See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/329612541

Smart Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Systems

Conference Paper · October 2018

DOI: 10.1109/ICRERA.2018.8566827

CITATIONS READS

23 5,309

1 author:

Ahsan Shahid
Caterpillar Inc.
17 PUBLICATIONS   121 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Next Generation Controls View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ahsan Shahid on 02 January 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

WK,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ5HQHZDEOH(QHUJ\5HVHDUFKDQG$SSOLFDWLRQV 3DULV)5$1&(2FW

Smart Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Systems

Ahsan Shahid, Member IEEE

Abstract— Smart grid is an evolution of existing power Smart grid paradigm uses information and communications
system with close interplay among energy, control and technologies (ICT) collecting information and actuating
communication infrastructure. Power processing is done processes that improve resilience, power quality, sustainability
using both kinds of energy systems namely conventional and economy of the production and distribution of electricity
remote power generation and non-conventional power [5]. Due to the provisions of urban services, the management
generation in proximity with the loads and actuation is of energy systems and communication networks is seeking
done using power electronic devices and systems. The more attention. Reliability and interoperability of systems
realization of such type of interactive, resilient and governing these networks are some of the key factors in
sustainable model is a challenge. In this paper, a unique securing provision of higher level services depending on them
modeling and control prototype is presented for renewable [6]. To support optimum performance and uninterruptible
energy sources integration into the smart grid. The model delivery, utilities use several information and communication
is scalable in nature which means more renewable energy technologies. Urbanization is demanding the increased usage
sources can be added according to design requirements. of renewable technologies to efficiently balance energy
Demonstration of transitory states, overall power demand and supply. On the other hand, the continuous and
conditioning and the transient response of the system independent deployment of renewable energy sources and
indicate the usefulness of the proposed model. systems is creating the risks in terms of voltage and power
fluctuations, frequency mismatch, harmonics, inefficiencies
Index Terms— Integration, Renewable Energy, Resilient, and other critical issues. With smart grid concept, small
Scalable, Smart Grid. distributed energy sources can be integrated in an urbanized
I. INTRODUCTION network enabling real-time optimization and facilitating the
Modern power system is a web of energy sources. These interaction with other infrastructures [7]. Hence, the grid
sources are integrated within the mainstream system for integration of renewable energy resources with all technical
efficiency, reliability and economy [1]. The building blocks of implications is playing a critical role in sustainable
this system include small power sources such as solar development of smart cities.
photovoltaic, fuel cells, wind turbines etc., power electronic In renewable energy sources (RESs) based power system,
devices and interfaces, information and communication, and various sources at W or kW level act as an integral part of
supervisory control systems [2]. Non-conventional renewable power generation and distribution along-with the main energy
energy sources and systems (RESS) including but not limited source which may be a traditional hydro, gas or coal power
to biomass, biogas, geothermal etc. are increasingly playing plant at MW level. The distributed system performs its
an important role for electric power distribution and storage. operation in grid-synchronized or islanded/standalone modes.
The idea is to develop a resilient energy infrastructure Based on efficiency and cost effectiveness, several
minimizing the cost of remote power and support green and combinations of power sources can be formed for providing
sustainable development efforts [3]. Moreover, the integration uninterruptible power to the loads on the demand side. To
of small and co-located generation into the modern power grid model this type of complex system, a scalable strategy is
with significant share of renewable energy sources is observed needed which considers all diverse physical components, the
to be restorative for power quality complications [4]. All of communication between decentralized units, the intermittent
this is combined in distributed generation (DG) mechanism and unstable nature of RES and power quality during transient
which allows to lower environmental impacts and improve conditions [8]. In this paper, an integrated modeling approach
security of supply. Advanced research methodologies in this is proposed to govern efficient and reliable smart grid
area are leading towards developing a realistic model of this operation under different operating conditions with distinct
type of complex and hybrid power generation, supply and operating states. The transient response of the system is
storage system which is resilient, robust and sustainable. analyzed for a given disturbance validating the proposed
approach. The following subsections describe (II) proposed

