A review of PHIL testing for smart grids—selection guide, classification and online database analysis

The Smart Grid is one of the most important solutions to boost electricity sharing from renewable energy sources. Its implementation adds new functionalities to power systems, which increases the electric grid complexity. To ensure grid stability and security, systems need flexible methods in order to be tested in a safe and economical way. A promising test technique is Power Hardware In-the-Loop (PHIL), which combines the flexibility of Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) technique with power exchange. However, the acquisition of PHIL components usually represents a great expense for laboratories and, therefore, the setting up of the experiment involves making hard decisions. This paper provides a complete guideline and useful new tools for laboratories in order to set PHIL facilities up efficiently. First, a PHIL system selection guide is presented, which describes the selection process steps and the main system characteristics needed to perform a PHIL test. Furthermore, a classification proposal containing the desirable information to be obtained from a PHIL test paper for reproducibility purposes is given. Finally, this classification was used to develop a PHIL test online database, which was analysed, and the main gathered information with some use cases and conclusions are shown

Overview of Real-Time Simulation as a Supporting Effort to Smart-Grid Attainment

abstract: The smart-grid approach undergoes many difficulties regarding the strategy that will enable its actual implementation. In this paper, an overview of real-time simulation technologies and their applicability to the smart-grid approach are presented as enabling steps toward the smart-grid’s actual implementation. The objective of this work is to contribute with an introductory text for interested readers of real-time systems in the context of modern electric needs and trends. In addition, a comprehensive review of current applications of real-time simulation in electric systems is provided, together with the basis to understand real-time simulation and the topologies and hardware used to implement it. Furthermore, an overview of the evolution of real-time simulators in the industrial and academic background and its current challenges are introduced.The final version of this article, as published in Energies, can be viewed online at: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/81

Cyber resilience meta-modelling: The railway communication case study

Recent times have demonstrated how much the modern critical infrastructures (e.g., energy, essential services, people and goods transportation) depend from the global communication networks. However, in the current Cyber-Physical World convergence, sophisticated attacks to the cyber layer can provoke severe damages to both physical structures and the operations of infrastructure affecting not only its functionality and safety, but also triggering cascade effects in other systems because of the tight interdependence of the systems that characterises the modern society. Hence, critical infrastructure must integrate the current cyber-security approach based on risk avoidance with a broader perspective provided by the emerging cyber-resilience paradigm. Cyber resilience is aimed as a way absorb the consequences of these attacks and to recover the functionality quickly and safely through adaptation. Several high-level frameworks and conceptualisations have been proposed but a formal definition capable of translating cyber resilience into an operational tool for decision makers considering all aspects of such a multifaceted concept is still missing. To this end, the present paper aims at providing an operational formalisation for cyber resilience starting from the Cyber Resilience Ontology presented in a previous work using model-driven principles. A domain model is defined to cope with the different aspects and “resilience-assurance” processes that it can be valid in various application domains. In this respect, an application case based on critical transportation communications systems, namely the railway communication system, is provided to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach and to identify future improvements

