We all take for granted that if we press the switch, the lights turn on; that to charge our phone we just need to plug-in the charger and that food is always safely stored in our fridge. but what would happen in the event of a blackout? are we really conscious of how much we rely on electricity? could we survive without it, even for a few days?The current electricity network is strongly centralised, with electricity generated in large power plants and distributed through transmission networks to the final consumers. With increasing energy demand and renewable energies entering the scene, centralised systems have proven to be very stiff: lacking the flexibility to adapt to sudden demand fluctuations and being unable to deal with strong peaks, with the consequent risk of blackouts.Small, decentralised energy systems can be placed closed to the consumers, avoiding distribution losses and adding flexibility to the network. In particular, small cogeneration units can simultaneously generate heat and electricity; thus, also fulfilling our heating requirements and increasing energy efficiency. However, when there is no or little heat demand (e.g. during the summer), the heat produced by the cogeneration engines cannot be utilised and they need to be shut down. This is the reason why small-scale cogeneration cycles are rarely seen and have not been widely adopted yet.This PhD focuses on the injection of water in a specific small-scale cogeneration technology, the micro gas turbine (mGT) cycle. Thanks to water injection, the production of heat and electricity is decoupled; therefore, the operation of the units is not anymore dependant on the heating demand and they can be used any time during the year. The objective of this thesis is to analyse the numerical, experimental and economic aspects of the so-known micro Humid Air Turbine cycle. The aim is to bring mGTs closer to the market so as to contribute to a more secure, future energy network, where blackouts are avoided at all times. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Recent technological developments are bringing about substantial changes that are converting traditional distribution networks into "smart" distribution networks. In particular, it is possible to observe seamless integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including the widespread installation of automatic equipment, smart meters, etc. The increased automation facilitates active network management, interaction between market actors and demand side participation. If we also consider the increasing penetration of distributed generation, renewables and various emerging technologies such as storage and dynamic rating, it can be argued that the capacity of distribution networks should not only depend on conventional asset. In this context, taking into account uncertain load growth and ageing infrastructure, which trigger network investments, the above-mentioned advancements could alter and be used to improve the network design philosophy adopted so far. Hitherto, in fact, networks have been planned according to deterministic and conservative standards, being typically underutilised, in order for capacity to be available during emergencies. This practice could be replaced by a corrective philosophy, where existing infrastructure could be fully unlocked for normal conditions and distributed energy resources could be used for post fault capacity services. Nonetheless, to thoroughly evaluate the contribution of the resources and also to properly model emergency conditions, a probabilistic analysis should be carried out, which captures the stochasticity of some technologies, the randomness of faults and, thus, the risk profile of smart distribution networks. The research work in this thesis proposes a variety of post fault capacity services to increase distribution network utilisation but also to provide reliability support during emergency conditions. In particular, a demand response (DR) scheme is proposed where DR customers are optimally disconnected during contingencies from the operator depending on their cost of interruption. Additionally, time-limited thermal ratings have been used to increase network utilisation and support higher loading levels. Besides that, a collaborative operation of wind farms and electrical energy storage is proposed and evaluated, and their capacity contribution is calculated through the effective load carrying capability. Furthermore, the microgrid concept is examined, where multi-generation technologies collaborate to provide capacity services to internal customers but also to the remaining network. Finally, a distributed software infrastructure is examined which could be effectively used to support services in smart grids. The underlying framework for the reliability analysis is based on Sequential Monte Carlo Simulations, capturing inter-temporal constraints of the resources (payback effects, dynamic rating, DR profile, storage remaining available capacity) and the stochasticity of electrical and ICT equipment. The comprehensive distribution network reliability analysis includes network reconfiguration, restoration process, and ac power flow calculations, supporting a full risk analysis and building the risk profile for the arising smart distribution networks. Real case studies from ongoing project in England North West demonstrate the concepts and tools developed and provide noteworthy conclusions to network planners, including to inform design of DR contracts.

