Optimal Operation of Battery Energy Storage System in Smart Grid for Reducing Tap Changer Operation under Photovoltaic Fluctuation Using Cuckoo Search

Abstract

Renewable energy sources, especially photovoltaic (PV), have grown significantly and become important sources for power generation in distribution systems. However, the PV power generation is fluctuated by cloud movement, weather conditions, and wind speed which directly affect the excessive operation of voltage regulation devices such as the on load tap changer (OLTC). This excessive operation will decrease the expected life cycle and increase maintenance requirements. This paper proposed an optional operation of the battery energy storage system (BESS) in microgrid by optimizing BESS active and reactive power with Cuckoo Search optimization (CSo). The main objective aims to minimize the OLTC tap operation under PV fluctuation. The CSO is implemented in MATLAB while DIgSILENT PowerFactory is used for load flow evaluation. Simulation case studies are performed using system data from the Mae Sa Riang microgrid in Thailand. Results show that the optimal operation of BESS using CSO can effectively reduce the number of OLTC tap operations in microgrid when compared to the results with the base case and microgrid controller.