The factors outlined in this work are used to present the importance of considering them and peeking direct and indirect relationships among technologies in different scenarios using data of Spain.