Este documento apresenta uma metodologia analítica adaptativa para localização de faltas baseada na estimativa da impedância para sistemas de distribuição ativos. A metodologia proposta combina a informação fornecida por dispositivos eletrônicos inteligentes alocados na subestação principal e nos terminais de cada unidade de Recurso Energético Distribuído (do inglês Distributed Energy Resources - DER), o conhecimento da topologia da rede e os seus parâmetros para estimar a localização da falta. A característica adaptativa é dada pelo uso de modelos elétricos lineares para considerar o efeito das DER conectadas à rede, quando a informação fornecida pelos Dispositivos Eletrônicos Inteligentes (do inglês Intelligent Electronic Devices - IED) não é disponível. Adicionalmente, uma estratégia baseada na técnica Ladder é desenvolvida para estimar a contribuição de corrente desde as DER até o ponto de falta. Esta estratégia permite considerar vários geradores conectados e seus diferentes modos de operação. A metodologia proposta foi validada com o sistema IEEE 34 barras. Este sistema foi modelado no Alternative Transients Program (ATP) e modificado pela inserção de várias unidades DER. A metodologia proposta foi validada em vários cenários. Estes cenários avaliam o efeito da distância até a falta, resistência da falta, incerteza na carga, nível de penetração de DER, número de geradores conectados e erros nas medidas ou na estimação dos parâmetros das DER quando seus modelos forem utilizados. Para estas considerações, o desempenho da formulação proposta é satisfatório, apresentando erros menores do que 3%. / This document presents an adaptive analytical impedance-based fault location methodology for active distribution systems. The proposal combines information provided by Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) located in the substation, each Distributed Energy Resources units terminal, the knowledge of the network topology as well as its parameters to estimate the fault location. Its adaptive feature is given by the use of linear analytical equivalent models to consider of DER effect in case the information provided by a local IED is not available. Additionally, a ladder-based technique is proposed to estimate the current contribution from of DER to the fault point. This process allows considering several DER connected and their different operation modes. The proposed methodology is validated on the IEEE 34-node test feeder. This system is modeled on ATP/EMTP and modified with the insertion of several DER units. The methodology is validated by considering several scenarios. These scenarios evaluate the effect of fault distance, fault resistance, load variation, DER penetration level, numbers of DERs connected and errors in the DER parameters. For these considerations, the proposed methodology performance is satisfactory, presenting fault location errors below 3%.

Doctor of Philosophy / Electrical and Computer Engineering / Ruth D. Miller / Optimizing renewable distributed generation in distribution systems has gained popularity with changes in federal energy policies. Various studies have been reported in this regard and most of the studies are based on optimum wind and/or solar generation planning in distribution system using various optimization techniques such as analytical, numerical, and heuristic. However, characteristics such as high energy density, relatively lower footprint of land, availability, and local reactive power compensation ability, have gained increased popularity for optimizing distributed wind generation (DWG) in distribution systems. This research investigated optimum distributed generation planning (ODGP) using two primary optimization techniques: analytical and heuristic. In first part of the research, an analytical optimization method called “Combined Electrical Topology (CET)” was proposed in order to minimize the impact of intentional structural changes in distribution system topology, in distributed generation/ DWG placement. Even though it is still rare, DWG could be maximized to supply base power demand of three-phase unbalanced radial distribution system, combined with distributed battery energy storage systems (BESS). In second part of this research the usage of DWG/BESS as base power generation, and to extend the ability to sustain the system in a power grid failure for a maximum of 1.5 hours was studied. IEEE 37-node, three-phase unbalanced radial distribution system was used as the test system to optimize wind turbines and sodium sulfide (NaS) battery units with respect to network real power losses, system voltage profile, DWG/BESS availability and present value of cost savings. In addition, DWG’s ability to supply local reactive power in distribution system was also investigated. Model results suggested that DWG/NaS could supply base power demand of a threephase unbalanced radial distribution system. In addition, DWG/NaS were able to sustain power demand of a three-phase unbalanced distribution system for 1.5 hours in the event of a power grid failure.

