How can reactive power provision be efficiently distributed across interconnected power plants?
Development of an optimisation method that allocates reactive power among available generating units according to demand while minimising total power losses.
Technology
Synchronousmachine
Losses
Gridintegration
Optimization
Background
An operator of a power plant system, consisting of several power plants, needs to deliver reactive power as specified by the higher-level grid operator via a target voltage at the feed-in node. This total reactive power must now be distributed at any time to the various machine units currently in operation.
In the research project presented here, the distribution of reactive power generation to the various machine units is optimised in such a way that the total power losses of all machine units involved are minimised.
Goals
Simulation of power losses across an entire fleet of generators in a power plant complex using a computational model.
Theoretical study on optimizing the distribution of reactive power among various power plant generators within a power plant complex and development of a real-time optimization method.
Development of an open-source optimization program that can be universally applied to any power plant complex.
Results
Power losses in generators can be accurately modelled depending on the load; models for KWO generators have already been implemented.
The optimisation method has already been implemented, released as open-source software and tested using the KWO power plant network. The system is working perfectly; a demonstrator is due to be integrated into the KWO control system shortly.
Hydrogenerators, Image: KWO / David Birri Control room, Image: KWO / Christoph Frutiger 
Project task: Optimization of the supply of reactive power (Q) in a power plant complex given a specified active power output (P) and voltage (U) at the point of common coupling (K) to the grid. Background image: KWO / David Birri 
Bus voltages and power flows in the power plant network of KWO
Projektdetails
- Type
- Research project
- Research field
- Energy and environment, Electrical engineering
- Topics
- Environment and sustainability, Energy, Electrical engineering and measurement technology
- School
- Hochschule für Technik und Umwelt FHNW / Institute of Electrical Power Systems
- Partners
- Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG (KWO), Bundesamt für Energie BFE
- Funding
- Bundesamt für Energie BFE
- Duration
- 36 months, May 2024 to April 2027
- Project lead
- Prof. Dr. Georg Traxler-Samek