,&5(5$ 
‹,(((
WK,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ5HQHZDEOH(QHUJ\5HVHDUFKDQG$SSOLFDWLRQV 3DULV)5$1&(2FW

modeling, (III) system integration and control, (IV) are becoming popular. This design based on hybrid and
experiment and analysis (V) conclusions. scattered power sources and their combinations is very
effective in controlling various dynamic electrical parameters.
The system can be programmed to use only the most
II. PROPOSED MODELING economical power sources or efficiency and reliability
A scalable and reliable renewable energy based smart grid combinations can be formed depending on load demand and
model with generic components is shown in figure 1. The excessive power can be dumped into the storage devices. The
primary grid in the form of large generator with its excitation components needed for renewable energy integration in smart
system and secondary control serves as the main utility grids are described in the following subsections:
supplying power using conventional transmission lines. On
the other side, distributed generators in the form of RESs are A. Micro-source
connected through power electronic converters and interfaces Micro-source is usually a small power source integrated in
to the grid using static or dynamic coupling. The supervisory the power network. Renewable energy sources are typically
control ensures the continuation of power supply during used as micro-power sources. Due to the advantages of high
dynamic events. For example, during blackouts or service efficiency, less pollution and flexible molecular structure, fuel
hours on the main grid side or transmissions lines, the system cells are desirable renewable energy resources in an integrated
transfers to islanded mode and continues to supply power hybrid power supply system [12]. Figure 2 shows a MATLAB
through RESs. If the dynamics keep changing, distributed model for fuel cell from SimPowerSystems™ toolbox that can
generators (or micro-grids) keep operating in synchronization be used as a micro-source. A generic implementation of fuel
with the primary grid. cell model is parameterized to represent most popular types of
fuel cell stacks with hydrogen and air [13].
AC Bus
Loads Distributed Generation Distributed Energy
Interface Resources

DG Link +-
Primary Grid PCC

Transmission
+-

+-

. .
. .
Fig. 2. Fuel cell model
Loads
. .

Fig. 1. Scalable model for smart grid with renewable energy sources B. Voltage Source Inverter
A voltage source is necessary for connecting micro-source
It is apparent from figure 1 that the distributed power
to the three-phase distributed power system. It comprises a
system based on renewable energy is composed of various
components; an energy source that provides power (micro- DC source, and an inverter with a filter to produce sinusoidal
source), a voltage source inverter or a converter and the output. Fuel cell based voltage source inverter (VSI) can be
coupling equipment or link (inductance or switch) that developed in MATLAB/Simulink as demonstrated in figure 3.
connects it to the main power grid. In MATLAB and
Simulink, SimPowerSystems™ toolbox has the libraries for
each of these components. These libraries can be used to
model and analyze the complete system behavior including
harmonic analysis (THD), transient response, power flow, and
other key electric power system parameters and automation.
Modern day concept of micro-grids provides a viable
solution to overcome the challenges of integrating renewable
energy sources and systems into the main grid. Micro-grids
are small scale electrical power generation and distribution
systems interconnecting multiple customers, distributed Fig. 3. Renewable energy based voltage source inverter model
generators and storage systems [9]. Cyber-physical system
design based approaches [10]-[12] to improve the resilience, The control techniques for voltage source inverters depend
efficiency and transient performance of a smart grid system on many factors including, the nature of micro-source and its

,&5(5$ 
WK,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ5HQHZDEOH(QHUJ\5HVHDUFKDQG$SSOLFDWLRQV 3DULV)5$1&(2FW

interface, modulation method, coupling and storage controls both the magnitude and phase of its output voltage.
technology. The harmonic content in the system at any instant Consequently
of time is decided by the modulation method. During voltage EV
P Sin (G ) (3.4)
mode control, pulse-width-modulation controls the output by X
varying the duty cycle of a square wave. IGBT based pulse- V
width-modulated inverters have been used for reduced losses Q {ECos (G )  V } (3.5)
X
and fast performance and a three-phase low pass filter is Hence, the relationship between the inverter voltage E,
installed for smoothness of inverter output voltage. The
system voltage V, and the inductor’s reactance X determines
feedback loop is implemented using the dq (synchronous) and
αβ (stationary) reference frames. The gating pulses are the flow of real and reactive power from the system. The
generated by the power electronic devices within the inverter active power (P) and reactive power (Q) are calculated from
to track the control’s requests. VSI is usually integrated with the voltage and current as shown in figure 4.
the main stream power system through a step-up transformer.
Power electronics technology that provides efficient and
reliable power conversion from renewable energy systems is
described in detail in [14]-[15].

