TITLE:
Real-Time Operation of Microgrids
AUTHORS:
Salem Al-Agtash, Asma Alkhraibat, Mohamad Al Hashem, Nisrein Al-Mutlaq
KEYWORDS:
Microgrid Real-Time Operation, Reactive Power Control, Load Shedding, OPAL-RT, Matlab
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.13 No.1,
January
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: Microgrid (MG) systems effectively integrate a generation mix of solar, wind, and other renewable energy resources. The intermittent nature of renewable resources and the unpredictable weather conditions contribute largely to the unreliability of microgrid real-time operation. This paper investigates the behavior of microgrid for different intermittent scenarios of photovoltaic generation in real-time. Reactive power coordination control and load shedding mechanisms are used for reliable operation and are implemented using OPAL-RT simulator integrated with Matlab. In an islanded MG, load shedding can be an effective mechanism to maintain generation-load balance. The microgrid of the German Jordanian University (GJU) is used for illustration. The results show that reactive power coordination control not only stabilizes the MG operation in real-time but also reduces power losses on transmission lines. The results also show that the power losses at some substations are reduced by a range of 6% - 9.8%.