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Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 18916

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Luis Domínguez-García

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Guest Editor

Catalonia Institute for Energy Research IREC, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: the grid integration of renewable energy sources; smart grids; and microgrids; power system stability and security; AC-DC grids modellling and control; power converters and advanced control techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Cristina Corchero

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Guest Editor

1. Statistics and Operations Research Department, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
2. Energy Systems Analytics Research Group, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Barcelona, Spain
Interests: statistics and operational research applied to energy systems; uncertainty modeling; energy markets optimization models; electro mobility; and energy management systems

Dr. Ayman Attya

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Guest Editor

Electrical Power Engineering, University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, Huddersfield, UK
Interests: power and energy systems modelling and dynamics; renewable energy; electricity markets and energy storage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We want to invite you to submit your latest research to this Special Issue on “Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems”.

Looking ahead to 2050, the goal of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2) up to 80%–95% compared to values in 1990 has been set in order to avoid the increase of 2 ºC. To meet this ambitious goal, countries should bet on a future framework in which 100% of electricity generation comes from renewable energy sources. Furthermore, to achieve such a target, large interconnections among different countries as well as different synchronous areas will be necessary in order to share renewable power generation with other systems (e.g., wind power from the North Sea, hydro power from Norway or PV power from southern countries).

To achieve such an objective (i.e. ,100% renewable energy), there is the need to ensure the security and stability of power systems in this global scenario. It is clear that the combination of all these aspects will lead to new and unexpected grid dynamics, new interactions among systems, as well as the help of renewable energies and other power converter-based systems to handle these issues, keeping the grid operational. This new status is impacting not only transmission but also distribution and consumption, where new assets are based on power electronics as renewable generation, energy storage, and electric vehicles, among others. Maintaining a secure and stable operation of power systems under a very large penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the critical challenges in future power systems. Thus, the development of advanced control and management strategies to ensure the proper integration of such technologies based on power electronics into the future power systems is of great relevance. Novel controllers for local and wide-system operation will be required to ensure the stability and controllability of the whole electrical system (i.e., generation, transmission, and distribution).

Thus, the main objective of this Special Issue is to discuss and disseminate the current work in this area as a showcase to the developed power electronics technologies (RES, ESS, EV), control methods, operation algorithms, market interaction, microgrids and simulation models, in particular (but not limited to):

Coordinated and distributed controls of RES and power electronics-dominated assets;
Ancillary services provision;
Dynamic interactions among various technologies;
Grid code compliance;
Advanced control strategies for grid integration;
Energy management;
Stability and security controls for power converter dominated networks;
Future electricity market participation.

Dr. José Luis Domínguez-García
Dr. Cristina Corchero
Dr. Ayman Attya
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

grid integration
power system stability
power electronics
renewable energy sources
control
system modelling
energy markets

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1694 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Adaptive Volt-Var Control Algorithm to Grid Strength and PV Inverter Characteristics

by Toni Cantero Gubert, Alba Colet, Lluc Canals Casals, Cristina Corchero, José Luís Domínguez-García, Amelia Alvarez de Sotomayor, William Martin, Yves Stauffer and Pierre-Jean Alet

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4459; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084459 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2054

Abstract

The high-penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in low voltage distribution grids, mainly photovoltaics (PV), might lead to overvoltage in the point of common coupling, thus, limiting the entrance of renewable sources to fulfill the requirements from the network operator. Volt-var is a common control function for DER power converters that is used to enhance the stability and reliability of the voltage in the distribution system. In this study, a centralized algorithm provides local volt-var control parameters to each PV inverter, which are based on the electrical grid characteristics. Because accurate information of grid characteristics is typically not available, the parametrization of the electrical grid is done using a local power meter data and a voltage sensitivity matrix. The algorithm has different optimization modes that take into account the minimization of voltage deviation and line current. To validate the effectiveness of the algorithm and its deployment in a real infrastructure, the solution has been tested in an experimental setup with PV emulators under laboratory conditions. The volt-var control algorithm successfully adapted its parameters based on grid topology and PV inverter characteristics, achieving a voltage reduction of up to 25% of the allowed voltage deviation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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18 pages, 3760 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Low Inertia Systems Frequency Variation Reduction with Fine-Tuned Smart Energy Controllers

by Minas Patsalides, Christina N. Papadimitriou and Venizelos Efthymiou

Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2979; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052979 - 09 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1762

