Islanded Microgrid Energy Optimisation Project
Islanded Microgrid
Export Limitation Control
Peak Shaving
Multiple-buildings
Microgrids that operate in “islanded mode” have fundamental requirements necessary for optimised, safe, and efficient import, export, and storage of energy.
A system like this is usually comprised of energy generation (both renewable and fossil fuel as a backup), Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Energy Management Software and, if necessary, other enabling technology such as Automatic Transfer Switches.
It’s critical to create a microgrid environment that maximises on self-consumption and intelligently stores/dispatches energy based on export limitations, grid prices, time of day and renewable energy availability.
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Cloud Connectivity, Monitoring and Control of an Islanded Solar Microgrid
Using Hark Technology
Working with a customer based in a rural location, we set out to integrate Hark technology into a functional microgrid, with the objective of creating a smart energy distribution system across three buildings. The customer has a 300kWp distributed solar array across 3 buildings on a distributed AC bus. Alongside this, is a 500kVa, 460kWh BESS, a diesel generator set and an ATS (automatic transfer switch).
The primary reason for this project was a mixture of export and import limitations at the grid connection point, which required a significant investment in transmission infrastructure that was not economically viable without Hark’s solutions in place.
By integrating Hark technology, this microgrid is enabled with smart decision making, based on specific criteria such as: export limitations, battery charge capacity, time of day and availability of renewable energy. This creates a highly optimised approach to microgrid energy and promotes efficient self-consumption throughout the estate.
Stacked Energy Control Strategies for Maximum Microgrid Efficiency
Fully optimised microgrid using Edge Control software
Under normal circumstances this microgrid is completely islanded and runs off the Solar PV array and Battery Energy Storage System.
This means the site’s load is entirely powered by the Solar PV Array and Battery Energy Storage System. However, due to the nature of this system, the Solar PV must be curtailed during periods related to the site load and the BESS state of charge, to ensure that the BESS does not exceed limitations and thus cause critical power loss.
In this instance, our system is responsible for calculating and dispatching the curtailment to the Solar PV, which runs at 1 – 5 second control loops based on forecasts.
This is also used to control any overnight requirements, whereby the energy storage system may not have enough capacity to maintain energy requirements for the site during prolonged periods without solar. The system then provides control to the ATS or generator, depending on the cost point of the grid charges that may be incurred or fuel costs. Ultimately, the site runs in a fully optimised program on Solar PV and Energy Storage, to maximize self-consumption as the priority and ensure the delta between the price for grid energy and the diesel generation is optimised.
Key Products Used
We used two core Hark products to facilitate the optimised microgrid solutions
Hark Edge Controller
The Hark Edge Controller’s EMS functionality is a vendor agnostic solution for stacking multiple control strategies such as Export Limitation and Peak Shaving.
This simplifies the process of creating complex control strategies across multiple connected devices such as PV Inverters, Energy Meters, Energy Storage Systems, and so on.
Hark’s EMS user interface is designed to make energy control strategies easy to create, use and edit.
Hark Connect
Enterprise connectivity for industrial assets, buildings management systems and sensors. Securely connect to and collect data from any system source in real-time using The Hark Platform
Vendor-agnostic cloud connectivity to microgrid assets has allowed this customer to visualise their data within the Hark Platform. This provides the ability to see energy meter, battery and renewable data in real-time.
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