Real-time Control of Battery Energy Storage Systems to Provide Ancillary Services Considering Voltage-Dependent Capability of DC-AC Converters

Frequency response and voltage support are vital ancillary services for power grids. In this paper, we design and experimentally validate a real-time control framework for battery energy storage systems (BESSs) to provide ancillary services to power grids. The objective of the control system is to utilize the full capability of the BESSs to provide ancillary services. We take the voltage-dependent capability curve of the DC-AC converter and the security requirements of BESSs as constraints of the control system. The initial power set-points are obtained based on the droop control approach. To guarantee the feasibility of the power set-points with respect to both the converter capability and BESS security constraints, the final power set-points calculation is formulated as a nonconvex optimization problem. A convex and computationally efficient reformulation of the original control problem is then proposed. We prove that the proposed convex optimization gives the global optimal solution to the original nonconvex problem. We improve the computational performance of this algorithm by discretizing the feasible region of the optimization model. We achieve a 100 ms update time of the controller setpoint computation in the experimental validation of the utility-scale 720 kVA / 560 kWh BESS on the EPFL campus.

Frequency-Domain Control Design in Power Systems

Christoph Manuel Kammer

The scope of this thesis encompasses two main subjects: fixed-structure data-driven control design on one side, and control design in power systems on the other. The overall goal is to identify challenging and relevant problems in power systems, to express them as rigorous specifications from the viewpoint of control systems, and to solve them by developing and applying advanced methods in robust control. This work aims to combine expertise from both fields to open up a holistic perspective and bridge the gap between control and power systems. First, the derivation of a novel fixed-structure, data-driven frequency-domain control design method for multivariable systems is described. A key feature of the method is that only the frequency response of the plant is required for the design, and no parametric model is required. The designed controllers are fully parametrized in terms of matrix polynomial functions and can take a centralized, decentralized or distributed structure. The controller performance is formulated as H_2 and H_infinity constraints on any loop transfer function. A convex formulation of the optimization problem is derived, and it is shown that the solution converges to a locally optimal solution of the original problem. The versatility of the design method is demonstrated in various simulation examples, as well as in experiments on two electromechanical setups. Next, a frequency-domain modeling approach for power grids is discussed. A model based on dynamic phasors is developed that represents the electromagnetic and electromechanic dynamics of lines, inverters, synchronous machines and constant power loads. It also offers a modular structure that makes it straightforward to combine white-, grey- and blackbox models in a single framework. Then, the control design method and dynamic phasor model are applied in two relevant power systems case studies. First, the design of a decentralized current controller for parallel, grid-connected voltage source inverters in a typical distribution grid is considered. It is shown how performance specifications can be formulated as frequency-domain constraints in order to attenuate the resonances introduced by the output filters and coupling effects, and to provide robustness against model uncertainties and grid topology changes. The controllers for all VSIs are designed in a single step, and stability and performance is guaranteed by design. Furthermore, an approach for plug-and-play control design is presented. The results are validated in numerical simulation as well as in power-hardware-in-the-loop experiments. The second study concerns the design of a distributed controller that combines primary and secondary frequency and voltage control for an islanded, meshed low-voltage grid with any number of voltage source inverters and synchronous generators in a single framework. No assumption on the R/X-ratio of the lines is made, and it is shown how advanced control specifications such as proportional active power sharing, zero frequency steady-state error and decoupling can be formulated as constraints on the norm of weighted sensitivity functions. Furthermore, the communication delays of the distributed controller are considered exactly during the design. The controller is implemented in numerical simulation, and results show significantly improved performance as compared to the classical hierarchical structure.

EPFL2018

Real-Time Control Framework for Active Distribution Networks Theoretical Definition and Experimental Validation

Lorenzo Enrique Reyes Chamorro

The great challenge of massively integrating the volatile distributed power-generation into the power system is strongly related to the evolution of their operation and control. The literature of the last decade has suggested two models for such an evolution: (i) the supergrid model, based on enhanced continental/intercontinental network interconnections (mainly DC) for bulk transmission, (ii) the microgrid mode, where small medium/low voltage networks interfacing heterogeneous resources, such as local generation, energy storage and active customers, are intelligently managed so that they are operated as independent cells capable of providing different services from each other and operate in islanded mode. Irrespective of the model that will eventually emerge, the control of heterogeneous distributed resources represents a fundamental challenge for both supergrid and microgrid models. This requires the definition of scalable and composable control methods that guarantee the optimal and feasible operation of distribution grids in order to satisfy local objectives (e.g., distribution grid power balance), as well as the provision of ancillary services to the external bulk transmission (e.g., primary and secondary frequency supports). Several control methodologies have been proposed to achieve these goals, and the majority of them have been inspired by the classic time-layered approach traditionally adopted in power systems that are associated with different time-scales and extension of the controlling area, i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary controls, ranging from sub-seconds to hours, respectively. In the context of microgrids, these three levels of control can be associated with a decision process that can be centralized (i.e., a dedicated central controller decides on the operation of the system resources) and/or decentralized (each element decides based on its own rules). In the current literature, the former is used for long-term, whereas the latter for short-term decisions. In particular, primary controls are typically deployed through fully decentralized schemes mainly relying on the use of droop control. With this in mind, in this thesis we propose, and experimentally validate, a novel control framework called COMMELEC â A Composable Framework for Real-Time Control of Active Distribution Networks, Using Explicit Power Set-Points. It controls a power grid in real-time based on a multi-agent structure, using a simple and low-bandwidth communication protocol. Such a framework enables a controller to easily steer an entire network as an equivalent energy resource, thus making an entire system able to provide grid support by exploiting the flexibility of its components in real-time. The main features of the framework are (i) that it is able to indirectly control the reserve of the storage systems, thus maximizing the autonomy of the islanding operation, (ii) that it keeps the system in feasible operation conditions and better explores, compared to traditional techniques, the various degrees of freedom that characterize the system, and (iii) that it maintains the system power-equilibrium without using the frequency as a global variable, even being able to do so in inertia-less systems. Our framework has been extensively validated, first by simulations but, more importantly, in a real-scale microgrid laboratory specially designed and setup for this goal. This is the first real-scale experiment that proves the applicability of a droop-less explicit power-flow control mechanism in microgrids.

EPFL2016

Real-Time Control of Microgrids with Explicit Power Setpoints: an API for Resource Agents

Andrey Bernstein, Niek Johannes Bouman, Jean-Yves Le Boudec

Renewable energy resources, such as photovoltaic panels, typically have very volatile power-injection characteristics, which poses a number of challenges to the real-time control of electrical grids that contain a significant fraction of these resources. Recently, a new paradigm for controlling such grids, termed COMMELEC, was proposed; it uses explicit power setpoints instead of droop-control. Central to this new paradigm is an abstract message format that enables resources to delegate the decisions related to their control actions to a grid controller. This is essential to the feasibility of the approach, as it makes the grid controller device-independent. However, it leaves to the resource agents the burden of translating device-specific information into this abstract format. In this paper, we present a solution to this problem; more specifically, we present a very simple Application Programming Interface (API) that can be used to design a COMMELEC-compliant resource agent. We present an easy-to-use High-Level API, which supports a pre- defined set of resources, such as a battery or a photovoltaic panel. We also describe a Low-Level API that provides full access to the underlying message format, and allows to design a resource agent that is not supported by the High-Level API. For message serialization, we use the Cap’n Proto framework, which allows for efficient manipulations of the mathematical objects used in COMMELEC.