Abstract

Due to increasing penetration of decentralized variable renewable energy generators and the increasing demand of electrical power due to the electrification of the heat and transport sectors, low voltage grids are facing critical problems. Deviation of the permitted voltage range and local overloads of the grid equipment, are the two main issues that are compromising a smooth distribution grid operation. An intelligent integration of distributed generators, heat-pumps and electric vehicles into a Smart Grid, allows the flexibility that they intrinsically provide, to be used by distribution system operators to avoid critical grid conditions. Smart grid suppliers currently available on the market, have been categorized into Local, Decentralized and Centralized Smart Grid Concepts. Their main difference is represented by the level of control, communication and coordination that they make use of. The aim of the thesis was to evaluate the effectiveness of solution of the Smart Grid Concepts implementation in specific low voltage grids, especially in term of voltages and loadings mitigation capabilities, to be used as a decision making tool for future smart grid implementations. A control architecture that emulates the way the analyzed Smart Grid Concepts operate, has been implemented in Python and tested on three different low voltage distribution networks in DigSILENT PowerFactory. The control architecture is an algorithm that communicates to DigSILENT PowerFactory how the Smart Grid needs to operate in response to detected critical grid conditions. The flexibility that the Smart Grid Concepts make use of, are battery storage, active power curtailment and reactive power compensation from photovoltaic inverters and demand side management by means of electric vehicles and heat pumps. In particular, in order to make most use of the available flexibility, an intelligent electric vehicles charging strategy has been implemented as well as an intelligent heat pump operation. Both static worst-case simulations and time-dependent simulations, over a winter and a summer day, for different penetration scenarios, have been carried out. The summary of the simulation results showed that while the Decentralized Smart Grid Concept, if the flexibility is available, is always able to keep voltages and loadings between their critical values, the Local Smart Grid Concept is not able to do the same for the loadings. På grund av ökad penetration av decentraliserade variabla förnybara energikällor och den ökande efterfrågan på elkraft på grund av elektrifiering av värme- och transportsektorn, står lågspänningsnätet inför kritiska problem. Avvikelse av det tillåtna spänningsområdet och lokala överbelastningar av nätutrustningen är de två huvudproblemen som äventyrar en smidig nätdrift. En intelligent integration av distribuerade generatorer, värmepumpar och elektriska fordon i ett smart nät, tillåter flexibiliteten som de egentligen tillhandahåller, för att undvika kritiska rutnätförhållanden. Smartnätleverantörer som för närvarande är tillgängliga på marknaden har system som kategoriserats som lokalt, decentraliserat och centralt Smart Grid Concepts. Deras huvudsakliga skillnad representeras av den nivå av kontroll, kommunikation och samordning som de utnyttjar. Syftet med avhandlingen var att utvärdera effektiviteten av lösningen av implementeringen av Smart Grid Concepts i specifika lågspänningsnät, särskilt när det gäller spänningar och belastningsreducerande förmågor, som ska användas som beslutsverktyg för framtida smarta nätverksimplementeringar. En reglerarkitektur som emulerar hur ett analyserat Smart Grid Concepts fungerar, har implementerats i Python och testats på tre olika lågspänningsdistributionsnä i DigSILENT PowerFactory. Kontrollarkitekturen är en algoritm som kommunicerar med DigSILENT PowerFactory hur Smart Grid bör fungera som svar på detekterade kritiska gridförhållanden. Den flexibilitet som Smart Grid Concepts använder sig av är batterilagring, aktiv strömavbrott och reaktiv effektkompensation från fotovoltaiska omvandlare och efterfrågesidan hantering med elbilar och värmepumpar. I synnerhet för att på bästa sätt utnyttja den tillgängliga flexibiliteten har en intelligent laddningsstrategi för elfordon implementerats liksom en intelligent värmepumpsoperation. Både statiska wärsta fall simuleringar och tidsberoende simuleringar, över en vinter och en sommardag, för olika penetrationsscenarier har utförts. Sammanfattningen av simuleringsresultaten visade att medan det decentraliserade Smart Grid Conceptet, om flexibiliteten är tillgänglig, alltid kan hålla spänningar och belastningar mellan sina kritiska värden, kan det lokala Smart Grid Concepts inte göra samma för belastningarna.

Abstract

This thesis investigates the economic viability of a grid connected PV system integrated with battery storage in a multifamily home in Sweden. In addition, a fleet of electric cars is added to the system and its economic feasibility is analyzed. The analysis is further classified based on the roof area available for PV installation, wherein system 1 considers nearly the entire roof area of 908 m2 and system 2 is assumed to have less than half the roof area of 360 m2 for PV installation. To help with the assessment, five scenarios are created; where scenario one represents a baseline Swedish cooperative without PV, scenario two includes a PV system; scenario three incorporates battery storage; four considers an electric vehicle fleet embedded into the system and scenario five has a fleet of gasoline cars. These scenarios are applied to the two systems and their results compared. To address the question of this thesis both scenarios 2 and 3 are simulated in System Advisor Model (SAM) and scenario 4 is modeled in Matlab. The outputs are exported to Excel in order to obtain the Net Present Value (NPV), which is the economic indicator for this assessment. In none of the tested scenarios the NPVs’ are positive and the best result is observed in a PV system installed with battery storage in a roof area of 360 m2, which has a NPV of -82,000 SEK. A sensitivity analysis is done to assess the changes in NPV by varying the input parameters. It is concluded that battery storage is not yet economically viable in a Swedish multifamily house.

Abstract

The future uptake of electric vehicles (EV) in low-voltage distribution networks can cause increased voltage violations and thermal overloading of network assets, especially in networks with limited headroom at times of high or peak demand. To address this problem, this paper proposes a distributed battery energy storage solution, controlled using an additive increase multiplicative decrease (AIMD) algorithm. The improved algorithm (AIMD+) uses local bus voltage measurements and a reference voltage threshold to determine the additive increase parameter and to control the charging, as well as discharging rate of the battery. The used voltage threshold is dependent on the network topology and is calculated using power flow analysis tools, with peak demand equally allocated amongst all loads. Simulations were performed on the IEEE LV European Test feeder and a number of real U.K. suburban power distribution network models, together with European demand data and a realistic electric vehicle charging model. The performance of the standard AIMD algorithm with a fixed voltage threshold and the proposed AIMD+ algorithm with the reference voltage profile are compared. Results show that, compared to the standard AIMD case, the proposed AIMD+ algorithm further improves the network’s voltage profiles, reduces thermal overload occurrences and ensures a more equal battery utilisation. Document type: Article

Abstract

A solar hybrid district heating network integrated with a seasonal borehole thermal energy storage is dynamically simulated and analyzed over a 5-year period. The system is devoted to satisfying the space heating and domestic hot water requirements of a small-scale district consisting of 6 typical Italian single-family houses, located in Naples, with home charging of 6 plug-in electric vehicles. Eight different plant schemes differing in terms of solar field configuration and/or back-up system used for compensating the intermittency of solar source are investigated. Two different configurations of solar field are analyzed: the first one with solar thermal collectors only and the second one integrating solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels coupled with a battery storage; three different alternative auxiliary units are considered: natural gas-fired boiler, natural gas-fueled internal combustion engine-based micro-cogeneration unit and wood pellet boiler. An additional operating scheme is also proposed to better exploit the solar energy for domestic hot water production. The primary energy consumption, the carbon dioxide emissions and the operating costs of the proposed plant configurations are evaluated based on simulation results and then compared with those associated to a conventional decentralized heating system in order to assess the main energy, environmental and economic benefits/drawbacks.