CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF DISPERSED GENERATION CONNECTED

THROUGH INVERTER TO DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

Roberto CALDON, Fabrizio ROSSETTO, Roberto TURRI

University of Padova - Italy
[email protected]

MODEL OF INVERTER INTERFACED DG

INTRODUCTION SOURCES

In recent years, Dispersed Generation have been broadly For network study purposes an inverter interfaced DG
used and are expected to become in the future electric source may be represented by a DC voltage source placed
power system an important way for exploiting distributed before the inverter.
energy resources or for supplying associate demands of
electricity and heat (cogeneration).
DG are relatively small, usually in kW to MW range, are DC-
stage
generally connected to the grid at substation, distribution Inverter Inverter Network
DC-bus
feeder or customer loads at customer premises and many of AC-bus AC-bus
Generation System: PWM-VSI LC-Filter
them make use of new technologies which generate power equivalent Vdc-source inverter
in the form of Direct Current (Photovoltaic, Fuel cells, …)
or in the form of Alternate Current at a frequency different vmr, vmi I, V, ϑ
from the required 50 Hz (Wind generators, Microturbine,…
Controllers
). In these cases interface back-to-back voltage source (Power or Voltage)
converters are needed.
This paper describes the dynamic performance of
distributed generators connected through inverters to Fig. 1. Model of inverter interfaced generation system.
distribution networks under abnormal operating
conditions. Fig.1 shows a block diagram of the model, whose main
In addition, in the hypothesis of future distribution system components are:
configurations where portions of the network could be - a DC voltage source, representing the DC stage of a
supplied either by the feeder or operated in islanded mode generic source system;
(microgrids), the case of DG units supplying local loads on - a PWM-VSI inverter interfacing the DC system to the
a limited portion of the network has been considered. power frequency AC network;
By means of suitable interface models, a systematic - a low-pass LC filter which blocks the inverter generated
analysis has been carried out on systems having different high frequency harmonics and enables the inverter stand-
types of generation units (photovoltaic systems, fuel cells, alone operation modes (UPS) [1].
microturbines) and operating with the two following Assuming that the power demand is always within the
configurations: capability of the device and the primary generator controls
- all DG units are paralleled to the utility grid where they keeps the DC-bus voltage constant, the analysis can be
inject the respective production; limited to the inverter control, with no need of representing
- two or more DG units supplying an “intentional system the more complex dynamic behaviour of the up-stream
island”. generation system [2, 3].
For each configuration an appropriate control scheme is Inverter devices can be operated with different control
considered. Dynamic simulations has allowed to schemes, depending upon the operation mode of the DG.
investigate the behaviour of the main electric parameters For a grid-connected inverter it is possible to adopt either
under perturbed conditions (load insertion or shedding, an active and reactive power control scheme (namely PQ
voltage sags) and faulted conditions. control) [2-5] or a control of active power and voltage (PV
Aim of the investigation is to verify, in the view of a control) for reactive power compensation [6]. The former is
growing diffusion of these new technologies, the needs of the most commonly adopted control.
modify or install new network protection schemes in order For stand-alone inverter a voltage/frequency control
to ensure reliable and safe operation. From the analysis, scheme is generally used. A block diagram of the PQ
valuable results have been obtained, useful for assessing control scheme adopted in this analysis for grid-connected
the impact of such devices on the quality of the supply and inverters is shown in fig. 2. As depicted in the figure, the
on the protection selectivity, also in comparison with the PQ control performs a transformation of the inverter output
behaviour of a set of same rate synchronous DG units. current from the physical a-b-c reference frame to the
stationary d-q reference frame. It is thus possible to exploit

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CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

the correlation existing between active power and direct Voltage (and frequency) Controller
current component (id) and between reactive power and
+ 1 + s Tzd id_ref 1 + Kd
quadrature component (iq). The PQ control is easily vd_ref
s Tpd s Td
achieved by regulating id and iq in order to meet the vd - -
reference values id-ref and iq-ref (inverter current control). 1
Then, the voltage signals generated by the controller, vmd
V abc 1 + s Tm vmd
and vmq, are transformed into vmr and vmi (real and ϑ /dq 1

