Energy mix modellers often use a constant emissions factor model, which more or less implies a constant heat rate, when trying to show the emissions reduction benefits of integrating renewable power generation system on the grid. This approach does not consider the fact that there is a deterioration in the heat rate with load for the Coal Fired Power Plants that need to accommodate the additional renewable supply. If varying heat rate were to be included in a study, it is often limited to plant specific cases. This PhD presents a novel Variable Turbine Cycle Heat Rate (V-TCHR) model for predicting the part load Turbine cycle heat rate (TCHR) response of various Coal Fired Power Plant (CFPP) architectures, without detail knowledge of the entire steam cycle parameters. A total of 192 process models of representative CFPP architectures were developed using a Virtual Plant software. The models had different combinations of the degree of reheat; the throttle temperature; throttle pressure; and condenser cooling technology. The part load response of all the models were simulated using the software.

Transitioning from an energy system based on fossil fuels to an energy system based on renewables is necessary to limit global warming and comes with both opportunities and challenges. National policies in Cuba look toward the domestic sugar industry for synergies in this transition, and bagasse is projected to play a key role in the future electricity system. Since bagasse only is available during the sugarcane harvesting season, it must be supplemented with other feedstock for power production year-round. Biomass can have important interactions with CLEWs and therefore a nexus approach is important to ensure policy coherence across sectors. This study investigates different pathways for the Cuban energy transition from a CLEWs perspective through a scenario analysis and uses OSeMOSYS as a tool. This study shows that national policies for increased food security, regrowth of the sugar industry, use of energy crops and increased electricity consumption to develop the country compete for land and water resources. While there are currently plenty of resources, compromises will be needed in the medium- to long-term in order to stay within natural boundaries. This is especially true for the water sector since precipitation is expected to decrease in the future due to climate change and since sea level rise will contaminate groundwater. Another effect of climate change is soil degradation which would decrease yields. Increased energy and water inputs to the agricultural sector is known to increase yields in developing countries such as Cuba, which is why an adaptation strategy to maintain yields could be to increase these inputs. However, this would further amplify the pressure on water resources. Exceeding the exploitable internal renewable freshwater resources would then require water inputs from desalination plants which is an energy intensive process, which - if powered by an electricity system with a high share of biopower - could create a vicious cycle. / Omställningen från ett fossilbaserat energisystem till ett förnybart system är nödvändigt för att begränsa den globala uppvärmningen och innebär både möjligheter och utmaningar. Nationella policys i Kuba ser till landets sockerindustri för synergier i denna omställning, och bagass väntas spela en nyckelroll i det framtida elsystemet. Eftersom bagass endast är tillgängligt under sockerrörens skördesäsong måste den kompletteras med andra bränslen för att el ska kunna produceras året om. Biomassa kan ha betydande påverkan på CLEWs varför det är viktigt med en nexusanalys för att säkerställa samstämmighet av policys för olika sektorer. Denna studie undersöker olika tillvägagångssätt för den kubanska energiomställningen ur ett CLEWs-perspektiv genom en scenarioanalys i vilken OSeMOSYS används som modelleringsverktyg. Denna studie fann att nationella policys för ökad trygghet av matförsörjning, återuppbyggnad av sockerindustrin och ökad elkonsumtion för att utveckla landet konkurrerar om land- och vattenresurser. Det finns för närvarande gott om resurser, men på medel och lång sikt kommer kompromisser behövas för att stanna inom naturens gränser. Detta gäller särskilt för vattensektorn eftersom nederbörd väntas minska i framtiden till följd av klimatförändringar och eftersom höjningar av havsvattennivån kommer kontaminera grundvatten. Ytterligare påverkan från klimatförändringarna är markförstöring vilket minskar skörden. Ökad energi- och vattenanvändning i jordbrukssektorn ger vanligtvis högre skörd i utvecklingsländer såsom Kuba, vilket innebär att en anpassningsstrategi för att behålla skördenivån skulle kunna vara att öka dessa. Detta kan dock ytterligare förstärka belastningen på vattenresurserna. Att överskrida de utnyttjbara förnybara färskvattenresurserna skulle kräva avsaltning av vatten vilket är en energikrävande process, vilket - om energiförsörjningen kommer från ett system med mycket biomassa - skulle kunna skapa en ond cirkel.

