Voltage-Price Coupling in Distribution Networks

Demand-side users are practical and economical resources for participating in voltage regulation of distribution networks, whose regulation effect is closely related to the price. This paper proposes a novel voltage-price coupling (VPC) mechanism to construct a fair voltage-based nodal pricing method for distribution networks to encourage demand-side users to participate in voltage regulation to improve voltage quality. The voltage impact factor is established to fairly characterize the impact of each nodal power on the voltage deviation in the distribution network. Further, the VPC mechanism is constructed to highly couple the nodal price with the voltage in both spatial and time dimensions by establishing distribution rules of prices at different nodes and different horizons. The VPC mechanism forms a fair and adaptable voltage-based nodal pricing method for distribution networks, which also considers the impact on the existing pricing mechanism, and the balance between the voltage regulation effect and user experience. Then, a price-driven voltage regulation model is proposed for the distribution network to reduce voltage deviations and user costs, which integrates the demand-side resource management, voltage regulation, and voltage-based nodal pricing. Case studies verify the effectiveness of the VPC mechanism and the PVR model.