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Results for “power management and distribution”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Laboratory Evaluation of Federated, Hierarchical Controls for Distribution Power System Management: Preprint

The connection of more loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) to the distribution power system brings both challenges and opportunities to system operators. There are opportunities to aggregate flexible loads and DERs to provide transmission grid services, but the coordinated actions of DERs being managed by independent, third-party DER aggregators to support transmission system operations can present challenges. We developed a federated DER management architecture and control framework that aims to manage heterogeneous DERs to deliver reliable transmission grid services while respecting distribution system constraints. The controls include stochastic day-ahead optimization, model predictive control, and a simple real-time management scheme. We present simulation results obtained from a realistic laboratory test bed of federated controls managing DERs within a substation service area to make the substation net power follow the optimal net power determined by the day-ahead optimization based on cost and limiting reverse power flow.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Optimal Power Management for Battery Energy Storage Systems: A Novel Accelerated Tracking ADMM Approach

Optimal power management (OPM) is critical for large-scale battery energy storage systems. Today’s methods often require formidable computational effort due to the design based on centralized numerical optimization. Thus, this paper investigates computationally distributed OPM where the agents based on the cells communicate over a network to cooperatively solve the OPM problem. We propose an accelerated tracking alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm to solve the distributed OPM. The proposed algorithm embeds dynamic average consensus and Nesterov’s acceleration technique in the ADMM algorithm. Not only is the proposed algorithm fully distributed without a need for fusion or aggregating nodes, but it also accelerates convergence. The paper formulates the OPM in a model predictive control framework where it seeks to regulate the charging/discharging power of each battery cell to minimize the total power losses and promote balanced use of the constituent cells while complying with the safety constraints. The paper provides ample simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed distributed OPM in terms of computation and convergence.

Farakhor, Amir↗
DOE OSTI2022

DINGO: Digital assistant to grid operators for resilience management of power distribution system

With increasing adverse weather events and disasters, enabling resiliency of the power distribution system (PDS) is becoming increasingly important. Here in this work, resiliency is defined as the systems ability to keep supplying critical loads even with multiple contingencies. Resiliency may depend on: (a) advanced tools to assist operators in situational awareness and decision making with the increasing volume of data generated by the PDS, (b) visualization and ease of interaction with system resources and information, especially during extreme events and resulting human operator stress, and (c) flexible resources and autonomous control. Operators and support engineers need to interact with the system for key information and take action under stress, given the requirement for decisions in a short time. Integrated technological solutions are prevailing steps to support the most appropriate decision during critical times to serve essential loads. In order to meet the required goals, a Real-time Resiliency Monitoring and Operational Decision Support (RT-RMOD) tool have been developed. It supports various functionalities, including real-time monitoring, resilience assessment, and proactive decision support. However, this work makes advanced feature additions to the tool by developing data-enabled resilience management algorithms for (i) outage detection and localization, (ii) Resiliency-metric driven restoration and reconfiguration, and (iii) NLP based digital assistant for operators called DINGO (DIgital assistaNt to Grid Operators) to interact with Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) and RT-RMOD. The developed algorithm was validated for multiple cases of weather events using a real-world, off-grid microgrid system modeled in a real-time simulator, sensor data, and software tools.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Transactive Implementation of Decentralized Electricity Market for Grid-Edge Systems

The electricity landscape is evolving towards more decentralized approaches due to the proliferation of distributed energy resources and the participation of increasingly smart consumers and producers (prosumers). Recent advances in information and communication technologies and smart metering, provides strategic opportunities for “prosumers” to reform their conventional energy practices towards more consumer-centric economies. From an operational perspective, managing power distribution networks is becoming more difficult with such active grid-edge systems providing limited to no visibility or control. Transactive Energy (TE) has been emerging as a key enabler towards effectively and efficiently integrating prosumers into competitive electricity markets. This work presents a transactive implementation of community-centric markets. A co-simulation framework is developed for evaluating the proposed market structure with high-fidelity models. Case studies on the IEEE-123 node test system demonstrate that community-centric transactive markets can enable communities of prosumers to operate collaboratively as grid-edge systems. The potential benefits of implementing community-centric TE systems are also illustrated.

transactive, microgrids, centralized market operat↗
DOE OSTI2025

Key Design Trades for a Near-term Lunar Fission Surface Power System

NASA and DOE have been developing concepts for lunar and Mars Fission Surface Power (FSP) systems for decades and have considered many different technologies and system variations. In 2023, three contractor teams completed Phase 1 conceptual design studies on a 40 kWe lunar FSP system in response to a modest set of NASA requirements and goals. A government team consisting of NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was formed to develop an independent design approach that adhered to the same requirements and goals posed to the contractor teams. GRC provided expertise, analysis, and design decisions for the power conversion, heat rejection, power management & distribution (PMAD), and mission integration. LANL and INL provided expertise, analysis, and design decisions for the reactor and shielding. The goal of the government study was to develop representative concepts that could be used in NASA architecture studies, guide government technology investments, and inform Phase 2 requirements definition. This paper provides a summary of the key technology options, system-level trades, and mission-level concept-of-operations.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Implementing multi-settlement decentralized electricity market design for transactive communities with imperfect communication

