Muhammad Ali Farooq

Master of Electrical Engineering

Research Proposal

Title: Modeling, Analysis and Control of Distributed Generation Resources in

Micro Grid

Introduction
Distributed generation (DG) encompasses a wide range of prime mover technologies, such as
internal combustion (IC) engines, gas turbines, micro turbines, photovoltaic, fuel cells and wind-
power. Penetration of distributed generation has reached the significant level in all over the
world but the concept of smart grid is still in design stags as there are lot of issue concerned with
the integration of significant number of micro resources and the precise control strategies
required between the DGs and load.
The smart grid concept is an advanced approach for enabling integration of unlimited quantity of
distributed energy resources into the electricity grid. The micro grid concept is driven by two
fundamental principles
1) A systems perspective is necessary for customers, utilities, and society to capture the full
benefits of integrating distributed energy resources into an energy system
2) The business case for accelerating adoption of these advanced concepts will be driven,
primarily, by lowering the first cost and enhancing the value of microgrids [1].
Each innovation embodied in the microgrid concept (i.e. intelligent power electronic interfaces,
and a single, smart switch for grid disconnect and resynchronization) was created specifically to
lower the cost and improve the reliability of smaller-scale distributed generation systems. The
goal of this work is to accelerate realization of the many benefits offered by smaller-scale DG,
such as their ability to supply waste heat at the point of need (avoiding extensive thermal
distribution networks) or to provide higher power quality to some but not all loads within a
facility. From a grid perspective, the microgrid concept is attractive because it recognizes the
reality that the nation’s distribution system is extensive, old, and will change only very slowly.
The microgrid concept enables high penetration of DG without requiring re-design or re-
engineering of the distribution system itself. During disturbances, the generation and
corresponding loads can autonomously separate from the distribution system to isolate the
Muhammad Ali Farooq
Master of Electrical Engineering

microgrid’s load from the disturbance (and thereby maintaining high level of service) without
harming the transmission grid’s integrity.
Generally micro grid has two critical components; the static switch and micro resources. Static
switch provides the ability to autonomously island the microgrid from disturbance such as fault
or some power quality event. After islanding, the reconnection of the microgrid is achieved
autonomously after the tripping event is no longer present. This synchronization is achieved by
using the frequency difference between the islanded microgrid and the utility grid insuring a
transient free operation without having to match frequency and phase angles at the connection
point. Each micro source can seamlessly balance the power on the islanded Microgrid using a
power vs. frequency droop controller. This frequency droop also insures that the Microgrid
frequency is different from the grid to facilitate reconnection to the utility.

Smart Grid Vs Micro Grid

The birth of smart grid arrives from the microgrid technology in which several DGR are
connected to local grid. Some additional feature can be added to micro grid such as
communication between devices and load, smart metering and many more. Such additional
features leads to the concept of smart grid.
Smart grids consist of four unique features which can be given as Integration, Control,
Communication and Metering (ICCM). Integration refers to connection of heterogeneous type of
energy sources with AC or DC grid using appropriate converters. Power output of the DRES is
dependent on climatic conditions like wind speed and solar irradiance. Controls in smart grids
are made intelligent to extract the maximum power from the sources, operational scheduling of
energy sources and overloads, control of transients, real and reactive power. For effective
operation of the diverse smart grid, communication between various control nodes is necessary.
Communication standards for smart grids usually are set by protocols, and most of them involve
the interconnection of Secure Communication Line (SCL) to the main control unit by LAN
(Local Area Network), HAN (Home Area Network), and WAN (Wide Area Network). The
interconnection should be accompanied with a firewall at various levels for the cyber security of
the smart grid. Smart metering employed in smart grids provides additional information of the
electrical energy consumed compared to conventional energy meters. Smart metering can
Muhammad Ali Farooq
Master of Electrical Engineering

measure the energy parameters of the load remotely and transfer the data through the
communication network.

