J.L. Rueda Torres
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1
Upgraded Control Strategies to Safeguard Resiliency in Hybrid AC-DC Networks
A Focused Overview of the State of the Art
Coordination between transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs) can support TSOs in using the distribution system (DS) flexibility while ensuring feasible operation. Flexibility areas (FAs) can support TSO-DSO coordination, aggregating the total feasible flexibility within the DS. However, existing real-time estimation approaches do not consider the limited measurements within DS. This paper proposes a Bayesian neural network (BNN) to estimate the operating conditions that bound the operational flexibility, including epistemic and aleatoric uncertainties. These uncertainties stem from the limited real-time measurements in DSs and the measurement noise. TSOs can select a threshold that confirms a probability of safety, considering uncertainty margins. The paper also provides FA estimation in DS topologies with (Formula presented.) points of common coupling (PCC) with the transmission system. Case studies in the CIGRE and Oberrhein networks compare the proposed BNNs to baseline statistic-based approaches for forecast and measurement uncertainty in FAs. The case studies show the proposed FA estimation under various safety margins and systems with 2-PCC. Case studies also assess various measurement noise levels and evaluate model performance for different DS topologies.
Integrating gigawatt-scale offshore wind-hydrogen energy systems (OWHESs) is pivotal for the energy transition, yet their dynamic interactions and grid-support capabilities remain insufficiently explored. This paper addresses this gap by developing a real-time electromagnetic transient model of a 2 GW OWHES, which is implemented on a commercial real-time digital simulator (RTDS). Furthermore, a novel communication-free coordinated frequency control strategy is proposed, which synergistically harnesses the flexibility of the HVDC system, wind power plants, and electrolyzer plants. Real-time simulation results demonstrate the model's ability to capture the OWHES dynamics. Moreover, results from a significant generation loss scenario demonstrate the proposed control's superiority over existing methods, as it markedly improves the onshore frequency nadir and reduces the rate of change of frequency. This confirms its effectiveness in enhancing onshore frequency stability and showcases the potential of OWHESs as a valuable source of grid ancillary services.
Grid-integrated hydrogen production systems
A holistic analytical modeling framework for stability assessment and dynamic interaction
Grid-integrated electrolyzer systems are increasingly deployed for green hydrogen production, which is a promising pathway for energy decarbonization. However, their operation is challenged by insufficiently understood dynamic interactions among the grid-side rectifier, the buck converter, their control loops, and the electrolyzer stack. To address this issue, this paper develops a holistic analytical framework for such systems. A unified model is derived by integrating the rectifier, the buck converter, their control loops, and the electrolyzer stack. Based on this model, eigenvalue, participation-factor, and frequency-response analyses are conducted to systematically quantify stability characteristics, internal dynamic couplings, and parameter sensitivities. For a 2 MW electrolyzer case, the results reveal that excessive rectifier or buck-control bandwidths can independently trigger distinct oscillatory instabilities. On this basis, engineering-oriented controller-tuning guidelines are established, recommending about 10–50 Hz for the phase-locked loop, below about 60 Hz for the DC-link voltage controller, and about 20–150 Hz for the buck power controller. The analysis further shows that properly designed buck bandwidth renders the system-level power response weakly sensitive to slow electrolyzer dynamics dominated by double-layer capacitance, thereby mitigating uncertainty in this capacitance and clarifying the applicability of reduced-order electrolyzer models. These findings are corroborated by PSCAD/EMTDC time-domain simulations, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed analytical model. Additional verifications under frequency and voltage disturbances further confirm the model’s predictive capability, with maximum relative errors of 0.264%–1.486% and 0.153%–5.922%, respectively. Overall, this work offers an efficient analytical tool for stability-oriented control design, model-fidelity selection, and dynamic interaction analysis of grid-integrated electrolyzer systems.
Industrial electrification plays a crucial role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and ensuring power reliability is important in this process. Reliability and techno-economic evaluations are fundamental to designing, operating, and managing power systems, ensuring that electricity is delivered continuously and securely under various conditions. In particular, maintaining a reliable power supply to industrial loads is critical, especially when renewable sources are present, as these introduce greater variability and uncertainty into the operation of industrial systems. Therefore, this document aims to use a cost-effective storage approach to ensure the reliable operation of sustainable industrial multi-energy systems. In addition, three storage mitigation strategies against random operation are formulated based on financial, technical, practical, and other aspects. A synthetic industrial model consisting of generic component representations in DIgSILENT PowerFactory 2024 is taken as a case study. The structure and parameters of the synthetic model are inspired by data from the literature and a hypothetical projection of a future evolution of a 500 MW sustainable industrial multi-energy system in Rotterdam by 2035. Numerical results provide insight into the flexible and cost-effective operation of sustainable industrial multi-energy systems within the context of decarbonised future Dutch energy systems.
