Hydroelectric power stations are a major source of electricity around the world; understanding their dynamics is crucial to achieving good performance. The electrical power generated is normally controlled by individual feedback loops on each unit. The reference input to the power loop is the grid frequency deviation from its set point, thus structuring an external frequency control loop. The book discusses practical and well-documented cases of modelling and controlling hydropower stations, focused on a pumped storage scheme based in Dinorwig, North Wales. These accounts are valuable to specialist control engineers who are working in this industry. In addition, the theoretical treatment of modern and classic controllers will be useful for graduate and final year undergraduate engineering students. This book reviews SISO and MIMO models, which cover the linear and nonlinear characteristics of pumped storage hydroelectric power stations. The most important dynamic features are discussed. The verification of these models by hardware in the loop simulation is described. To show how the performance of a pumped storage hydroelectric power station can be improved, classical and modern controllers are applied to simulated models of Dinorwig power plant, that include PID, Fuzzy approximation, Feed-Forward and Model Based Predictive Control with linear and hybrid prediction models.

This book reports on a comprehensive study addressing the dynamic responses of hydropower plants under diverse conditions and disturbances, and analyzes their stability and oscillations. Multiple models based on eight existing hydropower plants in Sweden and China were developed and used for simulations and theoretical analysis with various degrees of complexity and for different purposes, and compared with on-site measurements for validations. The book offers important insights into the understanding of the hydraulic, mechanical and electrical coupling mechanisms, up to market conditions and incentives. It recommends control strategies for a more stable and efficient operation of hydropower plants.

Rapid deployment of wind and solar energy generation is going to result in a series of new problems with regards to the reliability of our electrical grid in terms of outages, cost, and life-time, forcing us to promptly deal with the challenging restructuring of our energy systems. Increased penetration of fluctuating renewable energy resources is a challenge for the electrical grid. Proposing solutions to deal with this problem also impacts the functionality of large generators. The power electronic generator interactions, multi-domain modelling, and reliable monitoring systems are examples of new challenges in this field. This book presents some new modelling methods and technologies for renewable energy generators including wind, ocean, and hydropower systems.

This book is dedicated to Prof. Peter Young on his 70th birthday. Professor Young has been a pioneer in systems and control, and over the past 45 years he has influenced many developments in this field. This volume comprises a collection of contributions by leading experts in system identification, time-series analysis, environmetric modelling and control system design – modern research in topics that reflect important areas of interest in Professor Young’s research career. Recent theoretical developments in and relevant applications of these areas are explored treating the various subjects broadly and in depth. The authoritative and up-to-date research presented here will be of interest to academic researcher in control and disciplines related to environmental research, particularly those to with water systems. The tutorial style in which many of the contributions are composed also makes the book suitable as a source of study material for graduate students in those areas.

Advanced Simulation of Alternative Energy: Simulations with Simulink® and SimPowerSystemsTM considers models of new and promising installations of renewable energy sources, as well as the new trends in this technical field. The book is focused on wind generators with multiphase generators, models of different offshore parks, wind shear and tower shadow effect, active damping, system inertia support, synchronverter modeling, photovoltaic cells with cascaded H-Bridge multilevel inverters, operation of fuel cells with electrolyzers and microturbines, utilization of ocean wave and ocean tide energy sources, pumped storage hydropower simulation, and simulation of some hybrid systems. Simulink® and its toolbox, SimPowerSystemsTM (its new name Electrical/Specialized Power Systems), are the most popular means for simulation of these systems. More than 100 models of the renewable energy systems that are made with use of this program environment are appended to the book. The aims of these models are to aid students studying various electrical engineering fields including industrial electronics, electrical machines, electrical drives, and production and distribution of electrical energy; to facilitate the understanding of various renewable energy system functions; and to create a platform for the development of systems by readers in their fields. This book can be used by engineers and investigators as well as undergraduate and graduate students to develop new electrical systems and investigate the existing ones.

This thesis investigates the impact of: i) the low voltage ride-through and dynamic voltage support capability; ii) the active current recovery rate; iii) the local voltage control; and iv) the plant-level voltage control of large-scale photovoltaic systems on short-term voltage stability and fault-induced delayed voltage recovery as well as transient and frequency stability. The power system dynamic performance is analysed using state-of-the-art methods, such as phasor mode time-domain simulations and the calculation of the critical clearing time that determines the stability margin. Moreover, the recently developed Kullback-Leibler divergence measure is applied to assess the quality of the voltage recovery. Drawbacks of this metric are outlined and a novel metric, the so-called voltage recovery index, is defined that quantifies the delayed voltage recovery more systematically. The studies are performed with a generic photovoltaic system model and typical model parameters are used that were determined in collaboration with a manufacturer. The stability analysis is performed in DIgSILENT PowerFactory using: i) a one-load infinite-bus system; and ii) an IEEE multi-machine voltage stability test system, namely the Nordic test system. The results show that with the adequate control of photovoltaic systems, power system dynamic performance can be significantly improved.

In the view of many power experts, distributed power generation represents the paradigm of the future. Distributed Power Generation: Planning and Evaluation explores the preparation and analysis of distributed generators (DGs) for residential, commercial and industrial, as well as electric utility applications. It examines distributed generation versus traditional, centralized power systems, power demands, reliability evaluation, planning processes, costs, reciprocating piston engine DGs, gas turbine powered DGs, fuel cell powered DGs, renewable resource DGs, and more. The authors include recommendations and guidelines for DG planners, and numerous case studies illustrate the discussions.