Analysis of an offshore medium voltage DC microgrid environment — Part II: Communication network architecture

The microgrid is a conceptual solution proposed as a plug-and-play interface for various types of renewable generation resources and loads. The high-level technical challenges associated with microgrids include (1) operation modes and transitions that comply with IEEE1547 and (2) control architecture and communication. In Part I, the emphasis is on the design of an electrical control architecture for an offshore oil drilling platform powered by wind generation. Engineering a distributed control system having safety critical features, requiring real-time performance is challenging. In this follow-up article we introduce the communication framework for the microgrid scenario under investigation. In all communication networks, scholastic delays and performance are inherent. The only feasible approach is to put bounds on the random processes, qualitatively define the worst cases, and build the distributed control system to be resilient enough to tolerate those behaviors. This is the approach taken by this paper. We propose a communication architecture, discuss performances requirements of the sub-systems, and layout network solutions meeting those specifications.