100117 SMART GRID ENG

SMARTGRID
INTRODUCTION
WHYASMARTGRID?
Sincetheearly21stcentury,opportunitiestotakeadvantageofimprovementsinelectronic
communicationtechnologytoresolvethelimitationsandcostsoftheelectricalgridhavebecomeapparent.
Technologicallimitationsonmeteringnolongerforcepeakpowerpricestobeaveragedoutandpassedon
toallconsumersequally.
Inparallel,growingconcernsoverenvironmentaldamagefromfossil‐firedpowerstationshasledtoa
desiretouselargeamountsofrenewableenergy.
Dominantformssuchaswindpowerandsolarpowerarehighlyvariable,andsotheneedformore
sophisticatedcontrolsystemsbecameapparent,tofacilitatetheconnectionofsourcestotheotherwise
highlycontrollablegrid.Powerfromphotovoltaiccells(andtoalesserextentwindturbines)hasalso,
significantly,calledintoquestiontheimperativeforlarge,centralisedpowerstations.
Therapidlyfallingcostspointtoamajorchangefromthecentralisedgridtopologytoonethatishighly
distributed,withpowerbeingbothgeneratedandconsumedrightatthelimitsofthegrid.
Finally,growingconcernoverterroristattackinsomecountrieshasledtocallsforamorerobustenergy
gridthatislessdependentoncentralisedpowerstationsthatwereperceivedtobepotentialattacktargets.

SMARTGRID
WHATISASMARTGRID?
TheSmartGridisasystemforan"intelligentdistribution"ofelectricity,abletoknowtheconsumptionof
thevariousendusersandtomanagethegenerationanddistributionofelectricityaccordingtodemand.
Simplyput,ifinagivenareawehaveapotentialoverloadofenergy,theexcessenergycanberedistributed
tootherareasthatneedit,basedontheactualrequestsfromendusers.
Furthermore,thesoftwarethatrunstheSmartGridmonitorstheelectricalflowofthesystem,integrates
renewableenergyintothenetworkandactivates/suspendstheindustrialordomesticprocessesduring
periodswhenelectricitycostsless/more.
Thesmartgridknowsourrequirementofpowerconsumption.Whenthedemandforelectricityisatits
maximum,thesmartgridautomaticallyadaptstothedemandbypickingupexcessenergyfrommany
sourcestoavoidoverloadproblemsorinterruptionsofpower.
Ithas,therefore,thefunctionofsharingtheelectricitythatisgeneratedfromvarioussources,bothpublic
andprivate,traditionalandrenewable,andensuringthatelectricaldevicesuseelectricityasefficientlyas
possible.
WHATISASCADASOFTWARE?
TheSCADA(SupervisoryControlAndDataAcquisition)isanindustrialcontrolsystemthatperformsthe
followingfunctions:
 acquisitionofthephysicalquantitiesthatareneededforthecontrolandthesupervisionofthe
system;
 control,bymeansofactuators,ofitsoperation;
 supervision,tovisuallymonitor,throughthesotermedsynopticdiagrams,theoperatingstatusof
thesystem,thealarms,etc.,alsoinremotecontrol.
SCADAsystemssupervise,control,optimizeandmanagethesystemsforthegenerationandtransmission
ofelectricalenergyaswellasthedistributionnetworks.
Theyallowtocollect,storeandanalyzedatafromhundredsofthousandsofdatapointsinnationalor
regionalnetworks,tomodelnetworks,tosimulateoperations,highlightfaults,preventthemandfinally
participateintheenergymarkets.
Theyareavitalpartofmodernnetworksandenablethedevelopmentofthesmartgridsthatmusthandle
enormousamountsofenergyfromrenewablesourcesproducedbygeneratorsoflargeandsmallscale,to
maintainstabilityinthenetworkdespitetheintermittencyofthesesourcesandthebidirectionalityofthe
energyflow.