Abstract

The distributed and stochastic nature of Renewable Power Sources is certainly forming considerable challenges for the operation of the power system. Specifically, the stability of the system can be jeopardized when the penetration of inverter-based systems is high. Storage and the proper design of controllers is seen as part of the solution for supporting the future expansion of distributed systems. Thus, control strategies need to be designed to provide the appropriate support to the system and be capable of keeping the variation of the frequency within limits to keep the reliability of the system as high as possible. The main challenge is the appropriate parameterization of these distributed controllers and their coordination under the integrated grid approach in securing the stability of the system at all times. In this paper, a smart energy controller is utilized and incorporated into the projection case study for Cyprus’ real distribution grid for the year 2050 to evaluate its behavior and identify possible weaknesses in its usage. It was found that the parameterization and not only the architecture of such controllers is crucial in coping with the frequency variation and stability problem. From the simulation work and recorded results, it was observed that the smart energy controllers can maintain frequency variation within the desirable range when the parametrization of the controllers is chosen appropriately. This specific observation highlights the need to evaluate and configure the smart controllers while operating in the field, and possibly further research is required to provide the advanced capability to such systems to adjust dynamically during field operation, thereby achieving better response during abnormal conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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13 pages, 3668 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Interaction Boundary Determination of Renewable Energy Sources to Estimate System Strength Using the Power Flow Tracing Strategy

by Namki Choi, Byongjun Lee, Dohyuk Kim and Suchul Nam

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1569; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031569 - 02 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1869

Abstract

System strength is an important concept in the integration of renewable energy sources (RESs). However, evaluating system strength is becoming more ambiguous due to the interaction of RESs. This paper proposes a novel scheme to define the actual interaction boundaries of RESs using the power flow tracing strategy. Based on the proposed method, the interaction boundaries of RESs were identified at the southwest side of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) systems. The test results show that the proposed approach always provides the identical interaction boundaries of RESs in KEPCO systems, compared to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) method. The consistent boundaries could be a guideline for power-system planners to assess more accurate system strength, considering the actual interactions of the RESs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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27 pages, 31614 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improved Proportional-Integral Coordinated MPPT Controller with Fast Tracking Speed for Grid-Tied PV Systems under Partially Shaded Conditions

by Haidar Islam, Saad Mekhilef, Noraisyah Mohamed Shah, Tey Kok Soon, Addy Wahyudie and Mahrous Ahmed

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 830; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020830 - 15 Jan 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3336

Abstract

When a photovoltaic (PV) system is exposed to physical objects and cloud coverage and connected to bypass diodes, a partial shading condition (PSC) occurs, which causes a global maximum power point (GMPP) and numerous local maximum power points (LMPPs) on the power-voltage (P-V) curve. Unlike conventional MPPT techniques that search for multiple LMPPs on the P-V curve, it is possible to track GMPP straightaway by designing a simple but robust MPPT technique that results in faster tracking speed and low power oscillations. Hence, in this study, an improved proportional-integral (PI) coordinated Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm is designed to enhance the conversion efficiency of a PV system under PSC with fast-tracking speed and reduced power oscillations. Here, PI controllers are used to mitigating the steady-state errors of output voltage and current of PV system that later on passed through an incremental conductance (INC) algorithm to regulate the duty cycle of a dc–dc boost converter in order to ensure fast MPPT process. The PV system is integrated with the grid through an H-bridge inverter, which is controlled by a synchronous reference frame (SRF) controller. Tracking speed and steady-state oscillations of the proposed MPPT are evaluated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment and validated via a laboratory experimental setup using Agilent solar simulator and dSPACE (DS1104) controller. Results show that the proposed MPPT technique reduces the power fluctuations of PV array significantly and the tracking speed of the proposed method is 13% and 11% faster than the conventional INC and perturb and observe (P&O) methods respectively under PSCs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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13 pages, 7453 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Energy Generation Performance of Window-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Color and Transmittance

by Jae-Hyang Kim and Seung-Hoon Han

Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 8961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218961 - 28 Oct 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2585