Wide-Area Monitoring Protection and Control Supported Operation and Planning in the Ecuadorian Power System
Improving Security and Reliability
Although several data-driven approaches for short-term voltage stability (STVS) assessment have been proposed, most of them do not extend to corrective control actions nor consider the joint dynamics of generation and load. To address this gap, this work introduces a real-time adaptive load shedding scheme (ALSS) driven by an integrated assessment of the short-term stability state (STSS) and the identification of critical induction motors (CIM) as the mechanism driving STVS instability. The methodology employs two recurrent convolutional neural network (RCNN) models operating in parallel: i) the STSS-RCNN, which classifies the system state as stable, unstable by transient stability (TS), or unstable by STVS; and ii) the CIM-RCNN, which identifies the critical motors responsible for instability, thereby inherently recognizing STVS-related problems. The joint operation of these models ensures that the ALSS is activated only when both responses consistently recognize an STVS event. This enables not only the correct activation of the load shedding scheme but also its accuracy and adaptive parameterization based on the identified CIMs. Validation on the IEEE 39-bus test system demonstrates that the proposed approach achieves robust real-time performance, outperforms single deep learning baselines, and significantly overcomes traditional load shedding schemes in efficiency and reliability.
Energy production hubs are emerging as a solution to stabilize power grids that are increasingly being challenged by renewable energy sources. The deployment of grid-forming inverters (GFMIs) inherently involves grid regulation tasks such as voltage and frequency control. Such control is distinctly advantageous over the passive grid-following inverter. GFMIs can actively stabilize the grid, but their introduction necessitates a coupling reactance to facilitate voltage and current control. Autonomous voltage and frequency control requires real-time coordination. However, applying MPC is complex due to the multiscale nature of the control problem. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a combined controller-hub design where a three-layer hierarchical MPC scheme controls an energy production hub comprised of an integrated energy storage system, a wind turbine, and a GFMI. By decomposing the problem into three distinct layers, the upper two layers can operate in non-real time and require only the bottom layer to work in real time. By designing the middle layer with a novel approach, we investigate how the coupling reactance dynamics affect the power setpoint determination of the energy production hub. The goal is to facilitate control over the grid's active and reactive power flows, voltage, and frequency. As the angle-based droop control law governs the coupling reactance dynamics, we study its incorporation into the MPC objective function and its effect on frequency stability. A simulation study shows how the droop control element alters the power setpoints in the middle layer to compensate for such frequency fluctuations. The results suggest that the hub and controller can reliably provide power from an uncontrolled, sustainable source while providing local stability to the energy grid.
This paper presents a pivotal stability analysis of the Dutch power system within the context of increased renewable energy integration, employing multiple future scenarios to navigate the inherent uncertainties. A large-scale synthetic model, utilizing ENTSOE-E reference data, uses time-domain simulations and eigenvalue analysis to assess the influence of systemic inertia and kinetic energy on the power system's dynamic frequency and angular stability. The study identifies specific inertia and kinetic energy projections that could undermine the stability of the Dutch power system and potentially affect the continental European power system. It also discusses potential enhancements, including supplementary damping control, to improve the primary control functions of power electronics interfaced generation. The results highlight the critical need for power system planners and operators to take proactive steps to prevent instabilities, ensuring that renewable energy integration strengthens rather than compromises power system reliability.
This contribution deals with the optimization of the frequency response of a multi-area, multi-energy HVDC-HVAC cyber-physical power system, representing a power electronic-dominated power system. The system consists of a three-area system, modified so that the areas are electromagnetically decoupled through MMC-based HVDC links, and different controllable energy sources, such as fully decoupled wind turbines type IV and proton exchange membrane electrolysers, are installed at various points of the system. The modified system exhibits three decoupled areas with different generation and demand mixes characterized by different inertia levels and increased controllability due to the converters’ capabilities. The outer controllers of the power electronic interfaced elements installed have been modified with the active power gradient control scheme to respond to frequency excursions and provide fast frequency support to the grid in case of commonly occurred active power-frequency imbalances. A problem formulation for coordinated optimization is presented, aiming at a coordinated tuning of the parameters of the frequency controllers of the synthetic inertia elements participating in the frequency regulation against critical commonly occurred active power-frequency imbalances. The formulations consider the minimization of the dynamic displacements of the areas’ speed following an active power imbalance. To effectively solve the optimization problem and enhance the frequency stability of the system, a powerful metaheuristic optimization algorithm, the mean-variance mapping optimization (MVMO) algorithm, has been utilized. The optimization results can effectively highlight the tuning strategy that achieves the best frequency response of the system under various commonly occurred active power frequency disturbances. It can also provide further insight on the proper utilization of various sources of synthetic inertia with respect to their response capabilities. Finally, the simulation results can also clarify the importance of the location of installation of converter-based elements providing fast frequency support with respect to the grid node the imbalance occurs.
TensorConvolutionPlus
A python package for distribution system flexibility area estimation
Power system operators need new, efficient operational tools to use the flexibility of distributed resources and deal with the challenges of highly uncertain and variable power systems. Transmission system operators can consider the available flexibility in distribution systems (DSs) without breaching the DS constraints through flexibility areas. However, there is an absence of open-source packages for flexibility area estimation. This paper introduces TensorConvolutionPlus, a user-friendly Python-based package for flexibility area estimation. The main features of TensorConvolutionPlus include estimating flexibility areas using the TensorConvolution+ algorithm, the power flow-based algorithm, an exhaustive PF-based algorithm, and an optimal power flow-based algorithm. Additional features include adapting flexibility area estimations from different operating conditions and including flexibility service providers offering discrete setpoints of flexibility. The TensorConvolutionPlus package facilitates a broader adaptation of flexibility estimation algorithms by system operators and power system researchers.
