TA Success Story: CYPRESS
Integration of Solar PV Parks in the Power Network of Cyprus
Topic: CYPrus grid optimal integration and control of RES ParkS
Hosting facility: SmartEST Lab of AIT
Duration: 17.11.2019 – 09.12.2019
The electrical power network of Cyprus is slowly migrating from a centralised generation system to a decentralised/distributed generation one, with high shares of renewable energy sources (RES), with wind and especially solar energy playing a central role.
Unlike the majority of power systems in central Europe, which are interconnected together, in Cyprus the electrical power network is autonomous and islanded, not yet interconnected to a larger and bulk power system, establishing stability and robustness. This as a consequence, poses challenges in terms of stability, robustness, resilience, reliability and security of supply when high penetration of variable in nature, distributed energy resources (based on static power electronics converter) will be a reality.
TA user group CYPRESS studied the impact and the interactions that a PV system has with a real part of the Cyprus grid under different operational challenges and under different control logics that offer system support capabilities. Their real-time simulation tests were performed through the HIL framework hosted at the SmartEST Lab of Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT).
Achievements
As a result of their experimental research, the CYPRESS team came up with a number of scientific results for the grid operator of Cyprus underpinning the results from pure simulation studies for the integration of a PV inverter in a real part of the distribution system. Namely the team performed studies regarding:
• Anti-Islanding Testing
• Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) Capability of the inverter
• Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCof) studies throughout the feeder
• Cloud passing studies
The above studies can be employed by the operator for scaling up and extracting safe results for the stable operation of the system.
