A Two-Layer Distributed Control Method for Islanded Networked Microgrid Systems

This paper presents a two-layer, four-level distributed control method for networked microgrid (NMG) systems, taking into account the proprietary nature of microgrid (MG) owners. The proposed control architecture consists of a MG-control layer and a NMG-control layer. In the MG layer, the primary and distrib-uted secondary control realize accurate power sharing among distributed generators (DGs) and the frequency/voltage reference following within each MG. In the NMG layer, the tertiary control enables regulation of the power flowing through the point of common coupling (PCC) of each MG in a decentralized manner. Furthermore, the distributed quaternary control restores system frequency and critical bus voltage to their nominal values and ensures accurate power sharing among MGs. A small-signal dynamic model is developed to evaluate dynamic performance of NMG systems with the proposed control method. Time-domain simulations as well as experiments on NMG test systems are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method

A Centralized Power Control and Management Method for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic (PV)-Battery Systems

Distributed Generation (DG) is an effective way of integrating renewable energy sources to conventional power grid, which improves the reliability and efficiency of power systems. Photovoltaic (PV) systems are ideal DGs thanks to their attractive benefits, such as availability of solar energy and low installation costs. Battery groups are used in PV systems to balance the power flows and eliminate power fluctuations due to change of operating condition, e.g., irradiance and temperature variation. In an attempt to effectively manage the power flows, this paper presents a novel power control and management system for grid-connected PV-Battery systems. The proposed system realizes the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of the PV panels, stabilization of the DC bus voltage for load plug-and-play access, balance among the power flows, and quick response of both active and reactive power demands

Voltage stability of power systems with renewable-energy inverter-based generators: A review

© 2021 by the authors. The main purpose of developing microgrids (MGs) is to facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) into the power grid. RESs are normally connected to the grid via power electronic inverters. As various types of RESs are increasingly being connected to the electrical power grid, power systems of the near future will have more inverter-based generators (IBGs) instead of synchronous machines. Since IBGs have significant differences in their characteristics compared to synchronous generators (SGs), particularly concerning their inertia and capability to provide reactive power, their impacts on the system dynamics are different compared to SGs. In particular, system stability analysis will require new approaches. As such, research is currently being conducted on the stability of power systems with the inclusion of IBGs. This review article is intended to be a preface to the Special Issue on Voltage Stability of Microgrids in Power Systems. It presents a comprehensive review of the literature on voltage stability of power systems with a relatively high percentage of IBGs in the generation mix of the system. As the research is developing rapidly in this field, it is understood that by the time that this article is published, and further in the future, there will be many more new developments in this area. Certainly, other articles in this special issue will highlight some other important aspects of the voltage stability of microgrids

Wide-Area Time-Synchronized Closed-Loop Control of Power Systems And Decentralized Active Distribution Networks

The rapidly expanding power system grid infrastructure and the need to reduce the occurrence of major blackouts and prevention or hardening of systems against cyber-attacks, have led to increased interest in the improved resilience of the electrical grid. Distributed and decentralized control have been widely applied to computer science research. However, for power system applications, the real-time application of decentralized and distributed control algorithms introduce several challenges. In this dissertation, new algorithms and methods for decentralized control, protection and energy management of Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC) and the Active Distribution Network (ADN) are developed to improve the resiliency of the power system. To evaluate the findings of this dissertation, a laboratory-scale integrated Wide WAMPAC and ADN control platform was designed and implemented. The developed platform consists of phasor measurement units (PMU), intelligent electronic devices (IED) and programmable logic controllers (PLC). On top of the designed hardware control platform, a multi-agent cyber-physical interoperability viii framework was developed for real-time verification of the developed decentralized and distributed algorithms using local wireless and Internet-based cloud communication. A novel real-time multiagent system interoperability testbed was developed to enable utility independent private microgrids standardized interoperability framework and define behavioral models for expandability and plug-and-play operation. The state-of-theart power system multiagent framework is improved by providing specific attributes and a deliberative behavior modeling capability. The proposed multi-agent framework is validated in a laboratory based testbed involving developed intelligent electronic device prototypes and actual microgrid setups. Experimental results are demonstrated for both decentralized and distributed control approaches. A new adaptive real-time protection and remedial action scheme (RAS) method using agent-based distributed communication was developed for autonomous hybrid AC/DC microgrids to increase resiliency and continuous operability after fault conditions. Unlike the conventional consecutive time delay-based overcurrent protection schemes, the developed technique defines a selectivity mechanism considering the RAS of the microgrid after fault instant based on feeder characteristics and the location of the IEDs. The experimental results showed a significant improvement in terms of resiliency of microgrids through protection using agent-based distributed communication