imaginary part of PWM-inverter voltage reference). 1 + s Tm

ϑ
dq/ vmr
The current reference values are dynamically set on the id 1 abc vmi
ϑ abc 1 + s Tm
basis of the prevailing network voltage and the user defined
I /dq iq
active-reactive power set-points. The output voltage 1
vmq
1 + s Tm
waveform of grid-connected inverter is synchronized with vq
the grid voltage. - 1 + s Tzq - 1 + Kq
vq_ref
The scheme in fig. 3 shows the block diagram of the + s Tpq iq_ref s Tq
adopted voltage and frequency control. A stand-alone
inverter must supply the load with given values of voltage
and frequency, and it must automatically modify the output
Fig. 3. V-f Control Scheme.
active and reactive power depending on the loads demand.
It is essentially an analogue control formed by two control
loops: an outer voltage regulation loop and an inner current
regulation loop. DYNAMIC ANALISIS
The former is necessary since in stand-alone systems there
is no ac side voltage available for reference, which must be
The dynamic behaviour of the main electric parameters of a
produced by the inverter itself and fed back to control the
distribution system with inverter interfaced DG units under
inverter. The voltage error is used to drive P-I regulators
perturbed or faulted network conditions have been
which produces the current set-point (id-ref and iq-ref).
investigated by means of dynamic simulations on a realistic
The control is performed on the direct and quadrature
case study network.
voltage components. Control of both voltage amplitude and
The above described control schemes have been tested on
frequency can thus be achieved.
both grid-connected and islanded operation modes. Where
When two or more DG units supply an islanded portion of
applicable, the behaviour of static DG units are compared
the network, different control schemes may be adopted, i.e.:
with that of similar size rotating generators.
- all units are voltage and frequency controlled;
The case study system is shown in Fig. 4. As depicted in
- one unit is voltage and frequency controlled, thus being
the figure, it is made up by three feeders supplied by a
the reference voltage for the islanded network, while all
common bus-bar at the HV/MV primary substation. Three
the others may adopt either a PQ or PV controller.
DG units are connected to the network.
Data of interest for the dispersed generators, inverters and
Active and Reactive Power Controller
the feeders are reported in Table I.
Controllers modelling have been implemented and system
Pref . 1
id_ref
Kd simulations have been carried out using DigSilent, a
V . 1 + s Tp
- 1 + 1 / s Td vmd commercial package for power system electromechanical
1
and electromagnetic dynamic simulation.
1 + s Tm A sample of the most significant results are reported in the
id following.
I vmr
abc/dq ϑ dq/abc
ϑ vmi
iq
1 Grid Connected
1 + s Tm

Qref . 1
- vmq
.
Kq
V 1 + s Tq
1 + 1 / s Tq Load change. In the event of network load variations, P-Q
iq_ref
controlled inverters are only marginally involved in the
usual dynamics of the network which results in small line
voltage variations. After a short initial transient, the
Fig. 2. P-Q Control Scheme controller is able to restore and maintain the inverter output
power to the corresponding set points.

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 CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

The voltage behavior in the two cases is almost identical

External HV Grid
Islanded network since on P-Q controlled inverters and synchronous
HV/MV Substation
(when switch open)
generators it’s chiefly determined by the prevailing network
MV-Bus Bar voltage. On the other hand, the current transients are
a b c completely different: with slow and stable dynamics the
N 22
N4 N8
power controller modifies the inverter current in order to
N1 N 11 N 21
N 16 maintain the active and reactive power output both during
N 23 and after the voltage sag. Differently, the rotating generator
N 17 is characterized by significantly high current transients and
DG-1 N 12
N9
N 13 Tr-2 sustained oscillations. It is known that such perturbances
N7 N 24 may provoke nuisance tripping of synchronous generator
Tr-1
N 26 DG-2 protections as well as severe stress torque on rotor shaft [7,
N6
N 10’ 8].

N 19 N 25
N5 N 14 N 15
N2
Tr-3 Symmetrical faults. In case of 3-phase short circuits
N 20
located electrically near the GD, currents generated by
N3 inverter and rotating units have quite different behaviours.
DG-3 As shown in Fig. 6 (instantaneous values) and Fig.7 (rms
values), in the event of 3-phase network short circuit, the
Fig. 4. Case study network inverter current is rapidly restored to the set value within 1
cycle, whereas the rotating generator current has the typical
slow decay time thus giving a substantial contribution to
TABLE I - Main system data the fault current.
Grid-connected Island-operation
Lin Lengh GD set-points set-points
e [Km] PMW QMvar PMW QMvar Vp.u fHz 1
a 22 1 0.4 0.15 - - - - ].
u. 0.5
b 28 2 0.2 0.10 1 0.15 - - p[
c 22 3 0.4 0.15 - - 1.05 50 e 0
ge d
ut
at i -0.5
l ng
o a
V -1
m
Voltage sags. In the event of voltage sags, the inverters 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
t [s]
quickly react in order to restore the scheduled active and
2
reactive power generated. The rate of increase of the
]. 1
inverter current is however limited by the relatively slow u.
p[ 0
time response of the primary source. This can be seen in t
Fig. 5, reporting a comparison of the rms generator current ne -1
rr
behaviour in the event of a 0.5 p.u. voltage sag at the u -2
C
terminal of static DG unit and a similar size traditional -3
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
rotating unit. t [s]
Fig. 6. Istantaneous values of voltage and current at inverter AC
]. terminal during 3-phase network fault.
1
u.
p[ 4
e
ge d
ut 0.5 ]
u..
at 3
ol ni
g p[
V a t 2
m 0 ne
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 rr 1
t [s] u
C 0
2 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
]. t [s]
u. 1.5
p[
t 1 Fig. 7. Rms current at generator terminals during a 3 phase fault event:
ne
rr 0.5 inverters (solid line), synchronous generators (dashed line).
u
C 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
t [s] Asymmetrical faults. Also in the event of network
Fig. 5. Rms voltage and current at generator terminals during a sag event: asymmetrical faults (single line-to-earth, line-to-line, etc.)
inverters (solid line), synchronous generators (dashed line). inverter interfaced DG generates line currents smaller than