<div>Due to the instabilities that may occur in dc power systems with regulated power electronic loads such as those used in aircraft, ships, as well as terrestrial vehicles, many analysis techniques and design methodologies have been developed to ensure stable operation following small disturbances starting from normal operating conditions. However, these techniques do not necessarily guarantee large-displacement</div><div>stability following major disturbances such as faults, regenerative operation, pulsed loads, and/or loss of generating capacity. In this thesis, a formal mathematical definition of large-displacement stability is described and the analytical conditions needed to guarantee large-displacement stability are investigated for a notional dc power system. It is shown possible to guarantee large-displacement stability for any piecewise continuous value of load power provided it is bounded by the peak rating of the dc source.</div>

Esta tese trata de dar um passo na direção de revisar o problema de estabilidade transitória e a teoria do método PEBS para incluir em seus fundamentos modelos de fontes alternativas e seus limites operacionais. A conceituação do método direto com restrição é estabelecida via teoria de sistemas dinâmicos restritos e do conceito de região de estabilidade restrita. Particularmente, avalia-se a estabilidade de velocidade das principais configurações de aerogeradores equipados com gerador de indução, considerando como requisito operacional a curva de suportabilidade a afundamentos de tensão, ou curva LVRT. Um sistema dinâmico auxiliar aumentado é desenvolvido para representar a curva LVRT, que é um requisito dependente do tempo, por meio de uma restrição invariante no tempo descrita em termos de uma variável de estado auxiliar. Este sistema auxiliar tem sua região de estabilidade irrestrita igual à região de estabilidade restrita do sistema dinâmico restrito. Os modelos são apresentados na forma de equações algébricas e diferenciais. O problema de estabilidade de velocidade e o problema de violação de limites de tensão são investigados via análises da região de estabilidade do ponto de equilíbrio estável do sistema pós-falta e dos tempos críticos de abertura obtidos para várias perturbações. Os resultados mostram que: i) para distintos limites operacionais e para distintos parâmetros da máquina de indução, as regiões de estabilidade para um dado ponto de equilíbrio podem ser significativamente diferentes, ii) na maioria dos casos analisados, os limites de tensão são violados antes dos aerogeradores perderem a estabilidade de velocidade, o que mostra como é importante considerar limites operacionais nas avaliações de estabilidade via método direto para evitar que o sistema elétrico de potência fique vulnerável e iii) as funções energia desenvolvidas, tanto para avaliar o problema de estabilidade de velocidade, como para avaliar o problema de violação de limites de tensão, são em geral capazes de realizar boas estimativas dos tempos críticos de abertura. Os estudos elaborados nesta tese sobre a avaliação da estabilidade de aerogeradores via método direto, contribuem com aplicações inéditas que podem ser utilizadas nas análises de segurança em tempo real de sistemas elétricos de potência que contemplem fontes alternativas e seus limites operacionais. / This thesis gives a step forward in the direction of reviewing the problem of transient stability and the theory of PEBS method to include models of renewable power plants and their operational limits. The formulation of direct methods with constraint is accomplished by exploring the theory of constrained dynamic systems and the concept of constrained stability region. In particular, the speed stability of the main wind turbine configurations equipped with an induction generator is analyzed, considering the low voltage ride-through requirement, or LVRT curve, as a constraint to the model. An augmented auxiliary dynamical system is developed to represent the time-dependent LVRT constraint as an equivalent time invariant constraint written in terms of an auxiliary state variable. This auxiliary system has its unconstrained stability region equals to the constrained stability region of the constrained dynamic system. The models are described in the form of algebraic and differential equations. The problem of speed stability and the problem of disconnection of wind turbines due to voltage limits violation are investigated via analysis of stability region of the post-fault equilibrium point and critical clearing times obtained for several perturbations. The results show that: i) for different operational limits and for different parameters of the induction machine, the stability regions for a given operating point can be significantly different, ii) in most cases, the violation of the LVRT curve occurs before the speed instability, which reveals the importance of include operational limits in transient stability analysis and in the formulation of direct methods and iii) in most cases, the developed energy functions to evaluate the problem of speed stability and the problem of voltage limits violation, are generally capable of making good estimates of critical clearing times. The developed studies about the transient stability assessment of different models of wind turbines via direct method contribute with applications that can be used in real-time security assessments of power systems that contemplate renewable power plants and their operational limits.