SMARTGRID
DELORENZOSOLUTION
ThesmartgridsystemdevelopedbyDeLorenzocanbeorganizedineightsubsystems,eachcomprisedof
severalmodules.Thefirstfoursubsystemsaresimulationsofenergysources;thefirstoneisthemain
powersupplyofthegridwithathree‐phasesupplyunitthatrepresentsacoalplant.
Theotherthreesubsystemscorrespondtoalternativesourcesofenergy:wind,hydroelectricandsolar.The
windplantsimulationismadewithathree‐phaseinductionmotoractingasageneratorwhilethe
hydroelectricplantsimulationismadewithathree‐phasesynchronousmachine,additionallywitha
generatorsynchronizingrelaymoduletomakepossibletheconnectiontothegrid.Finally,thesolarenergy
partofthesystemisgeneratedwithasolarpanelandfourdimmablelampssimulatingthesun,whichis
connectedtoaninvertermodulethatallowstheenergygeneratedtobetransferredtothegrid.
Afifthsubsysteminthesmartgridconsistsofmodulesforfaultprotection;themodulesareafeeder
managerrelaythatmeasuresinrealtimevoltagesandcurrentstodetectfaultsinthegridandfourpower
circuitbreakerscontrolledbythepreviousmoduletodisconnectfaultylines.
Thesixthsubsystemreferstomodulesformeasuring;ithasthreemaximumdemandmetersthatmeasure
ACvoltages,currents,frequencies,activepower,reactivepower,apparentpower,powerfactorandTHD
foreachofthethreeavailablephasesinthegridandtwoelectricalpowerdigitalmeasuringunitsthat,
besidesmeasuringthesameasthepreviousmodule,makemeasurementsofDCvoltage,current,power
andenergy.
Theseventhsubsystemisforpowerfactorcontrolwith2modules,thefirstoneisaswitchablecapacitor
batterywithfourdifferentvaluesofcapacitorsandthesecondoneisareactivepowercontrollerthat
activatesthecapacitorsofthepreviousmoduletomakeapowerfactorcorrection.
Thelastsubsystemiscomposedofpassiveelements;threemoduleswithdifferentkindofloads(capacitive,
inductive,resistive)thatsimulatetheloadsinahouseorfactoryandtwomoduleswithimpedances
simulatingthelossesgeneratedintransmissionlines,specificallyinlinesof10and100kmlength.
ASCADAsoftwareprovidestotheacquisitionandstorageofthedatacomingfromthemeasurement
instrumentsandtothecontroloftheactuatorsforan“intelligent”managementofthewholeelectrical
system.TheSCADAsoftwarecanalsobesuppliedonrequestinanOPENversion,sothattheteachercan
implementhisownprojectandselectmodesandprocedureforvisualizingtheparametersandcontrolling
theactuators.
Thesystemdescribedaboverepresentsthebasicconfigurationofourlaboratory(DLSGWD).
Optionally,itisalsopossibletoaddanadditionalwindenergysmallscalegenerationsystem,withareal
windturbineconnectedtoaninvertermoduletomakepossibletheconnectiontothegrid.

SMARTGRID
SpecialconfigurationpreparedfortheWorlddidacExhibition
TRAININGOBJECTIVES
TheSmartGridtrainercanbeconsideredamultidisciplinarylaboratory,becauseitallowsstudyingand
exercisingdifferenttechnicalsubjects,thatarethenintegratedinafullSmartGridsystemsetup.
Actually,theSmartGridtrainerisanintegratedlaboratorythatcanbeusefulforahugenumberof
undergraduateandgraduatecoursesintheengineeringschool.Thelaboratoryequipmentcanbe
configuredtocreatedifferentexercises,whichreinforcebasicandadvancedconceptsinelectricenergy.
Theequipmentcanbeinterconnectedtoformafullsmartgridsystem.However,asyoucanseefromthe
listofexperimentsinthenextparagraph,conventionaltopics,suchaselectricmachines,distribution
systemsandsooncouldbecoveredbytheSmartGridtrainer;thisinnovativelaboratorycanincludeclass
demonstrationsandlaboratoryexperimentsunderregularlaboratoryclasses.
Therearefundamentaltopicsthatareneededforunderstandingthesmartgridconceptandtheyhaveto
beconnectedwithreallifesituations,yetasetofdifferenttopicscouldbeaddedinordertogetaspecial
curricula.Thecoretopicsinclude:electriccircuits,electricmachinery,hydroelectricity,windenergy,
photovoltaicsolarenergy,renewableenergies,powertransmission,powerdistribution.
Furthermore,additionalcoursescanbenefitfromthesmartgridtrainer,suchas,forexample:power
systemengineering&analysis,electricmachines,linearcontrolsystems,electricaldistributionengineering
andsmartgridsautomation,powergenerationoperationandcontrol,powerelectronics,costand
constructionofelectricalsupply,powersystemstability,optimizationmethods,stochasticprocesses,
embeddedsystems.
Thesmartgridsystemcanbeusedbymechanicalandelectricalengineeringstudentsasalongtimeproject
asitcomprisesenoughelementstocovermostofthetopicslistedabove.

