Coordinated active power reduction strategy for voltage rise mitigation in LV distribution network

Integration of renewable energy systems by the utility, customers, and the third party into the electric power system, most especially in the MV and LV distribution networks grew over the last decade due to the liberalization of the electricity market, rising energy demand, and increasing environmental concern. The distributed rooftop PV system contributes to relieve the overall load, reduce losses, avoid conventional generation upgrade, and better matching of demand on the LV distribution network. Originally, the LV distribution network is designed for unidirectional current flow, that is from the substation to customers. However, a high penetration of rooftop solar PVs (with power levels typically ranging from 1 – 10 kW) may lead to the current flowing in the reverse direction and this could result in a sudden voltage rise. These negative impacts on the network have discouraged the distribution network operators (DNOs) to allow increased PV penetration in the LV distribution network because some customers load, and equipment are sensitive to voltage perturbation. Presently, the most applied voltage rise mitigation strategy for high rooftop solar PV penetration is the total disconnect from the LV distribution network when the voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) goes above statutory voltage limits. However, the sudden disconnection of the PV system from the grid can cause network perturbation and affect the security of the network. This action may also cause voltage instability in the network and can reduce the lifetime of grid equipment such as voltage regulators, air conditioner etc. Due to this negative impact, different voltage rise mitigation strategies such as the active transformer with on load tap changers (OLTC), distributed battery energy storage system and reactive power support (D-STATCOM, etc.) have been used to curtail voltage rise in the distribution network. However, the implementation of D-STATCOM device on a radial LV distribution network results in high line current and losses. This may be detrimental to the distribution network. Therefore, in this thesis, a coordinated active power reduction (CAPR) strategy is proposed using a modified PWM PI current control strategy to ramp down the output power and voltage of a grid-tied voltage source inverter (VSI). In the proposed strategy, a reactive reference is generated based on the measured voltage level at the PCC using a threshold voltage algorithm to regulate the amplitude of the modulating signal to increase the off time of the high frequency signal which shut down the PV array momentary in an extremely short time and allow the VSI to absorb some reactive power through the freewheeling diode and reduce voltage. The proposed CAPR strategy was designed and simulated on a scaled down simple radial LV distribution network in MATLAB®/Simulink® software environment. The results show that the CAPR can ramp down the PV output power, reduce reverse power flow and reduce the sudden voltage rise at the point of common coupling (PCC) within ±5% of the standard voltage limit. The study also compares the performance of the proposed CAPR strategy to that of the distributed static compensator (D-STATCOM) and battery energy storage system (BESS) with respect to response time to curtail sudden voltage rise, losses and reverse power flow. The investigation shows that the D-STATCOM has the faster response time to curtail voltage rise. However, the voltage rise reduction is accompanied by high current, losses and reverse active power flow. The introduction of the BESS demonstrates better performance than the D- STATCOM device in terms of reverse power flow and losses. The CAPR strategy performs better than both D-STATCOM and BESS in terms of line losses and reverse power flow reduction

Algoritmo de controlo inteligente de microprodução para regulação de tensão em redes de baixa tensão

Com o constante desenvolvimento da sociedade, o consumo de energia elétrica tem aumentado gradualmente, por outro lado a preocupação com o meio ambiente e a necessidade de um desenvolvimento sustentável, faz com que a legislação atual favoreça a introdução de fontes de energia de origem renovável em detrimento de fontes de energia de origem fóssil. Cada vez mais têm surgido incentivos para a implementação de pequenos sistemas de produção em instalações de utilização, estes consumidores/produtores são denominados de prosumers, sendo este tipo de produtores ligados à rede elétrica de baixa tensão. Com a introdução deste tipo de produtores é necessário dotar a rede elétrica de meios que permitam ao operador da rede monitorizar e controlar em tempo real o estado da rede assim como destes novos produtores. No âmbito desta dissertação, foi desenvolvido um algoritmo de controlo inteligente de microprodução. Avaliando o consumo, a produção, entre outros parâmetros de gestão da rede, este algoritmo calculará um conjunto de set-points que deverão ser enviados para os microprodutores de modo a limitar a potência injetada na rede e assim controlar a tensão. Também foi realizado um estudo económico do impacto que as medidas propostas teriam do ponto de vista dos gestores da rede bem como do ponto de vista dos microprodutores.With the constant development of society, the power consumption has gradually increased, however the concern about the environment and the need for sustainable development, implies a current law that benefits the introduction of sources of energy from renewable sources on detriment of fossil sources. In the last years have appeared incentives for the implementation of small production systems, called prosumers. These types of producers are connected to the low voltage network. With the introduction of this type of producers it is necessary to provide the network of resources that allow the network operator, to monitor and control on real-time the network status and the new producers. Within this thesis, an algorithm of intelligent control of micro producers was developed. This algorithm evaluates the consumption, the production, and other network management parameters, calculates a set of set-points that should be sent to the producers to limit the power injected on the network. An economic study was also done to evaluate the impact that the proposed actions can have in relation to the network manager as well as in relation to the producers