abstract: Distributed Renewable energy generators are now contributing a significant amount of energy into the energy grid. Consequently, reliability adequacy of such energy generators will depend on making accurate forecasts of energy produced by them. Power outputs of Solar PV systems depend on the stochastic variation of environmental factors (solar irradiance, ambient temperature & wind speed) and random mechanical failures/repairs. Monte Carlo Simulation which is typically used to model such problems becomes too computationally intensive leading to simplifying state-space assumptions. Multi-state models for power system reliability offer a higher flexibility in providing a description of system state evolution and an accurate representation of probability. In this study, Universal Generating Functions (UGF) were used to solve such combinatorial problems. 8 grid connected Solar PV systems were analyzed with a combined capacity of about 5MW located in a hot-dry climate (Arizona) and accuracy of 98% was achieved when validated with real-time data. An analytics framework is provided to grid operators and utilities to effectively forecast energy produced by distributed energy assets and in turn, develop strategies for effective Demand Response in times of increased share of renewable distributed energy assets in the grid. Second part of this thesis extends the environmental modelling approach to develop an aging test to be run in conjunction with an accelerated test of Solar PV modules. Accelerated Lifetime Testing procedures in the industry are used to determine the dominant failure modes which the product undergoes in the field, as well as predict the lifetime of the product. UV stressor is one of the ten stressors which a PV module undergoes in the field. UV exposure causes browning of modules leading to drop in Short Circuit Current. This thesis presents an environmental modelling approach for the hot-dry climate and extends it to develop an aging test methodology. This along with the accelerated tests would help achieve the goal of correlating field failures with accelerated tests and obtain acceleration factor. This knowledge would help predict PV module degradation in the field within 30% of the actual value and help in knowing the PV module lifetime accurately. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Industrial Engineering 2017

Este documento apresenta uma metodologia analítica adaptativa para localização de faltas baseada na estimativa da impedância para sistemas de distribuição ativos. A metodologia proposta combina a informação fornecida por dispositivos eletrônicos inteligentes alocados na subestação principal e nos terminais de cada unidade de Recurso Energético Distribuído (do inglês Distributed Energy Resources - DER), o conhecimento da topologia da rede e os seus parâmetros para estimar a localização da falta. A característica adaptativa é dada pelo uso de modelos elétricos lineares para considerar o efeito das DER conectadas à rede, quando a informação fornecida pelos Dispositivos Eletrônicos Inteligentes (do inglês Intelligent Electronic Devices - IED) não é disponível. Adicionalmente, uma estratégia baseada na técnica Ladder é desenvolvida para estimar a contribuição de corrente desde as DER até o ponto de falta. Esta estratégia permite considerar vários geradores conectados e seus diferentes modos de operação. A metodologia proposta foi validada com o sistema IEEE 34 barras. Este sistema foi modelado no Alternative Transients Program (ATP) e modificado pela inserção de várias unidades DER. A metodologia proposta foi validada em vários cenários. Estes cenários avaliam o efeito da distância até a falta, resistência da falta, incerteza na carga, nível de penetração de DER, número de geradores conectados e erros nas medidas ou na estimação dos parâmetros das DER quando seus modelos forem utilizados. Para estas considerações, o desempenho da formulação proposta é satisfatório, apresentando erros menores do que 3%. / This document presents an adaptive analytical impedance-based fault location methodology for active distribution systems. The proposal combines information provided by Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) located in the substation, each Distributed Energy Resources units terminal, the knowledge of the network topology as well as its parameters to estimate the fault location. Its adaptive feature is given by the use of linear analytical equivalent models to consider of DER effect in case the information provided by a local IED is not available. Additionally, a ladder-based technique is proposed to estimate the current contribution from of DER to the fault point. This process allows considering several DER connected and their different operation modes. The proposed methodology is validated on the IEEE 34-node test feeder. This system is modeled on ATP/EMTP and modified with the insertion of several DER units. The methodology is validated by considering several scenarios. These scenarios evaluate the effect of fault distance, fault resistance, load variation, DER penetration level, numbers of DERs connected and errors in the DER parameters. For these considerations, the proposed methodology performance is satisfactory, presenting fault location errors below 3%.

