Three-phase imbalance is a long-term issue existing in low-voltage distribution networks (LVDNs), which consequently has an inverse impact on the safe and optimal operation of LVDNs. Recently, the increasing integration of single-phase distributed generations (DGs) and flexible loads has increased the probability of imbalance occurrence in LVDNs. To overcome the above challenges, this paper proposes a novel methodology based on the concept of "Active Asymmetry Energy-Absorbing (AAEA)" utilizing loads with a back-to-back converter, denoted as “AAEA Unit” in this paper. AAEA Units are deployed and coordinated to actively absorb asymmetry power among three phases for imbalance mitigation in LVDNs based on the high-precision, high-accuracy, and real-time distribution-level phasor measurement unit (D-PMU) data acquisition system and the 5th generation mobile networks (5G) communication channels. Furthermore, the control scheme of the proposed method includes three control units. Specifically, the positive-sequence control unit is designed to maintain the voltage of the DC-capacitor of the back-to-back converter. Likewise, the negative-sequence and zero-sequence control units are expected to mitigate the imbalanced current components. A simple imbalanced LVDN is modeled and tested in Simulink/Matlab (MathWorks, US). The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
D-PMU and 5G-Network-Based Coordination Control Method for Three-Phase Imbalance Mitigation Units in the LVDN