Comprehensive Overview of Power System Flexibility during the Scenario of High Penetration of Renewable Energy in Utility Grid

Increased deployment of variable renewable energy (VRE) has posed significant challenges to ensure reliable power system operations. As VRE penetration increases beyond 80%, the power system will require long duration energy storage and flexibility. Detailed uncertainty analysis, identifying challenges, and opportunities to provide sufficient flexibility will help to achieve smooth operations of power system networks during the scenario of high share of VRE sources. Hence, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of the power system flexibility (PSF). The intention of this review is to provide a wide spectrum of power system flexibility, PSF drivers, PSF resources, PSF provisions, methods used for assessment of flexibility and flexibility planning to the researchers, academicians, power system planners, and engineers working on the integration of VRE into the utility grid to achieve high share of these sources. More than 100 research papers on the basic concepts of PSF, drivers of the PSF, resources of PSF, requirement of the PSF, metrics used for assessment of the flexibility, methods and approaches used for measurement of flexibility level in network of the power system, and methods used for the PSF planning and flexibility provisions have been thoroughly reviewed and classified for quick reference considering different dimensions.

Enhancing Doubly Fed Induction Generator Low-Voltage Ride-Through Capability Using Dynamic Voltage Restorer with Adaptive Noise Cancellation Technique

Some of the major challenges facing micro-grids (MGs) during their connection with the utility grid are maintaining power system stability and reliability. One term that is frequently discussed in literature is the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability, as it is required by the utility grid to maintain its proper operation and system stability. Furthermore, due to their inherent advantages, doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) have been widely installed on many wind farms. However, grid voltage dips and distortion have a negative impact on the operation of the DFIG. A dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) is a commonly used device that can enhance the LVRT capability of DFIG compared to shunt capacitors and static synchronous compensator (STATCOM). DVR implements a series compensation during fault conditions by injecting the proper voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) in order to preserve stable terminal voltage. In this paper, we propose a DVR control method based on the adaptive noise cancelation (ANC) technique to compensate for both voltage variation and harmonic mitigation at DFIG terminals. Additionally, we propose an online control of the DC side voltage of the DVR using pulse width modulation (PWM) rectifier to reduce both the size of the storage element and the solid-state switches of the DVR, aiming to reduce its overall cost. A thorough analysis of the operation and response of the proposed DVR is performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK under different operating conditions of the grid. The simulation results verify the superiority and robustness of the proposed technique to enhance the LVRT capability of the DFIG during system transients and faults.

A Survey of Islanding Detection Methods for Microgrids and Assessment of Non-Detection Zones in Comparison with Grid Codes

Detection of unintentional islanding is critical in microgrids in order to guarantee personal safety and avoid equipment damage. Most islanding detection techniques are based on monitoring and detecting abnormalities in magnitudes such as frequency, voltage, current and power. However, in normal operation, the utility grid has fluctuations in voltage and frequency, and grid codes establish that local generators must remain connected if deviations from the nominal values do not exceed the defined thresholds and ramps. This means that islanding detection methods could not detect islanding if there are fluctuations that do not exceed the grid code requirements, known as the non-detection zone (NDZ). A survey on the benefits of islanding detection techniques is provided, showing the advantages and disadvantages of each one. NDZs size of the most common passive islanding detection methods are calculated and obtained by simulation and compared with the limits obtained by ENTSO-E and islanding standards in the function of grid codes requirements in order to compare the effectiveness of different techniques and the suitability of each one.

Issues Associated With Microgrid Integration

Microgrid (MG) is the vital technology that can be utilized to supply electricity to rural areas by fulfilling various aspects of electricity such as sustainability and reliability. Further, MG technology can also be used as localized generation sources and back up supply source. As MG can be worked in interconnected mode, various issues related to interconnection with utility grid are raised. Several issues such as technical, regulatory, and operational are associated with grid integration. Therefore, this chapter deals with the issues that are associated with the grid integration of microgrid.