Optimal Distributed Energy Resources Sizing for Commercial Building Hybrid Microgrids

As microgrids have advanced from early prototypes to relatively mature technologies, converting data center integrated commercial buildings to microgrids provides economic, reliability and resiliency enhancements for the building owners. Thus, microgrid design and economically sizing distributed energy resources (DER) are becoming more demanding to gain widespread microgrids commercial viability. In this paper, an optimal DER sizing formulation for a hybrid AC/DC microgrid configuration has been proposed to leverage all benefits that AC or DC microgrid could solely contribute. Energy storage (ES), photovoltaics (PV) and power electronics devices are coordinately sized for economic grid-connected and reliable islanded operations. Time-of-use (TOU) energy usages charges and peak demand charges are explicitly modeled to achieve maximum level of cost savings. Numerical results obtained from a real commercial building load demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach and the importance of jointly sizing DER for the grid-connected and islanded modes.Comment: To appear in 2018 IEEE PES General Meeting, Portland, O

TOWARDS OPTIMAL OPERATION AND CONTROL OF EMERGING ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

The growing integration of power-electronics converters enabled components causes low inertia in the evolving electric distribution networks, which also suffer from uncertainties due to renewable energy sources, electric demands, and anomalies caused by physical or cyber attacks, etc. These issues are addressed in this dissertation. First, a virtual synchronous generator (VSG) solution is provided for solar photovoltaics (PVs) to address the issues of low inertia and system uncertainties. Furthermore, for a campus AC microgrid, coordinated control of the PV-VSG and a combined heat and power (CHP) unit is proposed and validated. Second, for islanded AC microgrids composed of SGs and PVs, an improved three-layer predictive hierarchical power management framework is presented to provide economic operation and cyber-physical security while reducing uncertainties. This scheme providessuperior frequency regulation capability and maintains low system operating costs. Third, a decentralized strategy for coordinating adaptive controls of PVs and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) in islanded DC nanogrids is presented. Finally, for transient stability evaluation (TSE) of emerging electric distribution networks dominated by EV supercharging stations, a data-driven region of attraction (ROA) estimation approach is presented. The proposed data-driven method is more computationally efficient than traditional model-based methods, and it also allows for real-time ROA estimation for emerging electric distribution networks with complex dynamics

A Neural-Network-Based Optimal Control of Ultra-Capacitors with System Uncertainties

In this paper, a neural-network (NN)-based online optimal control method (NN-OPT) is proposed for ultra-capacitors (UCs) energy storage system (ESS) in hybrid AC/DC microgrids involving multiple distributed generations (e.g., Photovoltaic (PV) system, battery storage, diesel generator). Conventional control strategies usually produce large disturbances to buses during charging and discharging (C&D) processes of UCs, which significantly degrades the power quality and system performance, especially under fast C&D modes. Therefore, the optimal control theory is adopted to optimize the C&D profile as well as to suppress the disturbances caused by UCs implementation. Specifically, an NN-based intelligent algorithm is developed to learn the optimal control policy for bidirectional-converter-interfaced UCs. The inaccuracies of system modeling are also considered in the control design. Since the designed NN-OPT method is decentralized that only requires the local measurements, plug & play of UCs can be easily realized with minimal communication efforts. In addition, the PV system is under the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control to extract the maximum benefit. Both islanded and grid-tied modes are considered during the controller design. Extensive case studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Comment: IEEE ISGT NA 201