Performance Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resource Management via Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

Abstract

The cosimulation of the real-world distribution feeder from Holy Cross Energy (HCE) includes both a quasi-steadystate time-series (QSTS) simulation in OpenDSS with a simulation time step of 1 s and an electromagnetic transient (EMT) real-time simulation in OPAL-RT with a simulation time step of 100 µs.

Voltage Regulation Performance Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resource Management via Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

“…Figure 13 shows the results of the volt/VAR mode for the selected 1-h window (11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.), including all the control node voltage measurements. The results of the voltage measurements are very similar to those of the constant power factor mode in [17]. With the contribution of the reactive power in volt/VAR mode, the average system voltages are shifted down approximately 0.01 p.u.…”

“…Energies 2021, 14, 6734 3 of 26 A generic hardware testbed for evaluating coordinated control among advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), other utility management systems (e.g., DERMS and microgrid controller), DERs, and legacy utility equipment controllers (e.g., LTC, capacitor banks and voltage regulator controllers) was established in [16] to provide a realistic and trustworthy laboratory testing environment to evaluate the performance and functionalities of ADMS system. An advanced HIL platform was established at NREL's Energy System Integration Facility (ESIF) leverging the HIL capability in [16] to evaluate the control performance of voltage regulation of DERMS with real-time simulations of a real-world utility distribution system with a high penetration of photovoltaics (PV), an integrated real hardware controller (ADMS and DERMS), and power hardware (DERs) [17]. Yet, HIL testing of DERMS is still an underdeveloped area that requires more research and engineering effort to move the DERMS technology forward; therefore, this paper expands on [17] and goes beyond existing work to develop a generic HIL simulation framework by focusing on evaluating DERMS controller(s) and it provides helpful insights into developing the integrated platform and evaluating the performance of DERMS.…”

“…An advanced HIL platform was established at NREL's Energy System Integration Facility (ESIF) leverging the HIL capability in [16] to evaluate the control performance of voltage regulation of DERMS with real-time simulations of a real-world utility distribution system with a high penetration of photovoltaics (PV), an integrated real hardware controller (ADMS and DERMS), and power hardware (DERs) [17]. Yet, HIL testing of DERMS is still an underdeveloped area that requires more research and engineering effort to move the DERMS technology forward; therefore, this paper expands on [17] and goes beyond existing work to develop a generic HIL simulation framework by focusing on evaluating DERMS controller(s) and it provides helpful insights into developing the integrated platform and evaluating the performance of DERMS. One example is given to apply the generic framework and demonstrate the benefits of the advanced HIL platform, e.g., helping utility partners understand the advantages of using DERMS to manage large-scale DER integration and to mitigate the risks of technology integration.…”

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resource Management Algorithm in Large Distribution Networks

“…Particularly, in OPAL-RT, the power flow of the branch is modeled using eMEGASIM, an electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulator. The root node of the branch is modeled by a controlled voltage source, whose voltage magnitude and phase angle come from OpenDSS in real time, and whose source impedance is calculated based on short-circuit impedance at the branch PCC in OpenDSS [12]. The measured power at the branch head is sent back to OpenDSS as a dynamic load, thus closing the co-simulation loop.…”

Performance Evaluation of an Advanced Distributed Energy Resource Management Algorithm

“…An ADMS can provide a suite of operation functionalities such as volt-var optimization. DERMS is an emerging technology that bridges the gap between larger system coordination (e.g., ADMS) and potentially large numbers of DER devices to aggregate, monitor, and control groups of DERs to provide a more manageable set of services [5]. Additional research and evaluation is needed to further advance DERMS and ensure that the systems work as expected before field deployment.…”