Designing of a Hybrid Photovoltaic Structure for an Energy-Efficient Street Lightning System Using PVsyst Software

With the depletion of traditional fossil fuels, their disastrous impact on the environment and rising costs, renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) energy are rapidly emerging as sustainable and clean sources of power generation. The performance of photovoltaic systems is based on different factors such as the type of photovoltaic modules, irradiation potential and geographic location. In this research, PVsyst simulation software is used to design and simulate a hybrid photovoltaic system used to operate energy-efficient street lightning system. The simulation is performed to analyze the monthly/annual energy generated (kWh) by the hybrid system and specific power production (kWh/KWp). Additionally, various PV system losses are also investigated. The hybrid PV system has 4 parallel strings, and each string has 13 series-connected (mono crystalline 400 W Canadian Solar) PV modules. The energy storage system consists of 16 Narada (AcmeG 12 V 200) batteries with a nominal capacity of 1600 Ah. The simulation results show that the total annual energy production and specific energy production, were calculated to be 26.68 MWh/year and 1283 kWh/kWp/year, respectively. Simulation results also show the maximum energy injected into the utility grid in the month of June (1.814 MWh) and the minimum energy injected into the utility grid in the month of January (0.848 MWh). The battery cycle state of wear is 84.8%, and the static state of wear is 91.7%. Performance ratio (PR) analysis shows that the highest performance ratio of the hybrid system was 68.2% in December, the lowest performance ratio was 62.7% in May and the annual average performance ratio of a hybrid PV system is 65.57%. After identifying the major source of energy losses, the detailed losses for the whole year were computed and shown by the loss diagrams. To evaluate the cost effectiveness of the proposed system, a simple payback period calculation was performed.

Optimal Energy Management of a Campus Microgrid Considering Financial and Economic Analysis with Demand Response Strategies

An energy management system (EMS) was proposed for a campus microgrid (µG) with the incorporation of renewable energy resources to reduce the operational expenses and costs. Many uncertainties have created problems for microgrids that limit the generation of photovoltaics, causing an upsurge in the energy market prices, where regulating the voltage or frequency is a challenging task among several microgrid systems, and in the present era, it is an extremely important research area. This type of difficulty may be mitigated in the distribution system by utilizing the optimal demand response (DR) planning strategy and a distributed generator (DG). The goal of this article was to present a strategy proposal for the EMS structure for a campus microgrid to reduce the operational costs while increasing the self-consumption from green DGs. For this reason, a real-time-based institutional campus was investigated here, which aimed to get all of its power from the utility grid. In the proposed scenario, solar panels and wind turbines were considered as non-dispatchable DGs, whereas a diesel generator was considered as a dispatchable DG, with the inclusion of an energy storage system (ESS) to deal with solar radiation disruptions and high utility grid running expenses. The resulting linear mathematical problem was validated and plotted in MATLAB with mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). The simulation findings demonstrated that the proposed model of the EMS reduced the grid electricity costs by 38% for the campus microgrid. The environmental effects, economic effects, and the financial comparison of installed capacity of the PV system were also investigated here, and it was discovered that installing 1000 kW and 2000 kW rooftop solar reduced the GHG generation by up to 365.34 kg CO2/day and 700.68 kg CO2/day, respectively. The significant economic and environmental advantages based on the current scenario encourage campus owners to invest in DGs and to implement the installation of energy storage systems with advanced concepts.

Design of a Partially Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Microgrid Using IoT Technology

This study describes the design and control algorithms of an IoT-connected photovoltaic microgrid operating in a partially grid-connected mode. The proposed architecture and control design aim to connect or disconnect non-critical loads between the microgrid and utility grid. Different components of the microgrid, such as photovoltaic arrays, energy storage elements, inverters, solid-state transfer switches, smart-meters, and communication networks were modeled and simulated. The communication between smart meters and the microgrid controller is designed using LoRa communication protocol for the control and monitoring of loads in residential buildings. An IoT-enabled smart meter has been designed using ZigBee communication protocol to evaluate data transmission requirements in the microgrid. The loads were managed by a proposed under-voltage load-shedding algorithm that selects suitable loads to be disconnected from the microgrid and transferred to the utility grid. The simulation results showed that the duty cycle of LoRa and its bit rate can handle the communication requirements in the proposed PV microgrid architecture.