Distributed Generation

Dan Harms La Plata Electric Association

Audience Survey Who has

Single residential windmills Wind farms Single residential solar electric (1 to 10 kW) Commercial solar (10 to 500 kW) Solar farms (over 500 kW) Biomass Micro hydro / hydro Waste heat recovery Natural gas turbines Diesel engines Algae biofuel

Distributed Generation Alternatives

Modeling Considerations WindMils Generation Model settings

Negative Load
Simply adds a given source of kW and kVAr

Swing kVAr
Generator maintains a settable per unit voltage kW output held constant kVAr swings leading/lagging to hold voltage

Negative Load

Use on solar electric, small windmill, micro hydro, and other inverter-based systems
Use on induction generators Use on some synchronous generators
Depends on mode of generation If maximum power output is a priority, generator terminal voltage can be adjusted in lieu of VARs.

Swing kVAr Use on synchronous generators where VAr flow can be adjusted through field excitation. Requires detailed knowledge of generators capability
You will need control setting information. Its unlikely that 5 kW generator could bring voltage up to 1.2 PU.
Make sure your VAr output is not exceeded.

Generation Model Demo

Generation Studies

Voltage Drop / Sag / Flicker Load Flow Fault Current Coordination

Generation Voltage Drop A generator will cause your voltage to rise

Either by reducing current and therefore voltage drop or By causing reverse power flow and reverse voltage drop
The smaller your conductor, the greater your voltage rise.

Generation Voltage Drop (cont.) What happens if the generator drops offline?
If in-line with regulators, they will not be boosting as much If OCR trips and recloses, generation is gone, load is still there, regulators have to catch up Run voltage drop with generation in place, lock regulators, remove generators, run voltage drop again

Voltage Drop / Load Flow Demo

Generation Fault Current Generator impedance options for fault contributions

Sub-transient (xd)
Determines maximum instantaneous current Select AIC rating for breaker.

Transient (xd)
Determines current at short time delay of breakers

Steady-State (xd)
Determines steady state current without excitation

Typical Reactances for 40 to 2000 kW Generators

Name
Sub-transient reactance Transient reactance Synchronous reactance Zero seq. reactance Negative seq. reactance

Symbol xd xd xd xo x2

Range in Per Unit .09 - .17 .13 - .20 1.7 3.3 .06 - .09 .10 - .22

Effective Time 0 to 6 cycles 6 cycles to 5 sec After 5 seconds

Cummins Power Generation, white paper, Calculating Generator Reactances

Fault Current Inverter Based Systems Inverter based systems

PV, residential wind, micro hydro, and some bio-mass No rotating parts and no inertia Fault contribution 1 to 1.2 times rated output
Go to the impedance calculator in the Equipment Editor for the generator. Enter full load amps x 1.2.

Use this impedance model for steady state, subtransient, and transient.

Fault Current Large Wind Wind Generation

Reactive power is modulated. Capacitive current is injected to maintain voltage. Model as Swing kVAr or use negative load with capacitors. Fault contribution depends on turbine type and control settings. Work with turbine manufacturer to determine fault contribution capability.

Fault Current Demo

When to Model Generators Is the generator relatively large to the tap / feeder / substation its on?
If system has capability of backfeeding about 5% of the load of the tap its on, model it. My personal preference

Net metered?
If excess generation doesnt reach grid, dont model it. WindMil doesnt allocate to negative billing load.

Summary WindMil can model any generator, but you need to know how best to model what you have.
Generator type
Synchronous, induction, inverter

Control settings
VAr control?

Fault characteristics
Rotating inertia? Talk to manufacturer.

Dan Harms
La Plata Electric Association 970-382-3514 dharms@lpea.coop