Orientador: Ennio Peres da Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T02:08:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Castro_RodolfoDamasiode_M.pdf: 3152478 bytes, checksum: a4e0e80e4ac1f8804a7b3aa8589139b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A busca por meios de geração de energia para atender às necessidades humanas com menores impactos sociais e ambientais é constante. A geração de energia elétrica por meio de fontes renováveis na forma distribuída, ou não centralizada, é um meio ou método de minimizar tais impactos. O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar a viabilidade econômica, frente a tarifa de energia elétrica das concessionárias locais, da utilização de sistemas de geração solar em residências brasileiras situadas nas capitais dos estados, na capital federal, Brasília e na cidade de Campinas (SP). Diferentes situações de dimensionamento foram utilizadas para dois tipos de sistemas: um sistema fotovoltaico puro, para atender toda a necessidade energética da residência, incluindo o chuveiro elétrico, e um sistema solar híbrido, composto por aquecimento solar para atender a demanda por água quente no banho em conjunto com geração fotovoltaica para atender as necessidades em equipamentos elétricos. As situações de dimensionamento utilizadas foram três, onde em cada uma o sistema fotovoltaico foi projetado para uma determinada produção de energia. Os sistemas fotovoltaico e de aquecimento solar foram dimensionados com o auxílio dos softwares PVSyst e Dimensol, respectivamente. O custo total dos sistemas foi estimado a partir de pesquisa em lojas com endereço eletrônico na rede de computadores e de orçamentos fornecidos por empresas do ramo. Determinou-se o preço final da energia elétrica convencional para todas as cidades a partir da tarifa definida pela ANEEL, do valor médio do PIS efetivo cobrado pelas concessionárias e da alíquota de ICMS que os governos estaduais recolhem. Após realizados os cálculos, chegou-se ao resultado de que somente nas cidades de Macapá (AP) e Boa Vista (RR), devido principalmente ao baixo custo das tarifas de energia elétrica, o usuário não economizaria com a instalação dos sistemas. Porém, em cidades de elevada tarifa, como Belém (PA) e Belo Horizonte (MG), o usuário pagaria cerca de R$ 0,30 por quilowatt hora consumido a menos / Abstract: The search for power generation means to meet human needs with lower social and environmental impacts is constant. The distributed generation of electricity by renewable energies is a method to minimize those impacts. The research aimed to analyze the economic viability against local electricity tariff of the use of solar power generation systems in Brazilian households located in the capitals of the states, in the federal capital, Brasilia, and in the city of Campinas (SP) Different sizing situations were used for two types of systems: a pure PV system to meet all the energy needs of the residence, including electric shower, and a hybrid solar system, consisting of solar heating to meet the demand for hot water in the bath together with photovoltaic generation to meet the needs in electrical equipment. Sizing situations used were three, where in each one the PV system is designed for a certain production of energy. The photovoltaic systems and solar heating were sized with the help of the softwares PVSyst and Dimensol, respectively. The total cost of the systems was estimated by a research in webstores and budgets provided by companies in the field. Was determined the final price of conventional electricity to all cities from the tariff set by ANEEL, the average value of the effective PIS charged by concessionaires and ICMS aliquot that state governments collect. After performing the calculations, came to the result that only the cities of Macapa (AP) and Boa Vista (RR), mainly due to the low cost of electricity tariffs, the user does not save due to the installation of the systems. However, in cities of high tariff, as Belém (PA) and Belo Horizonte (MG), the user would save about R$ 0.30 per quilowatt-hour / Mestrado / Planejamento de Sistemas Energeticos / Mestre em Planejamento de Sistemas Energéticos

abstract: This dissertation develops advanced controls for distributed energy systems and evaluates performance on technical and economic benefits. Microgrids and thermal systems are of primary focus with applications shown for residential, commercial, and military applications that have differing equipment, rate structures, and objectives. Controls development for residential energy heating and cooling systems implement adaptive precooling strategies and thermal energy storage, with comparisons made of each approach separately and then together with precooling and thermal energy storage. Case studies show on-peak demand and annual energy related expenses can be reduced by up to 75.6% and 23.5%, respectively, for a Building America B10 Benchmark home in Phoenix Arizona, Los Angeles California, and Kona Hawaii. Microgrids for commercial applications follow after with increased complexity. Three