Support in the certification process of plant and microgrid-controllers according to VDE 4110/4120

Project period: 01.11.2022 – 30.06.2023

Photovoltaic systems in the range of several megawatt are usually connected to the medium or even high-voltage grid.

The coordinated control of such a solar park is performed by a central power plant controller (PPC).

In microgrids, a large number of different equipment is operated in a coordinated manner as well. This can be done, for example, by a central microgrid controller (MGC). The MGC must ensure that the requirements at the point of coupling of the microgrid to the public grid are met at the respective voltage levels.

To ensure that the behavior at the grid connection point complies with the current standards, the Siemens AG is working towards a certification of both, a MGC and a PPC based on the SICAM A8000 series in accordance with VDE 4110, resp. VDE 4120.

The Institute of Electrical Energy Systems supports the Siemens AG in the certification process. Using a hardware-in-the-loop setup, the real physical controller units are tested on real-time models of solar parks and microgrids. A NovaCor™ system from the manufacturer RTDS-Technologies Inc. is used as the real-time simulator. The Siemens PPC, resp. MGC control the simulated plants via MODBUS/TCP communication while the measured values at the grid connection point serve as set points for power amplifiers to form the input signal for the measurement unit. This unit measures the voltage and currents from the amplifier (scaled via transducer factors) and transmit the measured values back to the plant controller. Certification is performed by an accredited institute.