C. Coupling
RESS are interfaced with the utility grid and loads using
coupling inductors or static switches at the point of common
coupling (PCC). The 3-φ series RLC configurable load block Fig. 4. Active and Reactive Power Calculation
can be used from SimPowerSystems™ for the implementation
of a three-phase balanced load as a series combination of RLC When RESS are operating in synchronization with the
elements. This load block exhibits a constant impedance at the primary grid, loads may get power from both types of sources.
If the grid power is lost because of IEEE 1547 events, voltage
specified frequency.
drops, faults, blackouts, etc., the system can autonomously
transfer to island operation [17]. These situations require
III. SYSTEM INTEGRATION AND CONTROL droop control for dealing with voltage and frequency
The control system must be designed such as addition of deviations. The real-time values for Active Power (P) and
new sources is allowed without modifying existing Reactive Power (Q) are used to implement the droops for
infrastructure, the RESS can be connected or disconnected frequency and voltage. This implementation provides the
from the main grid rapidly and seamlessly, frequency and desired frequency and voltage tuning for inverters. The VSI
power can be regulated independently to meet the dynamic behaves like a voltage source controlling the voltage
load demand [16]. RES must respond to the changes in the magnitude and frequency by respective droops [18]. The
system without requiring programmable information. The details of power sharing and balancing strategies are described
smart grid integration of RESS cannot be achieved with basic in [19]-[21]. A simplistic implementation of P and Q droops is
unity power factor controls. Systems with high penetrations of shown in figure 5.
RES may experience deviations in voltage and/or reactive
power that cannot be handled by local voltage and frequency
controls. Making sure that there are no large circulating
reactive currents between the sources is necessary for local
stability and reliability.
The inverter output voltage and frequency are dependent
on real and reactive power of the micro-source. The active and
reactive power for the integrated system can be realized as
3EVSin (G ) (3.1)
P
ZL
3V {ECos (G )  V } (3.2)
Q Fig. 5. Droop control implementation using P and Q
ZL
Where, V and E are the grid and inverter output voltages
respectively. L is the magnitude of inductive reactance. VSI

,&5(5$ 
WK,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ5HQHZDEOH(QHUJ\5HVHDUFKDQG$SSOLFDWLRQV 3DULV)5$1&(2FW

IV. EXPERIMENT AND ANALYSIS

The state transition based control strategy is used for the 110

integration of renewable energy sources and systems with the

grid. Binary values are assigned to all sources where 1 means
the source is providing power and 0 means power is not
available from the source. For example, if three sources are 010 100
taken at a time, there can be eight possible combinations i.e.
000, 100, 110, 010, 011, 001, 101, and 111. Each combination
represents the status of available power and each mode shows
a supply status of available sources in the network. The binary Fig. 7. Control modes and transitions for fault operation
True represents ON state and False represents OFF state. The
transition from OFF to ON or vice versa is represented by an To execute the transitions efficiently and appropriately, the
arrowhead from previous state to current state. First two digits control must make decisions regarding which sources should
in each sequence represent RES while the last digit represent be supplying power depending upon the load requirement and
the grid. power quality factors. The communication with the grid and
Let us analyze the integration method with the following distribution substations plays a very important role as the
case studies: information regarding the grid status (ON time or OFF time)
A. Case Study; Normal Operation decides if back-up power is available and with how many
power sources. To verify the performance, a transitory
Consider the mode {101} which represents RES1=ON, condition has been simulated to see the recovery time of the
RES2=OFF and Grid=ON which means only one RES is system. It highlights the capability to operate and switch
providing power to the loads. In this mode of operation, if between different states to ensure maximum efficiency and
load demand increases, a transition RES2=ON occurs and the reliability during varying system dynamics and load demand.
system goes to the mode {111}. Here, both RESs as well as Hence, this approach is resilient for the operation of smart
the gird are supplying the power. This can also be termed as grid in normal and fault conditions. The transient response can
grid-connected or synchronized operation. Now consider that be seen from figure 8.
the load demand goes down and RES1 is the least efficient
energy source. In this situation, the system will transfer to the
mode {011} in order to maintain reliability and efficiency.
RES2 will keep on operating with the grid. This is shown in
figure 6.

111

101 011

Fig. 8. Transient response of the integrated system with three sources

Fig. 6. Control modes and transitions for normal operation

V. CONCLUSIONS
A scalable strategy for the integration of renewable energy
B. Case Study; Fault Operation sources into the smart grid is presented in this paper. The
In case of fault operation, the power from grid is not purpose is to addresses ongoing issues in achieving seamless
available, hence the Grid=OFF. Consider the state {010} and resilient operation of smart grids that are penetrated by
which represents RES1=OFF, RES2=ON. If more power is huge volume of renewable energy sources and systems. The
needed, the transition RES1 OFF --> ON occurs and the addition of sensing-actuation mechanism among the sources,
system transfers to the state {110}. In this case, both RESs are loads and the utility operators brings along new complexities
supplying the power. When the load demand goes down, the and architectures. For high performance, economy and
power from RES2 can be shut off and the system will move to sustainability in addition to efficiency and reliability,
the state {100}. Here, only RES1 will be used to supply the advanced control-communication and monitoring technologies
power. This strategy is demonstrated in figure 7. are required for realizing intelligent and scalable power

