Modeling and transient stability studies of a microgrid using real-time digital simulator

Abstract

The power system is a nonlinear system with complex networks that continuously operates in varying conditions and environments. Disturbance events such as cable faults, equipment failures, thunderstorms, etc. may cause transient response of different severity, interruptions or even outages to the system. In addition to these contingencies, the high-tech industries have also imposed power quality challenges to the power system. In recognizing these challenges, comprehensive planning at the network design stage is required to meet the future demand capacity and improve system stability. The simulation of power system is a cost-effective solution in understanding the system susceptibility to disturbances during the design stage. Moreover, real-time simulation using the Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) can produce more accurate results to represent the real world situations. This report aims to study the transient stability of a 15-bus microgrid located in the Clean Energy Research Laboratory (CERL) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) as part of the Cambridge CARES project focusing on Jurong Island. The microgrid is first modeled using an offline simulation software i.e. PowerWorld to simulate the power flow and transient stability analysis. Then, real-time simulation studies are carried out using the OPAL-RT RTDS. This report is categorized into 6 main parts: Introduction, Literature Review, Introduction to PowerWorld, Power Flow Simulations and Comparison Studies, Fault Analysis and Transient Stability Studies and lastly a Conclusion is provided.