UPD_Caldon_A1 Session 4 Paper No 87 -3-

 CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

those generated by a corresponding size rotating unit. As an Conversely, the current behavior of the P-Q controlled unit
example, fig. 8 compares the rms currents (unbalanced) is similar to that reported in fig. 5 for the case of grid
injected by the two types of DG in the case of a network connected operation. In islanded operation mode, an
line-to-line fault. effective power-sharing between the groups would improve
system performance. This may be accomplished, for
4 instance, by adopting a droop frequency control scheme
]. 3 such as that proposed in [2].
u.
p[ 2
t
ne 1
rr CONCLUSIONS
u 0
C
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
t [s]
Fig. 8. 3-phase rms currents at generator terminals during a line-to-line
With reference to the new technologies of distributed
fault event: inverters (solid line), synchronous generators (dashed line). generation, the dynamic behaviour of inverter interfaced
DGs embedded on a distribution system has been studied in
order to assess their influence on the system under
Island operation perturbed conditions, in particular their contribution to the
fault currents.
The dynamic performance of inverter interfaces, with
Island operation using solely inverter fuel-cells or micro- different types of controller depending upon the operation
turbines DG systems is critical since they have power modes, has been simulated on both a grid connected radial
conversion rates of the order of seconds which for many network and an intentionally islanded portion of the
loads is too slow [9, 10 ]. A solution would be to add network (microgrid), comparing the results with the
storage (either on the DC bus or the AC system) which behaviour of corresponding size traditional rotating
means additional equipment and costs. generators connected directly to the grid. From the analysis
In network islanded mode of operation at least one of the the following considerations can be drawn.
DG units must perform Voltage and Frequency regulation The typical problems arising from the connection of
(in such case a suitably sized storage should be included on rotating generation units to the distribution network
the DC bus to insure fast response to any power change) (namely increase of fault current levels and possible first
while all other DG may be P-Q controlled. swing instability of generators under severe perturbances)
The fast response of the V-f units may, in principle, ensure does not appear to exist in case of connection of P-Q
more stable AC voltages and a fast load tracking. This, controlled inverter interfaced GDs. In particular, the
however, means that the inverter must be suitably sized and negligible contribution of these devices to the fault current
have the required reservoir in order to be able to provide levels allows to embed on the same network a considerable
the necessary regulating power. amount of generating units with no need of modifying or
It can be seen that during the event all the regulating power reinforcing the existing feeder protection schemes. The fast
is provided by the former unit, whose voltage is kept almost automatic reclosure of MV feeder breakers, which may
constant but the current increases considerably. give rise to dangerous rotor stresses on rotating generator
shafts, does not appear so critical for inverter interfaced
DGs.
] However, in network islanded operation modes, where any
u..
1
p[ load variation must be quickly tracked by the local
e generation and energy storage (such as the kinetic energy
ge d
ut 0.5
at i of the rotating groups) is determinant, the advantages of
ol n
g
static units with respect to rotating generators are much
V a
m 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 reduced. In addition, the presence of V-f controlled inverter
t [s]
4 interfaces, necessary to perform the required voltage and
]. frequency regulation in the islanded network, results in the
u. 3
p[ injection of considerably high currents whenever such
t 2
ne variables are perturbed. Such difficulties may be overcame
rr 1 with a suitable dispatching of the load between groups,
u
C which however requires the development of different
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
t [s] control strategies and the implementation of
communication systems for information exchange between
Fig. 9. Rms voltage and current at inverters terminals during a sag event
interfaces. This topic deserves further investigation in order
in island operation: P-Q controlled inverter (solid line), V-f controlled to fully exploit the potentiality of static DGs in view of
inverter (dashed line). future microgrid based distribution systems.

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CIRED 17th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Barcelona, 12-15 May 2003

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