Abstract

Previous research has shown Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) to have excellent applicability for building exterior materials and windows, because they can be controlled in terms of Visible Light Transmittance (VLT) and color, and thus have good variability. However, windows with solar cells may not show ideal energy generation efficiency. This depends on a variety of factors, such as window composition, shadow, and light scattering. In this paper, through mock-up tests, the energy generation of DSSCs with various transmittances and colors was measured. Red, Green, and Blue (RGB)-based DSSCs of 7, 10, and 20% VLT were used, and P_max values were measured for solar radiation for comparison. As a result of the comparison, performance estimates were made for each color and VLT when used as a window. In this study, the electrical energy generated by DSSCs was measured in an environment applied to a real window, not a virtual environment. Therefore, the study is meaningful, in that data that can estimate performance when applying various types of DSSCs in a real-world window environment were created. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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21 pages, 5041 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Port DC-DC and DC-AC Converters for Large-Scale Integration of Renewable Power Generation

by Fahad Alsokhiry and Grain Philip Adam

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8440; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208440 - 13 Oct 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2940

Abstract

Numerous research studies on high capacity DC-DC converters have been put forward in recent years, targeting multi-terminal medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, in which renewable power plants can be integrated at both medium-voltage (MV) and high-voltage (HV) DC and AC terminals; hence, leading to complex hybrid AC-DC systems. Multi-port converters (MPCs) offer the means to promote and accelerate renewable energy and smart grids applications due to their increased control flexibilities. In this paper, a family of MPCs is proposed in order to act as a hybrid hub at critical nodes of complex multi-terminal MVDC and HVDC grids. The proposed MPCs provide several controllable DC voltages from constant or variable DC or AC voltage sources. The theoretical analysis and operation scenarios of the proposed MPC are discussed and validated with the aid of MATLAB-SIMULINK simulations, and further corroborated using experimental results from scale down prototype. Theoretical analysis and discussions, quantitative simulations, and experimental results show that the MPCs offer high degree of control flexibilities during normal operation, including the capacity to reroute active or DC power flow between any arbitrary AC and DC terminals, and through a particular sub-converter with sufficient precision. Critical discussions of the experimental results conclude that the DC fault responses of the MPCs vary with the topology of the converter adopted in the sub-converters. It has been established that a DC fault at high-voltage DC terminal exposes sub-converters 1 and 2 to extremely high currents; therefore, converters with DC fault current control capability are required to decouple the healthy sub-converters from the faulted one and their respective fault dynamics. On the other hand, a DC fault at the low-voltage DC terminal exposes the healthy upper sub-converter to excessive voltage stresses; therefore, sub-converters with bipolar cells, which possess the capacity for controlled operation with variable and reduced DC voltage over wide range are required. In both fault causes, continued operation without interruption to power flow during DC fault is not possible due to excessive over-current or over-voltage during fault period; however, it is possible to minimize the interruption. The above findings and contributions of this work have been further elaborated in the conclusions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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25 pages, 2960 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Exploiting OLTC and BESS Operation Coordinated with Active Network Management in LV Networks

by Konstantinos Kotsalos, Ismael Miranda, Jose Luis Dominguez-Garcia, Helder Leite, Nuno Silva and Nikos Hatziargyriou

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3332; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083332 - 20 Apr 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3070

Abstract

The large number of small scale Distributed Energy Resources (DER) such as Electric Vehicles (EVs), rooftop photovoltaic installations and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), installed along distribution networks, poses several challenges related to power quality, efficiency, and reliability. Concurrently, the connection of DER may provide substantial flexibility to the operation of distribution grids and market players such as aggregators. This paper proposes an optimization framework for the energy management and scheduling of operation for Low Voltage (LV) networks assuring both admissible voltage magnitudes and minimized line congestion and voltage unbalances. The proposed tool allows the utilization and coordination of On-Load Tap Changer (OLTC) distribution transformers, BESS, and flexibilities provided by DER. The methodology is framed with a multi-objective three phase unbalanced multi-period AC Optimal Power Flow (MACOPF) solved as a nonlinear optimization problem. The performance of the resulting control scheme is validated on a LV distribution network through multiple case scenarios with high microgeneration and EV integration. The usefulness of the proposed scheme is additionally demonstrated by deriving the most efficient placement and sizing BESS solution based on yearly synthetic load and generation data-set. A techno-economical analysis is also conducted to identify optimal coordination among assets and DER for several objectives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integration and Control of Renewable Energy and Power Electronics for Future Power Systems)

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