Control of Hydrogen based Virtual Power Plant in Hybrid AC/DC Microgrids

Abstract

Hybrid AC/DC renewable based microgrids are gaining drastically more potential, due to their crucial role in the growth of ecofriendly power generation. Renewable energy technology and energy storage systems have advanced significantly, allowing for efficient green energy generation. In this paper, a dynamic model for a hydrogen-based virtual power plant utilized in a hybrid AC/DC microgrid has been developed. A detailed average model with a control architecture has been built for the different elements in the proposed microgrid. The control philosophy of the proposed power electronics converters aims to achieve a stable operation for the AC and DC buses, while supplying the load with the intermittent power generated by renewable energy source and power stored in the hydrogen based energy storage system. Furthermore, two main functionalities have been implemented to the interlinking power converter that links AC and DC systems; a virtual power plant functionality, and active/reactive power support to the grid. Number of simulation scenarios have been performed to test the reliability of the proposed control philosophy. The simulation results show that the proposed microgrid can maintain a stable operation in all simulation scenarios.