Dynamic Modeling, Simulation and Control Design of an Advanced Micro-Hydro Power Plant for Distributed Generation Applications

MÁRQUEZ, JUAN LUIS; MOLINA, MARCELO GUSTAVO; PACAS, JOSÉ MARIO

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY

International Association for Hydrogen Energy - Elsevier Press

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2010 vol. 35 p. 5772 - 5777

0360-3199

A small-scale hydropower station is usually a run-of-river plant that uses a fixed speed drive with mechanical regulation of the turbine water flow rate for controlling the active power generation. This design enables to reach high efficiency over a wide range of water flows but using a complex operating mechanism, which is in consequence expensive and tend to be more affordable for large systems. This paper proposes an advanced structure of a micro-hydro power plant (MHPP) based on a smaller, lighter, more robust and more efficient higher-speed turbine. The suggested design is much simpler and eliminates all mechanical adjustments through a novel electronic power conditioning system for connection to the electric grid. In this way, it allows obtaining higher reliability and lower cost of the power plant. A full detailed model of the MHPP is derived and a new three-level control scheme is designed. The dynamic performance of the proposed MHPP is validated through digital simulations and employing a small-scale experimental set-up.