Digitizing Citizen Energy Communities : A Platform Engineering Approach

Low acceptance and protests against the increasing expansion of renewable generation capacities by local citizens have repeatedly slowed down the ongoing energy transition in western countries. A promising approach to address this issue is the energy community concept, for which the European Union introduced a regulatory framework within the \u27Directive on common rules for the internal market for electricity\u27. It refers to them communities as Citizen Energy Communities. Within these communities, participants can exchange locally generated energy and the community can be represented by a digital platform, which organizes the community\u27s continuous power distribution and financial flows. In the academic literature, these communities are discussed as a tool to actively integrate citizens into the energy system on a local level. They increase the acceptance by benefiting the local value chain and empower the energy sector\u27s decarbonization. However, there is a lack of research on how Citizen Energy Communities can be implemented in practice and how they perform under real-world conditions. This dissertation’s contribution addresses the empirical challenges in the implementation and long-term operating of Citizen Energy Communities. The thesis reports on six studies. In the first study, the necessary IT architecture and digital building blocks are developed based on a literature review and insights from a real-world implementation for Citizen Energy Communities are described. From the resulting experiences, requirements for the individual building blocks and technologies are deducted. Researchers propose that blockchain technology can accelerate the introduction of Citizen Energy Communities. Therefore, a maturity model for blockchain-based Citizen Energy Community projects is established in the subsequent study, which allows assessing the development status of field implementations and identifying necessary next steps. In the third study, a platform-based allocation mechanism is designed, which addresses heterogeneous preferences of participants and thus enables local prices for different local energy sources. Based on an implementation, the mechanism\u27s performance and functionality are evaluated. Besides the technical functionality, user behavior is of central importance for success. Therefore, seven user interface design principles are deducted in the fourth study based on a structured design science research process with the help of expert interviews and a behavioral laboratory experiment. In the fifth study, it is quantified and evaluated if participants are regularly active within the community, willing to pay premium prices for local renewable sources and whether they are responsive to local price signals as often assumed in the literature. The results show that Citizen Energy Communities need to be tested more thoroughly and that the platform\u27s allocation mechanism require a low complexity or additional support systems like automated agents. As a result, the sixth study evaluates the real-world trading performance of automated agents and their impact on the platform market. The results show that a single agent among human traders can minimize the participant\u27s cost. However, this advantage diminishes with the number of additional automated agents in the market. The thesis is concluded with an outlook and pathway for future research

Re-Designing GB’s Electricity Market Design: A Conceptual Framework Which Recognises the Value of Distributed Energy Resources

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: The paper did not utilise data, and therefore there is no data to access.The design of electricity markets determines the technologies, services and modes of operation that can access value, consequently shaping current and future electricity landscapes. This paper highlights that the efficacy of Great Britain’s electricity market design in facilitating net zero is inadequate and must be reconfigured. The rules of the current electricity market design are remnants of an electricity sector dominated by large-scale, centralised, fossil fuel technologies. Therefore, routes to market for the provision of necessary services to support net zero, not least flexibility, are largely inaccessible for distributed energy resources and, despite their benefits to the system, are thus undervalued. Based upon a review and consolidation of 30 proposed electricity market designs from liberalised electricity sectors, this paper proposes a new electricity market design for Great Britain. This design is presented alongside a new institutional framework to aid in the efficient operation of the market. Specifically, this paper proposes a new local balancing and coordinating market located at each grid supply point (the transmission and distribution interface). This is realised through the implementation of a distributed locational marginal pricing structure which is governed by the evolution of the current distributed network operator, known as the distributed service provider (DSP). The DSP also operates a local balancing and ancillary market for their geographical area. The wholesale market is reconfigured to coordinate with these new local markets and to harmonise the actors across the distribution and transmission network

Advancements in Real-Time Simulation of Power and Energy Systems

Modern power and energy systems are characterized by the wide integration of distributed generation, storage and electric vehicles, adoption of ICT solutions, and interconnection of different energy carriers and consumer engagement, posing new challenges and creating new opportunities. Advanced testing and validation methods are needed to efficiently validate power equipment and controls in the contemporary complex environment and support the transition to a cleaner and sustainable energy system. Real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation has proven to be an effective method for validating and de-risking power system equipment in highly realistic, flexible, and repeatable conditions. Controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) and power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) are the two main HIL simulation methods used in industry and academia that contribute to system-level testing enhancement by exploiting the flexibility of digital simulations in testing actual controllers and power equipment. This book addresses recent advances in real-time HIL simulation in several domains (also in new and promising areas), including technique improvements to promote its wider use. It is composed of 14 papers dealing with advances in HIL testing of power electronic converters, power system protection, modeling for real-time digital simulation, co-simulation, geographically distributed HIL, and multiphysics HIL, among other topics