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Chilled water systems constitute a major portion of energy consumption in manufacturing plants. In many cases, these systems do not operate at optimal efficiency due to the operating parameters set and/or the components used. As companies and building administrators search for ways to reduce operating costs and save money, energy conservation is on the forefront of many boardroom discussions. Because chilled water systems are a major consumer of energy, they are prime targets for energy conservation analysis. However, the time constraints and ability of the interested parties make the task of analyzing the system daunting and is therefore, rarely undertaken. For this reason, a tool to provide energy consumption and potential saving estimates would be highly beneficial. The results of this preliminary analysis may provide the motivation to undertake a more through savings analysis.

This paper presents a method for reliability assessment of the electric grid with distributed generation providing support to the system. Evaluation of customer controlled distributed generation contribution is done for two cases; the first case analyses distributed generation wherein generation units export power to the grid. The second case analyses onsite generation wherein units handle loads at individual customer sites, thus relieving grid congestion. Reliability parameters for the distributed generation systems were obtained from data collected from existing systems that have been in operation for an extended period of time. Calculations are performed on the IEEE-Reliability Test System. The state duration sampling approach using Monte Carlo simulations is employed to evaluate the ability of the system to meet demand requirements. The impact of distributed generation on the utility controlled grid as well as on individual customer reliability is evaluated.