Zhichun Yang

In order to reduce the economic costs, enhance the efficiency, and improve the structural stability of microgrids, this paper proposes a novel AC/DC hybrid microgrid structure. This structure, based on Silicon Controlled Converters (SCCs) and Polarity Reversal Switches (PRSs), enables bidirectional power flow and provides a low-cost and straightforward control solution. This paper elaborates on the overall control strategy of the microgrid under different states of the PRS and introduces the control logic of the Current Reversible Chopper (CRC) circuit. For typical daily scenarios across the four seasons, where wind and photovoltaic (PV) power generation outputs and load demands vary, this study combines sampled data to investigate the coordinated configuration scheme of wind energy, PV energy, and energy storage within the microgrid, and analyzes the state changes in the PRS. Furthermore, this paper conducts simulation analysis of the microgrid under different states of the PRS and during the switching process of the PRS, verifying the feasibility of the proposed new structure. Finally, this paper compares the proposed structure with traditional microgrid structures in terms of economics, system efficiency, and structural stability, and analyzes the impact of this structure on the frequency, inertia, and multi-energy interaction of the system.

Grid-tied distributed generators (DGs) need to be equipped with anti-islanding protection to avoid the impact of unplanned islanding, which would affect system stability, auto-reclosing, and personal safety. Among the active anti-islanding protections, impedance measurements based on signal injection have the advantages of a low non-detection zone (NDZ) and are less prone to maloperation during grid disturbances; however, there are problems with signal interference in multi-DG systems. Hence, the impedance angle measurement method with signals injected synchronously is proposed. In this method, each DG injects phase-coherent signals to detect islanding using zero-cross points of the voltage (ZCPV) to avoid the protection failures caused by signal interference. An islanding identification criterion based on the measured impedance angle is proposed by analyzing the impedance characteristics of grid connection and islanding, which avoids the influence of variation of the DG operation state on islanding detection. Finally, we present a signal injection strategy and performance analysis in combination with an existing DG control platform, avoiding additional hardware investment. RTDS-based simulation verification shows that the proposed method can 100% avoid DG maloperation due to voltage and frequency disturbances during grid-connected operation and exit operation within 2 s when islanding occurs.

The rapid advancement of renewable energy technologies necessitates innovative solutions for the efficient deployment and management of microgrid systems. This paper presents a detailed study on the implementation of edge–cloud collaboration-based plug and play (PnP) and topology identification for microgrids, focusing on the Jingshan AC/DC Microgrid Cluster System (JS-MCS) in Hubei, China. Firstly, the paper elucidates the structure of JS-MCS’s physical system and integral information system, comprising the cloud platform, communication network, edge unit, and terminal unit. The following sections introduce the methods of PnP, describing the overall procedure and specific implementations between cloud and edge and cloud and terminal. Then, a novel approach for topology identification is further explored based on correlation analysis. An exemplary analysis of the studied system, JS-MCS, accentuates practical insights into the application of PnP and topology identification methods.

With the rapid development of renewable energy, microgrids are becoming more and more essential in distribution networks. However, uncertainties brought by new energy sources have posed great challenges to the energy safety and stability of distribution networks, especially in the process of fault restoration. To address these issues, this paper investigates an emergency power supply recovery strategy for distribution networks by considering the support capability of microgrids and the high-dimensional dynamic correlations of uncertainty. Firstly, the structure of distribution networks including microgrids is analyzed. Then, the high-dimensional dynamic vine copula model is proposed to model the joint output uncertainty process. Next, island partition and operation models are established, including the objective function and constraint conditions, and the model solving methods are also presented. Finally, an example analysis is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. The results show that the proposed strategy is able to deal with the uncertainties brought by renewable energy sources in distribution networks with microgrid support, improving energy safety and stability. This research provides valuable insights for the development of emergency power supply strategies in distribution networks.

