Advanced Distribution Management System

(ADMS) Evaluations with Private LTE

Communication Networks

Barry Mather Ph.D. – NREL

UTC Region 10 Meeting
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 10-11, 2019
 Grid Modernization Applications

• Communication
• Control/Automation
• Controllable devices
• Reconfigurable DA AMI
• Reliable/resilient
• … Voltage Regulator
Recloser 1
Regulator 3

Recloser 2
PV Inverter
Capacitor Bank
Regulator 1
Regulator 2
Cap Bank 2
Recloser 3

Cap Bank 1

Feeder Head – Breaker/Regulator DMS

ADMS
DERMS CVR NREL | 2
 NREL’s ADMS Testbed

Actual ADMS Deployment:

• Tools to model large scale distribution
systems for evaluating ADMS applications

• Integrate distribution system hardware for

power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL)
experimentation

• Develop advanced visualization capability NREL | 3

 ADMS
Voltage Measurements Only (DNP3)
Voltage Measurements
Only (DNP3)
Device Simulator Dbus PC

Opal-RT DNP3 servers

OpenDSS : Opal-RT eMEGAsim: power
Most of Feeder with Part of HCE Feeder
PV+BESS Testbed analog
LTC coordinator co-simulation
dual variables (P & Q)

comms.

VR

EV
Uncontrollable load profiles charger
Controllable load models:
EWH, A/C, EV
DC
EV pwr
Simulated DER controller

DNP3 Testbed Grid

Modbus Grid Sim
Sim
DNP3 NODES RACK 2

DNP3 Modbus
3ph PV PV 1ph PV Battery DC 1ph PV PV
Inverter Sim Sim Inverter Inverter pwr Inverter Sim
Modbus
DNP3

Modbus NREL | 4
 Case Study System Characteristics

• Cap1: A 450-kVAR (150 kVAR per phase) VAR-controlled capacitor with temperature override. Cap2: A three-phase 450-
kVAR capacitor (always disconnected unless controlled otherwise by IVVC)
• Reg1: A set of three single-phase 167-kVA regulators with a voltage target of 123
• Reg2: A set of two single-phase 114-kVA regulators on phase B and phase C with a voltage target of 123 V;
• Reg3: A second set of two single-phase 76.2-kVA regulators on phase B and phase C with a voltage target of 124 V;
Palmintier, B., Giraldez, J., Gruchalla, K., Gotseff, P., Nagarajan, A., Harris, T., ... Baggu, M. (2016). Feeder Voltage Regulation With High Penetration
PV Using Advanced Inverters and a Distribution Management System: A Duke Energy Case Study (NREL Technical Report No. NREL/TP-5D00-65551).
NREL | 5
Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Baseline Results (No Control)

NREL | 6
Baseline Results (Autonomous Control)

NREL | 7
Baseline Results (Full ADMS – IVVC)

NREL | 8
Case Study Summary for Voltage Regulation
Equipment

NREL | 9
Case Study Summary for Voltage Performance

NREL | 10
 ADMS
Voltage Measurements Only (DNP3)
Voltage Measurements
Only (DNP3)
Device Simulator Dbus PC

Opal-RT DNP3 servers

OpenDSS : Opal-RT eMEGAsim: power
Most of Feeder with Part of HCE Feeder
PV+BESS Testbed analog
LTC coordinator
dual variables (P & Q)

co-simulation
comms.

VR

EV
Uncontrollable load profiles charger
Controllable load models:
EWH, A/C, EV
DC
EV pwr
Simulated DER controller

DNP3 Testbed Grid

Modbus Grid Sim
Sim
DNP3 NODES RACK 2

DNP3 Modbus
3ph PV PV 1ph PV Battery DC 1ph PV PV
Inverter Sim Sim Inverter Inverter pwr Inverter Sim
Modbus
DNP3

Modbus NREL | 11
 Thank you for your
attention
www.nrel.gov
Barry Mather Ph.D. – barry.mather@nrel.gov

NREL/PR-5D00-75101

This work was authored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy,
LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by U.S.
Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. The
views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S.
Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S.
Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published
form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.