Dynamic Characterization of Power-Electronics-based-Microgrid (Dyn-PEM)

The concept of Microgrid has been introduced as a power generation platform for distributed generation (DG) where DERs are efficiently and reliably integrated. A standard feature of the Microgrid is the capability to work in islanding and gridconnected modes with minimal disruption for the permissible voltage and frequency tolerance levels.  

The growth of inverter-based Microgrids has expanded significantly in recent decades. The wide spread of Microgrid networks has provided better environmental and economic solutions over conventional power systems. The formation of distributed energy systems aims to enable the large-scale integration of renewable energy resources. However, there are many stability and control issues that need to be addressed to better stabilize and maturase the deployment of Microgrids as a next-generation power system. 

In Microgrid applications, inertial response (IR) and fast frequency response (FFR) terminologies refer to the transient response of the power system caused by the kinetic energy stored in generators and in motors that are directly coupled to the grid. The fast frequency response is an indirect indicator to the amount of inertia available in the system under certain loading conditions. The purpose of the investigations is to measure and characterize the aforementioned terminologies.

During the 2-week access period, several successful experiments were carried out using RTDS power network emulator. The experiments were conducted, and the results were obtained, processed, and analyzed. 

The primary goals and findings from the lab access are categorized as:

• Performing hardware real-time emulation of inverter-based DGS.  
• Measuring and quantifying the equivalent inertia amount in the Microgrid composed of different inverter-based DERs.  
• Evaluating the optimal mix of grid forming and grid feeding DGs using real-time measurements under dynamic operating conditions.