,&5(5$ 
WK,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ5HQHZDEOH(QHUJ\5HVHDUFKDQG$SSOLFDWLRQV 3DULV)5$1&(2FW

system architecture. Bringing together and integrating all [11] Shahid, A. “An overview of control architecture for next generation
smart grids”, 19th International Conference on Intelligent System
these technologies into one homogenized system is a modern
Application to Power (ISAP), 2017
challenge and needs a lot of attention. The integration method [12] Shahid, A., “A cyber-physical approach for stochastic hybrid control
proposed in this paper focuses on the all these aspects of and safety verification of smart grids”, IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid
developing a smart power infrastructure that is self-healing Technologies (ISGT), Asia, 2014
[13] Jenica-Ileana Corcau1, Liviu Dinca1, Teodor Lucian Grigorie1
and capable of performing automatic remedial actions.
and Alexandru-Nicolae Tudosie1, “ Fuzzy energy management for
hybrid fuel cell/battery systems for more electric aircrapft”, AIP
Conference Proceedings 1836, 020056, 2017
REFERENCES [14] Frede Blaabjerg, Yongheng Yang, Ke Ma, Xiongfei Wang, “Advanced
[1] National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), “Using distributed Grid Integration of Renewables Enabled by Power Electronics
energy resources”. Available: http://www.nrel.gov/ Technology. In: Schulz D. (eds) Nachhaltige Energieversorgung und
[2] EPRI White Paper, "Integrating distribution resources into electric Integration von Speichern. Springer Vieweg, Wiesbaden, 2015
utility distribution system", Technology Review, 2011 [15] Frede Blaabjerg, Yongheng Yang, Ke MA and Xiongfei Wang, “Power
[3] P. Mazidi and G. N. Sreenivas; “Reliability assessment of a distributed electronics – the key technology for renewable energy system
generation connected distribution system”. International Journal of integration”, 4th International Conference on Renewable Energy
Power System Operation and Energy Management (IJPSOEM), 2011. Research and Applications (ICRERA), 2015
[4] Math H. Bollen and Fainan Hassan “Integration of distributed [16] Lasseter, R. Akhil, A. Marnay, C. Stephens, J. Dagle, J. Guttromson, R.
generation in the power system”, John Wiley & Sons, 2011 A. S. Meliopoulous, R. Yinger, and Eto J., Technical Report.
[5] Shahid, A., “Cyber-physical modeling and control of smart grids – A Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions, 2004.
new paradigm”, IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT), [17] Piagi P㸪Lasseter R, H. “Autonomous control of microgrids”, IEEE
2016 Power Engineering Society General Meeting, pp.1-8, 2006
[6] Tugrul Atasoy, Hulya Erdener Akinc, Ozden Ercin, “An analysis on [18] Shahid, A., “Power quality control in grid-interactive micro-power
smart grid applications and grid integration of renewable energy systems systems”, 5th International Conference on Renewable Energy Research
in smart cities”, 4th International Conference on Renewable Energy and Applications (ICRERA), 2016
Research and Applications (ICRERA), 2015 [19] Shobole, A., Wadi, M., TUR, M. R., Baysal, M., “Real time active
[7] Lo, C.H., Ansari, N., “The progressive smart grid system from both power control in smart grid”, 6th International Conference on Renewable
power and communications aspects”, Communications Surveys & Energy Research and Applications (ICRERA), 2017
Tutorials, IEEE, 14(3), 799-821, 2012. [20] Shahid, A., Arsal, S.M., “Distributed co-control of interface inverters for
[8] Shahid, A., “Event based reduction of power fluctuation using cyber- harmonic-loss mitigation and power-sharing accuracy in micro-grids”,
physical control-communication network in smart grids”, Power 47th North American Power Symposium, 2015
Systems Conference, 2016 [21] Gu, Y., Li, P., Pan, Y., Ouyang, H., Han, D., Hao, Y., “Development of
[9] H. Bevrani, “Microgrid control: a solution for penetration of renewable microgrid coordination and control overview”, IEEE PES Innovative
power”, International Conference on Green Energy and Applications, Smart Grid Technologies, Asia, 2012
2017
[10] Shahid, A., “A preliminary communication-assisted hybrid control
strategy for maximum reliability and efficiency in smart grids”, IEEE
PES Transmission and Distribution Conference (T&D), 2016

,&5(5$ 

View publication stats