Smart Grid Control – CyberPhysicalSandbox (SGC-CyPhySandbox)

Overview

SGC-CyPhySandbox aims to develop a platform for the real-time simulation of smart grid control architectures. This creates a safe environment to allow distribution system operators such as the ESB and other actors in the energy sector to test  that their configuration of smart grid devices is compliant with data and communication standards, and to investigate issues associated with the connection of large numbers of small scale renewable resources such as rooftop solar PVs to the grid. The testing is enabled through a technique called hardware-in-the-loop, where simulations of a system can be coupled with real hardware devices to determine how that hardware will react under various circumstances.

GC-CyPhySandbox partners project lead University College Dublin (UCD); Walton Institute at South East Technological University (SETU); and NovoGrid. The two-year project, co-ordinated by UCD and co-funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)‘s Research, Development and Demonstration Fund and ESB Networks.

Research Challenge

• With such a wide diversity of devices, equipment, and standards in terms of communication, data and security, multiple challenges need to be overcome to ensure interoperability, operation, reliability, and validation under a diverse set of conditions.
• Real world trials and pilots can provide a means of testing and validating to overcome such challenges but are limited in terms of the diversity of equipment which can be deployed and network configurations which can be tested.

Novel Approach to Solving the Problem

• Cyber-Physical Test systems based on Real-Time Simulation (RTS) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) offer a complementary approach to pilot deployments by emulating a real-world system and enabling “what if” scenarios.
• SGC project focuses on the development of such a test platform or “sandbox” which can be used to emulate and test smart grid control architectures, including data and communication protocols and smart device response and performance.
• Innovation core is combination of Grid focused modelling of scenarios that address typical issues caused by implementation of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as network congestion, real-time active network management, and setting performance of microgeneration in response to local voltage or frequency events. 2. The physical HiL system that provides realistic simulation of scenarios. 3. Standards compliant comms testbed that can realise use cases which incorporate hardware and communication aspects.

Implementation

The SGC-CyPhySandbox project aims to develop a laboratory-based test platform to facilitate the testing of systems for monitoring and control of residential distributed energy resources (DER) including their compliance with standards. This platform will be made available to sector actors to enable the assessment of DER connectivity through performance and compliance metrics via a simulated sandbox environment.

The aim is to help inform the development of systems to control DERs in the field for the provision of flexibility while also satisfying network management requirements. The test platform combines network modelling, real time simulation (RTS) with hardware in the loop (HiL) and interconnected communication systems built to the DSOs (ESBN) architectural, communication and data transfer standards. Interoperability between smart grid devices (e.g., smart inverter) and the test platform/SGC cloud is enabled through a smart gateway device.

This device serves as an interface between the end smart grid device and SGC platform and maps data bi-directionally to an ESBN compliant standard, specifically IEEE 2030.5. The gateway device is dynamically configurable via the SGC cloud system, to account for multiple smart grid device types, updating of operational bounds and software. Control signals sent back to smart grid devices in response to voltage or frequency changes, are therefore mapped from the IEEE 2030.5 standard back to the device compatible data format through the SGC gateway device.

Key Objectives

• Provide a laboratory-based test platform based on real time simulation (RTS) with hardware in the loop (HiL) which will be used emulate the operation of smart grid control architectures including the data and communications protocols and real device response.
• Research current standards in smart grid technologies and investigate their compliance with the proposed ESB Networks smart grid technology standards by implementing and demonstrating the operation of compliant equipment in the test platform.
• Provide a HiL based test platform for testing compliance of smart grid devices and controls with existing standards.
• Demonstrate the operation of selected smart grid control solutions in response to various grid control scenarios based around use case involving simple, localised constraints, active network management and DER local response to network faults.
• Identify technical barriers to the implementation of specific smart grid control approaches and in particular issues associated with interoperability.
• Expose the cyber-physical platform to ESBN and other NNLC pilot developers so that they can test their Smart Inverter technologies and their configurations against in a sandbox built to ESBN’s best practice.

Benefit to Society

• Support the deployment of green technologies within the citizen’s home.
• Enable standardised, interoperable communication and data formats between different vendor devices.
• Addressing challenges associated with penetration of small-scale renewable energy sources to the energy grid.
• Supporting climate targets by aiding increased uptake of RES in the energy grid.

Impact

• Programme for Government and Climate Act 2021 has set target of halving greenhouse emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050.
• Climate Action Plan outlines actions to achieve this target by increasing renewable generation by 80% by 2030, increasing amount of EVs to approx. 1 million, and significant increase in usage of heat pumps.
• EU Clean Energy Package overhauls EU energy policy framework to move towards supporting clean energy sources.
• To support adoption of more RES and smart grid equipment, it is necessary to minimise requirements for new physical infrastructure and smart control techniques which help balance electricity supply and demand and to ensure secure and reliable operation of the energy system.
• Impact of project on direct end-users and stakeholders: Distribution System Operator the project outputs will provide a platform which will be used for testing various implementations of smart grid control architecture and their interoperability and effectiveness in active network management scenarios. Aggregators looking to participate in provision of flexibility services from DER the platform can be leveraged to test their proposed control architectures and interaction with the System Operator systems and requirements. Smart Grid Equipment Suppliers The test platform can provide means to test the interoperability and performance of their equipment and verify performance relative to the standards required by ESB Networks NNLC (National Networks, Local Connections) Programme.