Real-time simulations of a laboratory-scale micro-grid system in Taiwan

Real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation is an effective technique to include complexity of the micro-grid under control in the testing real-time embedded system. In this paper, we will report recent progresses of real-time simulations of a laboratory-scale micro-grid system in Taiwan. We use the OPAL-RT platform for real-time simulations and HIL control tests. In particular, the following three tasks will be addressed: (i) real-time simulations of the laboratory-scale micro-grid. Dynamical models of various renewable energy sources and converters will be developed. Control strategies under the grid-connected mode and the islanding mode and transitions between these two modes will be studied. (ii) Real-time implementations of protection relays, including differential relays and distance relays, will be developed. Dynamic simulations confirm that specifications of the developed relay models for various operating scenarios. (iii) HIL control of STATCOMs. Double-loop control of the DC bus voltage and reactive power output of the converter will be employed. Closed relationships between real-time simulation results and HIL experiments indicate that implementations of the controller can be simplified by using HIL real-time environments.