Real-time power dispatch in a DC microgrid

Abstract

This paper is motivated by challenges in the data center industry. With their critical loads and the significant power they consume, data centers are well suited for the implementation of microgrids, as they could become more reliable and energy efficient. Moreover, the nature of the loads and energy storage in data centers designate DC microgrids as a perfectly fitting solution. Indeed, for the control of microgrids, a non-centralized solution is ideal as it provides more reliable control than a centralized controller, which is prone to communication errors and single point of failure. The aim of this thesis is to implement a two level controller: lower-level as decentralized droop control and upper-level as a distributed optimal controller using Optimal Power Flow (OPF). Then, to test this controller, a Hardware In the Loop (HIL) device is used to enable a real-time simulation of the network. For the HIL simulation, Typhoon HIL Control Center software is used with a Typhoon HIL 402 hardware device. This structure provides a very efficient and user-friendly procedure for the modeling and the control of DC microgrids. The distribution of the OPF has not shown satisfactory convergence. Hence, the tertiary controller of the real-time HIL simulation was implemented with a centralized algorithm.