Recent advances in information and communication technologies and smart metering, provides strategic opportunities for ``prosumers" to reform their conventional energy practices towards more consumer-centric economies. From an operational perspective, managing power distribution networks is becoming more difficult with such active grid-edge systems providing limited to no visibility or control. Transactive Energy (TE) has been emerging as a key enabler towards effectively and efficiently integrating prosumers into competitive electricity markets. This work presents a transactive implementation of community-centric markets. A co-simulation framework is developed for evaluating the proposed market structure with high-fidelity models. Case studies on the IEEE-123 node test system demonstrate that community-centric transactive markets can enable communities of prosumers to operate collaboratively as grid-edge systems. The potential benefits of implementing community-centric TE systems are also illustrated.

Mukherjee, Monish↗
DOE OSTI2025

Virtual Power Plants and Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are aggregations of DERs that can balance electrical loads and provide utility-scale and utility-grade grid services like a traditional power plant. This presentation covers VPP definition, State-of-the-Art, Grid Architectures, Example VPP studies, VPP Standards, and VPP Roadmap.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Consensus-Based Approach for Active Power Control and Reserve Estimation in Distributed PV Systems

With the increased adoption of distributed energy resources (DER), they are expected to contribute to power system reliability services and enhance power system stability. This paper presents a distributed consensus control approach for the real-time active power reserve estimation and power management in distributed PV (photovoltaic) systems. The proposed method estimates the cumulative active power reserve from numerous PV generators using only the sparse communication network for a DER aggregator to provide active power regulation services. The real-time active power reserve estimation using the proposed approach can be used by DER aggregators to manage curtailment in distributed PV systems to maintain stipulated reserves and further to provide power system frequency regulation. Using the proposed approach, the DER aggregator only requires measurements at the feeder substation and it does not require information from individual DER units, thereby improving system resiliency. The proposed distributed consensus control method is validated on IEEE 123 testbed using PSCAD simulations.

active power reserve↗
DOE OSTI2022

Consensus-Based Approach for Active Power Control and Reserve Estimation in Distributed PV Systems: Preprint

With the increased adoption of distributed energy resources (DER), they are expected to contribute to power system reliability services and enhance power system stability. This paper presents a distributed consensus control approach for the real-time active power reserve estimation and power management in distributed PV (photovoltaic) systems. The proposed method estimates the cumulative active power reserve from numerous PV generators using only the sparse communication network for a DER aggregator to provide active power regulation services. The real-time active power reserve estimation using the proposed approach can be used by DER aggregators to manage curtailment in distributed PV systems to maintain stipulated reserves and further to provide power system frequency regulation. Using the proposed approach, the DER aggregator only requires measurements at the feeder substation and it does not require information from individual DER units, thereby improving system resiliency. The proposed distributed consensus control method is validated on IEEE 123 testbed using PSCAD simulations.

active power reserve↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evaluation of Distributed Power Apportioning with Net Load Management Engine in Microgrids Using Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

This article presents the performance evaluation of ratio consensus-based distributed power apportioning engine along with centralized net load management (NLM) engine that ensures viable and stable operation of an islanded microgrid. Managing net load variability in a microgrid with high penetrations of uncertain renewable generation and ever-changing load demands is a crucial need in order to ensure viable and stable operation of the microgrid. Centralized “dispatch-rule”-based and/or multi-agent-based distributed control of distributed energy resources (DERs) in microgrid are well accepted for microgrid by adapting ANSI/ISA-95-based hierarchical control architecture. In the application where microgrid network has large geographical span with multiple DERs dispersed in the network, high penetration of uncertain renewable energy resources, and ever-changing load demands, a judicious selection of techniques/solutions for managing net-load resources for maintaining viability and stability is required. With this motivation, this article proposes a novel solution to mitigate the challenges by incorporating a mixed centralized NLM engine and distributed power apportioning control of DERs and loads. A power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) -based experiment is conducted with the centralized NLM engine and the distributed power apportioning engine along with two commercial inverters. The experimental results validates the efficacy of the proposed method in ensuring viability and stability of a microgrid.

hardware-in-the-loop simulation↗
DOE OSTI2021

Real Time - Optimal Power Flow Based Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS) (CRADA Number CRD-20-16909 Final Report)