control methods are developed and compared including a baseline logic-based control, model predictive control, and model predictive control with ancillary service control algorithms. Case studies show that a microgrid consisting of 326 kW solar PV, 634 kW/ 634 kWh battery, and a 350 kW diesel generator can reduce on-peak demand and annual energy related expenses by 82.2% and 44.1%, respectively. Findings also show that employing a model predictive control algorithm with ancillary services can reduce operating expenses by 23.5% when compared to a logic-based algorithm. Microgrid evaluation continues with an investigation of off-grid operation and resilience for military applications. A statistical model is developed to evaluate the survivability (i.e. probability to meet critical load during an islanding event) to serve critical load out to 7 days of grid outage. Case studies compare the resilience of a generator-only microgrid consisting of 5,250 kW in generators and hybrid microgrid consisting of 2,250 kW generators, 3,450 kW / 13,800 kWh storage, and 16,479 kW solar photovoltaics. Findings show that the hybrid microgrid improves survivability by 10.0% and decreases fuel consumption by 47.8% over a 168-hour islanding event when compared to a generator-only microgrid under nominal conditions. Findings in this dissertation can increase the adoption of reliable, low cost, and low carbon distributed energy systems by improving the operational capabilities and economic benefits to a variety of customers and utilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Engineering 2019

abstract: In recent years, many school districts, community colleges, and universities in California have implemented energy management-as-a-service (EMaaS). The purpose of this study was to analyzes how EMaaS has been realized in California schools, including how performance expectations and service guarantees have been met, how value is created and captured, and which trends are emerging in the pay-for-performance models. This study used a qualitative research design to identify patterns in the collected data and allow theories to be drawn from the emergent categories and themes. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with a diverse pool of facility managers, energy practitioners, superintendents, and associate superintendents working with EMaaS. Four themes emerged (1) peak shaving overperformance, (2) low risk/reward, (3) performance exactly as expected, and (4) hope in future flexibility. This study reveals medium to high levels of performance satisfaction from the customers of cloud-enabled and battery-based EMaaS in California schools. Value has been captured primarily through peak shaving and intelligent bill management. Large campuses with higher peaks are especially good at delivering energy savings, and in some instances without pairing batteries and solar. Where demand response participation is permitted by the utility companies, the quality of demand response performance is mixed, with performance being exactly as expected to slightly less than expected. The EMaaS business model is positioned to help California schools implement and achieve many of their future sustainability goals in a cost-effective way. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Construction Management 2020

The size and composition of the Swedish electricity generation are changing. This, in combination with new legal requirements from regulatory entities including the EU Directive 2019/944, creates several challenges for the design of the future system. Among other things, the directive suggests that flexibility solutions are to be integrated into grids to increase the degree of utilization and avoid congestions, when socio-economically profitable. This thesis evaluates what this could mean in a Swedish context, in combination with providing a basic understanding of the contradictions that can arise between a desired efficient grid use in an energy system that goes towards more distributed and intermittent energy generation sources. The work is carried out in collaboration with Vattenfall Eldistribution AB, focusing on the geographical area of Uppsala and Stockholm, the Swedish region hit hardest by local congestions. The work assumes that the economic value of a flexibility solution is at most equivalent to the cost of a conventional new construction aimed at capacity strengthening, or the Value of Lost Load (VoLL). The report’s most important deliverable is a model based on this view. The model is used to evaluate the economic value of flexibility per kWh, in three regional grid construction projects within the mentioned region.  The results show that there is a great potential for using flexibility resources to increase utilization in grids and also to optimize the costs that society pays for this infrastructure by such methods. However, the work concludes that the usage of flexible technologies primarily is to adapt electric consumption with intermittent energy generation, rather than being used to solve local grid capacity shortages.