RT23 |Empowering energy sector coupling: CHIL-based laboratory setup for testing real-time grid operation

The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) and the adoption of advanced technologies have brought about significant transformations in the electricity sector. Renewable energy can be used to cover typical electricity demand but also to serve different fields. In fact, electricity from RES can directly be converted in other forms by the electrification of strategical sectors such as transportation and heating. To ensure a seamless transition towards a sustainable and efficient energy landscape, it becomes imperative to develop and implement innovative grid operation strategies that also take into account energy cross-sector technology. This presentation summarizes the results of a research project that focuses on empowering energy sector coupling in the city of Dortmund. Particularly, a laboratory setup based on controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) for real-time testing of grid operation strategies is implemented. The proposed laboratory setup integrates real-time simulation and CHIL, thus enabling dynamic testing and validation of diverse grid operation strategies in presence of cross-sector technologies such as Electric Vehicles (EVs) charging stations or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants. A representative distribution grid is simulated within a real-time simulator while a commercial state estimation tool is used for monitoring the simulated grid. Additionally, physical measurement devices are also included to support state estimation tool, thus providing an overall hardware-in-the-loop setup. Real-time control strategies are implemented on a central controller that, according to the results of the state estimation tool, regulates the active and reactive power of the simulated plants running within the simulated distribution grid. Relevant test results and “lesson learned” will also be discussed within this presentation.