The power transmission network is stretched thin in Western North America. When generators or substations fault, the resultant cascading failures can diminish transmission capabilities across wide regions of the continent. This thesis examined several methods of<br><div>determining one-shot controls based on frequency decline in electrical generators to reduce the effect of one or more phase faults and tripped generators. These methods included criteria based on indices calculated from frequency measured at the controller location. These indices included criteria based on local modes and the rate of change of frequency.</div><br>This thesis primarily used particle swarm optimization (PSO) with inertia to determine a well-adapted set of parameters. The parameters included up to three thresholds for indices calculated from frequency. The researchers found that the best method for distinguishing between one or more phase faults used thresholds on two Fourier indices. Future lines of research regarding one-shot controls were considered.<br><div><br></div><div>A method that distinguished nearby tripped generators from one or more phase faults and load change events was proposed. This method used a moving average, a negative<br></div>threshold for control, and a positive threshold to reject control. The negative threshold for the moving average is met frequently during any large transient event. An additional index must be used to distinguish loss of generation events. This index is the maximum value of the moving average up to the present time and it is good for distinguishing loss of<br>generation events from transient swings caused by other events.<br><br><div>This thesis further demonstrated how well a combination of controls based on both rate of change of frequency and local modes reduces instability of the network as determined by both a reduction in RMSGA and control efficiency at any time after the events.</div><br>This thesis found that using local modes is generally useful to diagnose and apply one-shot controls when instability is caused by one or more phase faults, while when disconnected generators or reduced loads cause instability in the system, the local modes did not distinguish between loss of generation capacity events and reduced load events. Instead, differentiating based on the rate of change of frequency and an initial upward deflection of frequency or an initial downward deflection of frequency did distinguish between these types of events.

<div>Combining rooftop solar with energy storage for off-grid residential operation is restrictively expensive. Historically, operating off-grid requires an 'isolated self-consumption' operating strategy where any excess generation is wasted and to ensure reliability you must install costly, polluting generators or a large amount of energy storage. With the advent of Blockchain technology residents can come together and establish transactive microgrids which have two possible operating strategies: Centralized Energy Sharing (CES) and Interconnected Energy Sharing (IES). The CES strategy proposes that all systems combine their photovoltaic (PV) generation and energy storage systems (ESS) to meet their loads. IES strategy establishes an energy trading system between stand-alone systems which allows buying energy when battery capacity is empty and selling energy when battery capacity is full. Transactive microgrids have been investigated analytically by several sources, none of which consider year-round off-grid operation.</div><div> </div><div>A simulation tool was developed through MATLAB for comparing the three operating strategies: isolated self-consumption, CES, and IES. This simulation tool could easily be incorporated into existing software such as HOMER. </div><div><br></div><div>The effect of several variables on total cost was tested including interconnection type, initial charge, load variability, starting month, number of stand-alone systems, geographic location, and required reliability.</div><div> </div><div>It was found that the CES strategy improves initial cost by 7\% to 10\% compared to the baseline (isolated self-consumption) and IES cases in every simulation. The IES case consistently saved money compared to the baseline, just by a very small amount (less than 1\%). Initial charge was investigated for March, July, and November and was only found to have an effect in November. More research should be done to show the effect of initial charge for every month of the year. Load variability had inconsistent results between the two geographic locations studied, Indianapolis and San Antonio. This result would be improved with an improved load simulation which includes peak shifting. The number of systems did not have a demonstrable effect, giving the same cost whether there were 2 systems or 50 involved in the trading strategies. It may be that only one other system is necessary to receive the benefits from a transactive microgrid. Geographic locations studied (Indianapolis, Indiana; Phoenix, Arizona; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Erie, Pennsylvania) showed a large effect on the total cost with Phoenix being considerably cheaper than any other location and Erie having the highest cost. This result was expected due to each geographic location's load and solar radiation profiles. Required reliability showed a consistent and predictable effect with cost going down as the requirement relaxed and more hours of outage were allowed. </div><div><br></div><div>In order to accomplish off-grid operation with favorable economics it is likely that a system will need to reduce its reliability requirement, adopt energy saving consumption habits, choose a favorable geographic location, and either establish a transactive microgrid or include secondary energy generation and/or storage. </div>