The integration of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs) into distribution systems brings transformative changes to power systems. This requires operators and planners to find solutions to modernize electric grids and to effectively manage DERs for grid services. NREL developed novel DER management algorithms (referred to as Real-Time Optimal Power Flow, RT-OPF) through U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded efforts, including Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) Network Optimized Distributed Energy Systems (NODES) funding. This cutting-edge control technology aims to modernize distribution systems with large amounts of DER integration, which will help utilities solve issues brought by renewable integration and build resilient and renewable-based electric grids nationwide. Utilidata worked with NREL to investigate the commercialization opportunity of this RT-OPF-based distributed energy resource management system (DERMS). In this project, NREL performs the technology transfer of the RT-OPF to Utilidata to help them fully understand the RT-OPF solution, to identify potential engineering hurdles, and to assess the expected commercial value of various RT-OPF use cases and deployment. The technology transfer work includes two major tasks. First, NREL performs an in-depth knowledge transfer of the entire RT-OPF solution to Utilidata to help them gain an extensive and detailed understanding of the complete RT-OPF solution. In this task, NREL provides exhaustive information (e.g., documentation, code packages, laboratory and field trial data, performance results) while conducting in-depth training sessions to provide a thorough explanation of the entire solution. NREL hosts meetings to present different topics related to the RT-OPF solution, and question-and-answer sessions are included in each meeting to better explain the RT-OPF-related work. Second, the RT-OPF simulations are performed in a laboratory environment. The main objectives of this task are to walk through with Utilidata engineers how to set up a simulation of RT-OPF, identifying each RT-OPF code block/component in operation, learning how these components interact with each other, and eventually running RT-OPF simulations under various system conditions. This task helps Utilidata engineers understand performance limitations and constraints while also quantifying the commercial value of the RT-OPF for different use cases. Based on these two tasks, Utilidata engineers should be able to define and prioritize the next steps of RT-OPF implementation with an eye toward commercial success and scalability of the solution. The next steps are expected to be part of a new project following the conclusion of this project.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Distributed Energy Resources as an Equity Asset: Lessons Learned from Deployments in Disadvantaged Communities

For an Energy System to be truly equitable, it should provide affordable and reliable energy services to disadvantaged and underserved populations. Disadvantaged communities often face a combination of economic, social, health, and environmental burdens and may be geographically isolated (e.g., rural communities), which systematically limits their opportunity to fully participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Real-Time Distributed Control of Smart Inverters for Network-level Optimization

The limitations of centralized optimization methods in managing electric power distribution systems operations have led to the distributed paradigm of computing and decision-making. Unfortunately, the existing distributed optimization algorithms are limited in their applicability to managing fast varying phenomena such as those resulting from highly variable Distributed Energy Resource (DER) generation patterns. They require a large number of communication rounds (in the order of 10 2 to 10 3 ) among the computing agents to solve one instance of the optimization problem. Related real-time distributed control methods are equally limited in their applications to power distribution systems with fast-changing DER generation; they require hundreds of rounds of communication and thus are slow in tracking the network-level optimal solutions. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed voltage controller that provides a fast-tracking of rapidly varying DER generation profiles while simultaneously converging to network-level optimal solutions within a few communication rounds. The proposed control algorithm leverages the radial topology of the system, which reduces the required communication rounds to reach the network-level optimum solution by order of magnitude. The novelty lies in carefully reducing the electrical network model from the perspective of each distributed controller and enabling appropriate data sharing among upstream and downstream nodes to achieve fast convergence. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in minimizing the feeder losses while maintaining the node voltage within the pre-specified limits.

voltage control, optimization, reactive power, inv↗
DOE OSTI2021

Power Quality and Stability in a Cluster of Microgrids with Coordinated Power and Energy Management

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) such as photovoltaic (PV) systems and battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be operated collectively as microgrids. Microgrids can be effective in meeting local load requirements as well as in improving the power quality and stability in a modern power distribution system. Multiple microgrids can also be operated in a coordinated manner as a cluster, to improve the resiliency of the power distribution system. In the event of an outage caused by a transmission system failure, the microgrids in a cluster can use their distributed generation capacity and energy storage resources to recover and extend power availability to the critical loads in the system. In this paper, an illustrative cluster of two microgrids based on the IEEE 13-bus model with DERs has been used, to demonstrate the operation of the concept using real-time simulations. Using real-time simulations, capabilities such as switching reconfiguration following faults, identification of optimal DER placement for effective power quality management, and power electronic controller validation have been demonstrated. For the two-microgrid cluster, this paper also presents improvements in load voltage quality and

Chowdhury, Prithwiraj Roy↗
DOE OSTI2021

Probabilistic Voltage Sensitivity based Preemptive Voltage Monitoring in Unbalanced Distribution Networks

With increasing penetration of renewable energy and active consumers, control and management of power distribution networks has become challenging. Renewable energy sources can cause random voltage fluctuations as their output power depends on weather conditions. Conventional voltage control schemes such as tap changers and capacitor banks lack the foresight required to quickly alleviate voltage violations. Thus, there is an urgent need for effective approaches for predicting and mitigating voltage violations as a result of random fluctuations in power injections. This work proposes a novel voltage monitoring approach based on low-complexity, data-driven probabilistic voltage sensitivity analysis. The usefulness of this work is not only in predicting voltage violations in unbalanced distribution grids, but also in opening up the door for optimal voltage control. Using system data and forecasts, the proposed approach predicts the distribution of system node voltages which is then used to to identify nodes that may violate the nominal operational limits with high probability. The method is tested on the IEEE 37 node distribution system considering integrated distributed solar energy sources. The method is validated against the classic load flow based method and offers over 95% accuracy in predicting voltage violations.

Abujubbeh, Mohammad↗