Due to unbalanced load growth among different regions and the increasing integration of distributed generators (DGs), distribution station areas (DSAs) currently face issues such as voltage violations, curtailment of renewable energy generation, and imbalanced load rates among DSAs. Interconnecting DSAs to form an AC–DC hybrid distribution network (DN) can not only address the aforementioned problems but also provides more efficient interfaces for DC devices. In order to coordinate the controllable devices within the flexible interconnected DSAs and achieve an optimal operational state, centralized optimal dispatch strategies are mainly used, which requires the deployment of an additional central controller and entails heavy communication and computation burdens. To overcome the drawbacks of centralized dispatch, a fully decentralized optimal dispatch scheme based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is proposed. Based on the network partitioning results, the introduction of auxiliary variables that replicate the coupling variables between areas further eliminates the need for a coordinating center in the standard ADMM, achieving a fully decentralized optimal dispatch. Additionally, two network partitioning methods are proposed for implementing decentralized dispatch. Both partitioning methods can achieve the goals of load rate balance and voltage profile improvement when implementing decentralized dispatch. Their key distinction lies in their effectiveness in improving the voltage profiles on the DC side. The partitioning method that treats the entire DC side as a separate area, resulting in higher investment, achieves better results in improving the DC voltage profiles than the other one. The choice of partitioning method can be based on practical engineering requirements.

Due to the difference in types of loads between regions and the increasing integration of random elements such as electric vehicles (EVs) and distributed generations (DGs), distribution station areas (DSAs) are facing challenges such as unbalanced load rates and voltage violations. An AC–DC hybrid distribution network formed by interconnecting AC-DSAs using flexible DC technology can not only address these issues, but also offer more efficient interfaces for EV charging piles and DC devices on the DC side. To fully leverage the advantages of the technology and coordinate dispatchable elements within each DSA, this paper proposes an optimal scheduling model, which balances the load rate between DSAs, improves voltage profiles, and considers the control mode of the converter station as a dispatchable element, taking into account its impact on the voltage deviation on the DC side. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model in balancing load rate and improving voltage profiles. Moreover, rational decision-making regarding the selection of the control mode for converter stations can effectively mitigate the voltage deviation on the DC side without deteriorating the voltage deviation on the AC side.

The internal battery parameters of the lithium-ion battery energy storage system may be inconsistent due to different aging degrees during the operation, and the thermal effect can also threaten the safety of the system. In this paper, based on the second-order resistor–capacitor equivalent circuit model and the dual extended Kalman filter (DEKF) algorithm, an electrical simulation model of a LIB pack with inconsistent parameters considering the thermal effect is established, in which state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH) are estimated using DEKF, while the temperature is calculated by a thermal module. The simulation results show that the DEKF algorithm has a good effect on battery state and parameter estimation, with the root-mean-square error of voltage is lower than 0.01 V and SOC mean absolute error (MAE) is below 1.50%, while SOH error is 3.37%. In addition, the thermal module can provide an accurate estimation of the inconsistent temperature rise of the battery pack, and the MAE between the model-calculated temperature and the experiment is no more than 6.60%. The results provide the basic data for the scale-up of the electrothermal co-simulation model of the LIB energy storage system.

Direct-current (DC) microgrids have gained worldwide attention in recent decades due to their high system efficiency and simple control. In a self-sufficient energy system, voltage control is an important key to dealing with upcoming challenges of renewable energy integration into DC microgrids, and thus energy storage systems (ESSs) are often employed to suppress the power fluctuation and ensure the voltage stability. In this paper, the performances of three voltage control strategies for DC microgrids are compared, including the proportion integration (PI) control, the fuzzy PI control and particle swarm optimization (PSO) PI control. Particularly, two kinds of ESSs including battery and advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage (AA-CAES) with different operational characteristics are installed in the microgrid, and their impacts on voltage control are investigated. The control performances are comprehensively compared under different control schemes, various scenarios of renewable energy fluctuations, participation in the control of the two ESSs or not, and different fault conditions. Additionally, the dynamic performances of the ESSs are exhibited. The results verify the validity of the control schemes and the feasibility of the configuration of the ESSs into the DC microgrid.

Fluctuations in the output power of a high penetration distributed generation (DG) will result in severe voltage fluctuations/violations in the power distribution station area (DSA). This paper proposes the use of Soft Open Point (SOP) for DSA interconnection to alleviate voltage violations and frequent fluctuations. Firstly, the typical topology of a flexible interconnected DSA is introduced, and then the correlation between active/reactive power fluctuations and voltage fluctuations in DSA is analyzed, according to which a local control strategy is proposed to achieve voltage control by relying only on the local electrical information of the nodes connected to the SOP. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified by simulation case. The simulation results show that the voltage fluctuation caused by the DG output power fluctuation can be suppressed within tens of milliseconds through the control strategy. This strategy greatly reduces the communication burden and has good real-time performance. It can be used as an SOP control strategy under conditions of communication failure or to realize a plug-and-play SOP, which has significant engineering importance for solving the voltage violations and frequent fluctuations in DSA and improving the consumption capacity of DGs.