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή εντάσσεται στο πλαίσιο που αφορά στο πεδίο ελέγχου συστημάτων ισχύος και ειδικότερα στην εφαρμογή προηγμένων μεθόδων στην ανάλυση και τον έλεγχο στρεφόμενων ηλεκτρικών μηχανών οδηγούμενων από ηλεκτρονικές διατάξεις ισχύος. Ειδικότερα, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα ακριβή μη γραμμικά μοντέλα των μετατροπέων ισχύος και των ηλεκτρικών μηχανών, αναλύεται η μορφή και η συμπεριφορά των ολοκληρωμένων συστημάτων που χρησιμοποιούνται για την οδήγηση των μηχανών και αποδεικνύεται ότι τα μοντέλα αυτά μπορούν να περιγραφούν με τη γενική παθητική Hamiltonian μορφή. Οι ηλεκτρονικές διατάξεις ισχύος που μελετώνται είναι ο μετατροπέας ΣΡ/ΣΡ ανύψωσης τάσης και ο τριφασικός μετατροπέας σε λειτουργία ανορθωτή και μετατροπέα, ενώ επίσης μελετώνται οι μηχανές ΣΡ ξένης διέγερσης και με διέγερση σε σειρά καθώς επίσης και η τριφασική επαγωγική μηχανή. Έχοντας αναπτύξει τα πλήρη μοντέλα, προτείνεται ένας νέος μη γραμμικός νόμος ελέγχου κατάλληλος για τη γενική παθητική Hamiltonian μορφή των συστημάτων τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν διακοπτικούς μετατροπείς ισχύος. Μια εκτενής μη γραμμική μαθηματική ανάλυση αποδεικνύει ότι ο προτεινόμενος νόμος ελέγχου εγγυάται ευστάθεια και σύγκλιση στο επιθυμητό σημείο ισορροπίας για το σύστημα κλειστού βρόχου. Ο έλεγχος αυτός εφαρμόζεται για τον έλεγχο κινητήρων ΣΡ οδηγούμενων από μετατροπέα ΣΡ/ΣΡ ανύψωσης τάσης καθώς και στην τριφασική επαγωγική μηχανή. Η ανάλυση και η εφαρμογή του ελέγχου οδηγεί στην ανάγκη για επεκτάσεις στη μορφή του ώστε να αυξηθεί η σθεναρότητά του ως προς τις αρχικές συνθήκες, να βελτιωθεί η μεταβατική του συμπεριφορά και να εφαρμοστεί κατάλληλα σε τριφασικούς μετατροπείς ισχύος ώστε να εγγυάται συγκεκριμένες λειτουργίες όπως γραμμική διαμόρφωση. Με την εφαρμογή του ελέγχου στην επαγωγική μηχανή, προτείνεται μια πλήρης σχεδίαση που λειτουργεί είτε βασιζόμενη στη λογική του προσανατολισμένου πεδίου, είτε πλήρως ανεξάρτητα από αυτή, ενώ μελετάται και η συμπεριφορά του σε καταστάσεις εξασθένησης πεδίου. Τέλος, η λογική του ελέγχου επιβεβαιώνεται σε ένα σύστημα ανεμογεννήτριας συνδεδεμένης στο δίκτυο μέσω πλήρους συστήματος μετατροπέων ισχύος με διασύνδεση συνεχούς ρεύματος. Σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις παρουσιάζονται προσομοιώσεις και κατά το δυνατό πειραματικά αποτελέσματα μέσω κατάλληλων εργαστηριακών διατάξεων. / The present PhD dissertation is addressed in the research field of control of power systems and more precisely in providing advanced methods for the analysis and control of electrical machines driven by power devices. Particularly, taking into account the accurate nonlinear models of the power converters and the electrical machines, the structure and the behavior of the complete models used for machine driving are analyzed based on the generalized Hamiltonian-passive form. The power converters discussed are the DC/DC boost converter and the three-phase power converter used as a rectifier or an inverter, while the separately-excited and the series-connected DC motors along with the three-phase induction machine are studied as well. After providing the complete dynamic models, a new nonlinear control scheme suitable for the generalized Hamiltonian-passive systems with switching devices is proposed. Using an extended mathematical analysis, it is proven that the proposed controller guarantees stability and convergence to the desired equilibrium for the closed-loop system. The proposed control application is tested for DC drive systems fed by DC/DC boost converters as well as for induction motor systems fed by AC/DC/AC converters. The control analysis and application leads to the extension of the control structure in order to increase the robustness with respect to the initial conditions, to improve the transient performance and to be suitably applied in three-phase power converter systems, guaranteeing simultaneously certain operating constraints such as linear modulation. For the case of the induction motor control, a complete form of the controller is proposed that acts either in the frame of field-orientation or independently from it, while the controller is also studied in field-weakening conditions. Finally, the controller performance is studied in a wind generating system connected to the grid through a full-scale power converter. In all cases, simulation results are presented while experimental results are provided where possible by using suitable laboratory testbeds.

The installation of variable renewable energy sources has rapidly increased during the last decade in several countries. It is likely that it will also increase in Sweden. Such a development could lead to periods of very high power production. In order to keep the stability of the electric grid, curtailment is the most common feed-in management method. This study examines how Power-to-Heat can utilize this surplus power in Swedish district heating systems instead of using curtailments and thereby facilitate the development of installed variable renewable energy sources. During this study a model was developed in MatLab where the capacity utilization was simulated for Power-to-Heat. The study indicates that the capacity utilization varies from 1,1–4,2 TWh electricity. In this scenario a share of the base load is substituted with new installed wind and solar power; 50 TWh respectively 10 TWh. The parameter that showed greatest sensitivity for the analysis were how the net power profile was simulated.

