Improving the Performance of Grid-Tied AC Microgrids Including Renewable Generation by Distributed Energy Storage

MOLINA, MARCELO GUSTAVO; ZOBAA, AHMED F.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Congreso Iberoamericano de Hidrógeno y Fuentes Sustentables de Energía: HYFUSEN 2011; 2011

Instituto de Energía y Desarrollo Sustentable - Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica

Grid connection of renewable energy sources (RESs), such as wind and solar, is becoming today an important form of distributed generation (DG). The penetration of these DG units in electrical microgrids (MGs) is growing rapidly, enabling reaching high percentage of installed generating capacity. However, the fluctuating and intermittent nature of these renewable generations causes fluctuations of power flow that can significantly affect the stability and operation of the electrical grid. This condition is worsened by to the low inertia present in the microgrid; thus requiring to have available additional fast-response spinning reserve. To overcome these problems, distributed energy storage (DES) systems based on advanced technologies, such as superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), supercapacitors and flywheels, arise as a potential alternative in order to balance any instantaneous mismatch in the active power of the microgrid. This paper proposes the use of these new DES technologies for the stabilization and control of the power flow of AC microgrids with RESs. In this sense, the design and implementation of the proposed DES systems is described. Moreover, the dynamic behavior of the presented models and their impact on the microgrid performance are evaluated by computer simulation.