The "Wide-Area" Concept
Diverse Energy Transition Challenges [Guest Editorial]
The exponential increase in the integration of Variable Renewable Energy Sources and responsive storage, compensation, and prosumers in electrical power systems raises many uncertainties that affect the operation, control, and planning across different time horizons. Dynamic stability refers to a system's ability to withstand and recover from disturbances while ensuring that systemic symptoms (e.g., voltages, currents, frequency, angular displacements) remain within acceptable limits under both normal and abnormal conditions. Unacceptable excursions in systemic symptoms can cause disruptions or blackouts. A suitably developed and calibrated digital model for dynamic simulations is a key tool for this purpose. This manuscript overviews the development of a digital synthetic model for in-depth analysis and identification of the occurrence and propagation of potential instability issues. The synthetic model is inspired by accessible data on the hypothetical future situation (e.g., year 2030) of the Dutch Power System. The model has been built on the basis of generic component models and parameters from the literature, and several disturbances are evaluated by time-domain simulations. Renewable power electronic-interfaced generators and remaining synchronous generators have implemented emerging methods to provide primary control for active and reactive power support in line with the state-of-the-art recommended practice. This model is proposed as the basis for studying different stability phenomena and challenges for controller design in future operating conditions of the Dutch system in light of the large-scale addition of renewable generation.
Achieving carbon neutrality in industrial ports demands a radical transformation of current energy systems. This paper presents a model-based optimization approach for the operation of a multi-energy cluster, considering a hypothetical evolution of a multi-energy industrial cluster in the Netherlands. The aim is to establish a new system operation strategy that supports the transition towards a carbon-neutral energy system. The synthetic model of the used multi-energy cluster integrates five energy carriers - electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, ammonia, and heat - using an energy hub approach to enable sector coupling and enhance flexibility. Physics-based modeling of electrical power flows is included to ensure technical feasibility in the power system. The model minimizes total cluster's cost while ensuring reliable energy supply. The optimization is implemented in Python by using the PyPSA toolbox and mixed-integer linear programming. A full-year, hourly-resolution simulation under three weather scenarios reveals optimal system operation strategies. Numerical results highlight the benefits of multi-energy cluster operation for managing renewable variability and identify ammonia as a key flexibility provider, supporting hydrogen and electricity systems through conversion and storage. The strategy emphasizes cross-sector economic optimization, dynamic dispatch, and enhanced flexibility, offering practical insights for decarbonizing industrial ports and informing future energy investment planning.
The increasing deployment of offshore wind farms necessitates robust and stable high-voltage direct current networks. Achieving optimal stability, especially in damping oscillations on the DC side, remains a significant challenge. This study focuses on mitigating post-fault converter de-blocking oscillations, a critical issue exacerbated by complex interactions between AC and DC systems, converter dynamics, and system faults. These behavior are governed by nonlinear system dynamics, making traditional control methods less effective in ensuring stability. A comprehensive analysis of DC side oscillations and their interaction with converter dynamics is developed to understand the key factors influencing system stability. The research investigates a DC voltage regulation damping approach, identified as the most effective solution in the literature. Comprehensive parametric sensitivity analysis evaluates system behavior under diverse operational conditions. Addressing current damping method limitations during converter de-blocking, this work proposes an innovative control approach integrating fuzzy logic control and proportional–integral controllers. This approach enhances DC voltage regulation and incorporates a modified circulating current suppression control in the inner loop. The coordinated fuzzy logic control and proportional–integral controller dynamically adjusts to nonlinear system dynamics in real-time, providing a robust framework for improved post-fault recovery. It aims to achieve faster recovery times and reduced overshoot compared to conventional methods. The proposed controller's efficacy is validated through comparative analysis with existing approaches. Electromagnetic transient) simulations using the real-time digital simulator platform demonstrate the controller's performance under realistic operating conditions.
As the integration of renewable energy accelerates, ensuring power system stability becomes increasingly critical. This research utilized a Root Mean Square (RMS) synthetic model of the future 380 kV Dutch power system towards 2050 to analyze its oscillatory stability under high renewable penetration and the impact of grid-forming converters under various parametrizations. The presented case study shows that grid-forming (GFM) converters significantly improve frequency stability and damping performance across different perturbations, particularly at higher GFM penetration levels, improving frequency and damping parameters. However, various oscillatory modes present potential stability risks at high penetration levels. The case study also shows minimal differences in controller selection in large-scale models, except under certain conditions. Additionally, the analysis of controller parameters highlighted the critical importance of tuning active power parameters to ensure system stability. The investigation provides essential insights for future power systems, where large-scale integration of renewable energy will necessitate the implementation of converters able to provide ancillary services. The findings emphasize the importance of optimizing GFM converter settings and penetration levels to maintain system resilience, offering valuable guidance for future system planning and regulatory frameworks.