Modeling and Simulation of Micro-Hydro Power Plants for Applications in Distributed Generation

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

San Juan

Congreso; 2º Congreso Iberoamericano de Hidrógeno y Fuentes Sustentables de Energía (HYFUSEN 2009); 2009

Instituto de Energía y Desarrollo Sustentable - Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA)

This paper presents a full detailed modeling and a new control scheme of a three-phase grid-connected micro-hydro power plant (MHPP). The MHPP model consists of a run-of-river hydraulic turbine coupled to a synchronous generator and the electronic power conditioning system for grid connection. The control consists of a multi-level hierarchical structure and incorporates a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for better use of the hydro resource. In addition, reactive power compensation of the electric grid is included, operating simultaneously and independently of the active power generation. Validation of models and control schemes is performed by using the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Moreover, a small-scale micro-hydro power station experimental set-up was employed to demonstrate the accuracy of proposed models.