Design of SCADA system for Micro-Grid with distributed renewable energy resources (with reference to Sharda University)

Abstract

Energy will continue to play an important role in the future. Availability of energy at reasonable price is one of the key issues for the development of any country. The deterioration of local and global environmental conditions has become the driving force towards the development of energy alternatives and improvements in the efficiency of energy use. A shift towards Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is an option worth considering. There is a good opportunity of reducing the wastage of energy and carbon footprint in Sharda University as in any other teaching institution. In this dissertation work, a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System for Micro-grid with Distributed Renewable Energy Resources, has been designed with reference to Sharda University to reduce the wastage of energy through centralized energy management and to identify any problem in the micro-grid and address it for its efficient and reliable operation. The system design has considered all possible energy resources available at University, power demand, economics, energy conversion efficiency, and environmental concerns. Power from Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) and distributed Diesel Generator sets along with proposed distributed roof-top PV solar plant units will be utilized to generate electricity. The university micro-grid with connected loads, and distributed energy resources has been designed to support the micro-grid operation with improved reliability, resiliency and power quality. Micro-grid enabling technologies, including control and monitoring functions of SCADA and smart meters are used here to carry out real time information and take control decisions to meet the ever-changing demand optionally. In the proposed SCADA system, 14 Remote Terminal Units/Programmable Logic Controllers (RTU/PLC) will be in bus data network for communicating with Master Terminal Unit (MTU) located in control room by using existing Ethernet LAN of Sharda University. Here, 4 RTUs are for 4 Electrical Substations and 10 RTUs are for selected 10 buildings in which 10 Units of distributed roof -top solar plant will be placed. The unit controllers (RTU/PLC) will acquire digital inputs (status) from Field Devices (FDs) through 24 V DC cable and deliver digital outputs (control commands) iv to Fields Devices (FDs) through 240V AC cable .RS 485 LAN will be used as communication network between Smart Multi-Function Meters (SMFM) and RTU. Due to the intermittent behavior of sunlight, the integration of PV energy generation into micro-grid results in challenges such as the changes in voltage profile and frequency response of the system. Possible solutions to PV connection issues have been considered for the better operation of the system. Use of energy storage units and other renewable resources are among many means to offset these challenges.