Enhancing distribution system resiliency using grid-forming fuel cell inverter

Prabakar, Kumaraguru; Velaga, Yaswanth Nag; Flores, Robert; Brouwer, Jack; Chase, Jeffrey S.; Sen, P.K.

doi:10.1109/repec55671.2022.00015

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…It should be noted that such concept is only applicable to the loads that are connected to AC grid via a VSC, so active and reactive power can be regulated independently at the point of connection. Several studies have considered gridforming functionality for hydrogen electrolyzer, most often with the combination of a fuel cell unit [16], [17]. The hybrid electrolyzer-fuel cell unit can operate in grid-forming mode and depending on the loading condition in the AC grid, the hybrid unit can either inject power to or absorb power from the AC grid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grid-Forming Services From Hydrogen Electrolyzers

Tavakoli

Dozein

Lacerda

et al. 2023

IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy

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Hydrogen electrloyzers are power-to-gas storage devices that can facilitate large-scale integration of intermittent renewable sources into the future power systems. Due to their fast response and capability to operate in different loading conditions, they can be used as responsive loads providing support to AC grid during transients. This paper suggests taking one step further and using hydrogen electrolyzers to provide grid-forming services to the grid. As a result, the electrolyzer's role is elevated from supporting the grid (responsive load) to actively participating in forming voltage and frequency of the grid. The grid-forming capability of electrolyzer is linked to its hydrogen production constraints, which can potentially pose limitations on the gridforming services. Besides the grid-forming mode, two additional operating modes, i.e., DC voltage mode and constant power mode, are proposed to ensure a safe operation of the electrolyzer in case of adversary interaction between grid-forming operation and hydrogen production constraints. This paper also studies the impacts of grid-forming services on the electrolyzer's physical features such as hydrogen stack temperature and efficiency. Comprehensive simulations are conducted on a low-inertia test network whose topology is inspired by a portion of the transmission grid in South Australia to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed concept under various operational conditions of the electrolyzer and upstream AC grid. Moreover, the practical feasibility of the proposed control system is experimentally validated by conducting hardware-in-the-loop tests.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%