Ces travaux visent à évaluer la possibilité technique, la performance énergétique et la compétitivité économique d'un procédé Power-to-SNG dans le contexte actuel et à déterminer si la réversibilité en mode Gas-to-Power est pertinente tant énergétiquement qu'économiquement, ce type de procédé étant proposé comme une solution à l'intégration des ressources renouvelables dans le mix énergétique. Les grandes étapes identifiées pour le procédé Power-to-SNG sont l'électrolyse de l'eau pour la production d'hydrogène, l'hydrogénation du dioxyde de carbone pour la production de méthane et une étape de mise aux spécifications pour satisfaire aux exigences de composition pour l'injection sur le réseau de gaz naturel. La technologie retenue pour l'électrolyse est celle des cellules à oxydes solides SOEC s'appliquant à la vapeur d'eau. L'étude énergétique du procédé Power-to-SNG réalisée par simulation avec ProsimPlus 3 montre que le couplage thermique entre la méthanation et l'électrolyse de la vapeur d'eau à haute température est pertinent, l'efficacité du procédé atteignant 75,8 % sur PCS. Concernant le procédé Gas-to-Power, il est choisi de fonctionner en pression afin de mettre en œuvre des cycles thermodynamiques complémentaires. Le choix d'alimenter la pile à combustible en hydrogène pur pour des aspects de réversibilité conduit à des limitations sur l'efficacité énergétique du procédé qui, au mieux, vaut 44,6 %. L'analyse économique des procédés Power-to-SNG et réversible est basée sur les résultats de simulations et fait appel à des performances électrochimiques observées lors de travaux expérimentaux sur monocellule avec pour point de fonctionnement un fort taux de conversion à la tension thermoneutre. Cela permet de proposer un coût actualisé du SNG produit par le procédé Power-to-SNG et un coût de l'électricité produite par le procédé réversible en considérant un couple performance électrochimique - valeur de dégradation associée cohérent et en accord avec une conduite industrielle. L'investissement et le coût d'exploitation de ces installations sont importants, conduisant à coût actualisé de l'électricité restituée au réseau électrique élevé, cela étant accentué par l'investissement supplémentaire dû à la fonction Gas-to-Power à l'installation Power-to-SNG. / The present work focuses on a Power-to-SNG process, especially on its energy efficiency and its economic competitiveness in the current context. It also aims at determining if the reversibility with a Gas-to-Power working mode is interesting from energy and financial considerations. The main steps required into a Power-to-SNG process, identified thanks to a review of the state of the art, are steam electrolysis for hydrogen production, followed by methane production thanks to the Sabatier reaction and a final step of gas purification to meet the composition requirements for gas network injection. Here, electrolysis is led into solid oxide cells. Power-to-SNG process simulations, led with ProsimPlus 3, indicate that the thermal coupling between methanation and the generation of steam to feed the electrolyzer is pertinent, the process energy efficiency achieving 75.8%. Concerning the Gas-to-Power process, its solid oxide fuel cell is pressurized to use additional thermodynamic cycles. The fuel cell is fed with pure hydrogen stream due to reversibility considerations, this limiting the energy efficiency, which highest value here is evaluated at 44.6%. The economic analysis includes experimental based data concerning electrochemical performances and degradation. They are obtained on a commercial cell tested at the thermoneutral voltage with a high steam conversion rate, these conditions being close to what can be expected for industrial process. They are used to calculate the levelized cost of the SNG produced by the Power-to-SNG process and the levelized cost of electricity produced by the reverse process. Investment and operating cost of these processes are important, leading to a high levelized cost of electricity. In the conditions of this study, adding the Gas-to-Power working mode to a Power-to-SNG process is not economically pertinent

<div>In this thesis, we propose a model to predict the interfacial delamination in a flexible solar cell. The interface in a multilayer Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS) flexible solar cell was studied applying the principles of fracture mechanics to a fixed-arm-peel test. </div><div>The principles of fracture mechanics ( J-integral and cohesive model) were implemented in a finite element software to compare the experimental with the numerical peeling force. A fixed-arm-peel test was used to obtain the peeling force for different peeling angles. This peel force and material properties from the CIGS solar cell were processed in several non-linear equations, so the energy required to start the delamination was obtained.The accuracy of the model was compared by fitting the experimental and numerical peeling force, which had a difference of 0.08 %. It is demonstrated that the peeling process for 90-degree could be replicated in COMSOL® software for a CIGS solar cell.</div>