SMARTGRID
Electriccircuits’particularsubjectscanbestudiedthroughloadmodules,enablingthefullunderstandingof
resistive,capacitiveandinductiveloads,fedbyACorDCsupply.Aprotectedequipmentpermitsthe
applicationofdomesticandindustrialratedelectricmagnitudesaswellastheirinstrumentation.Particular
effectsofinductiveloadsandpowerfactorcorrectionareissueswhichcanalsobeaddressed.
ThestudyofACelectricmachinerycanalsobecomplementedwiththepracticalinsightprovidedbythe
inductionandsynchronousgeneratorsusedtoemulateawindandahydro‐electricalpowerplant
respectively.
Synchronizationmethods,powerandinstrumentationtransformers,andtheinnerphysicalphenomenacan
bemeasuredandstudiedasindividualelementsoraspartofthewholepowerdistributionsystem.
Theentiresystemcanbetestedundermanyconsiderationsasitisconfigurable,sodifferentexperiments
canbedrivenbasedonthesameprinciples.Whenanalyzingdistributionsystemsandfaultschemes,the
instrumentationandlogicalequipmentcanprovideenoughflexibilitytounderstandtheprocessbetween
powergenerationandusage,togetherwithabnormaleventsandtheirrespectiveprotectiverelaying
issues.Inthisway,thetopicsaddedinthecurriculawhichregardpowermanagementanddistributioncan
alsofindroomintheintegratedlong‐termsmartgridproject,whichcanbealsoevaluatedunderefficiency
concernsdependingonloadconditionsorparticulargenerators’states.
Inthisway,thesmartgridasasetofindividualmodulesorasawhole,enablesthestudenttomove
towardsasingleobjectivenecessarilygoingthrougheachindividualarea,makingpossiblethefull
understandingofsmartgridtheory,application,andcapabilities,aswellastheconcerningstepsofits
integration.
TheSmartGridtraineralsoallowstounderstandadvancedtopicslikeenergyproductioninwindplants
thatareconnectedtothemainelectricgridortheycanbeisolatedasmicro‐grids,sothestudentscan
comprehendrealproblemsinengineeringwhichareimperativeintheenergyprogress;thus,thebasicand
advancedcoursescanbecombinedinthewindturbinesystem.Forexample,windgeneratorsincludea
pitchcontrollerthatincreasestheenergyefficiencyandtheenergygeneratedissenttothecentralelectric
grid;hence,thestudentshavetouseseveraltopicssuchascontrolsystems,digitalcontrol,electric
machines,andsoon.
Asanadditionalexample,acombinationof3energysourcescanbestudiedwhentheyareproviding
energytotheload.Iftheconventionalsourceiscombinedwithawindandhydroenergy,thestudentwill
beabletounderstandinaclearmannertheprocessofprovidingenergytotheloadbyalternativeenergy.
Moreover,environmentalquestionscanbeincludedintheexercise(carbonfootprint).
Thenumberofexercisesandtopicscanbeexpandedandthestudentisabletoproposenovelideasabout
howtosolveproblemsthataffectthesociety;hence,themotivationofstudentcanbeincreased.
Inconclusion,engineeringcoursesneedtocoverexperimentalconceptsthatincrementtheengineering
knowledgeofstudentsbutitisnoteasytofindexperimentalsystemsthatallowtocombinethose
concepts.