Literature Review

The interest for Distributed Generation (DG) and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and their
integration in the utility grid has increased significantly in the last decade, not the least due to the
appearance of an increasing amount of small grid-connected generators, such as CHP units, wind
turbines and photovoltaic at low and medium voltage levels. Distributed Generation refers to the
numerous small, modular electricity generators, which are located at LV lines, often close to the
point of end use [3]. Distributed Energy Resources refer to all technologies which can be used to
provide energy close to the consumers. These technologies include besides generators also
energy storage units, controllable loads and interconnection and power control technologies.
the impact of DER at low voltage levels on power balance and grid frequency may become much
more significant, if not crucial. As a result, these resources inevitably need to cooperate with
central generators to keep the balance between supplied and consumed power. This might
involve the curtailment of electric energy produced by photovoltaic, shifting the ratio between
heat and power produced by micro-CHP units or postponing or advancing the charging of plug-
in hybrid or electric vehicles. Even more, the batteries present in these vehicles could be used as
storage, further increasing the options for grid control. As a result, considerable research is now
dedicated at the integration of large amounts of DER in the utility grid [4]-[5]. The focus has
been shifted from how the impact of DG could be minimized or tolerated, towards how DER,
with DG as a subclass, could effectively improve the grid operation by contributing to ancillary
services. Instead of burdening the distribution system, DER aims to add benefits to the system,
such as congestion relief, postponement of new generation capacity, local voltage support and
frequency support.
In order to account the effective and economical control contribution at low voltage level, the
author in [6] applied droop control algorithm in combination with dedicated control strategy and
communication algorithm. The microgrid concept [7], is viewed as a particular form of active
network, offering a compromise between current grid requirements and future needs. The control
concept and their design and implementation has been detailed discussed in [8] in his phd thesis.
Muhammad Ali Farooq
Master of Electrical Engineering

The paper [9] focuses on high level distribution network installed in micro grid. Beside technical
aspects, economical aspects are also discussed. The author designed primary, secondary and
tertiary algorithm for complete distributed way.

References

1. Lasseter, R.H., A Akhil, C. Marnay, J Stephens, J Dagle, R Guttromson, A.Meliopoulous,

R Yinger, and J. Eto, “The CERTS Microgrid Concept,” White paper for Transmission
Reliability Program, Office of Power Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy, April
2002.
2. Colleen Williams, “CHP Systems,” Distributed Energy, March/April 2004, pp.57-59.
3. Pepermans G., Driesen J., Haeseldonckx D., Belmans R., D'haeseleer W,"Distributed
generation: definition, benefits and issues," Energy Policy, Vol.33, Issue 6, April, 2005;
pp. 787-798.
Muhammad Ali Farooq
Master of Electrical Engineering

4. Large Scale Integration of Micro-generation to Low Voltage Grids (MICROGRIDS),

http://microgrids.power.ece.ntua.gr.
5. Distributed Intelligence in Critical Infrastructures for Sustainable Power (CRISP),
http://www.crisp.ecn.nl.
6. De Brabandere K., Bolsens B., Van den Keybus J., Woyte A., Driesen J.,Belmans R.: " A
voltage and frequency droop control method for parallel inverters," 2004 IEEE 35th
Annual power electronics specialists conference, Aachen, Germany, June 20-25, 2004;
pp. 2501-2507.
7. R. Lasseter, A. Akhil, C. Marnay, J. Stevens, J. Dagle, R. Guttromson, A.S. Meliopoulos,
R. Yinger, and J. Eto, White Paper on Integration of Distributed Energy Resources – The
CERTS MicroGrid Concept. April, 2002.
8. K. De Brabandere, Voltage and frequency droop control in low voltage grids by
distributed generators with inverter front-end. PhD thesis, Faculteit
Ingenieurswetenschappen, K.U.Leuven, Belgium, October 2006.
1. K.S. Reddy, Madhusudan Kumar, T.K. Mallick, H. Sharon, S. Lokeswaran, “A review of
Integration, Control, Communication and Metering (ICCM) of renewable energy based
smart grid,”Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 38, October 2014, pp
180-192.