How is ETAP Microgrid Control Used to Manage the Distribution System with 100% Renewable Power Supply in the Tabuk region on the Red Sea

One of the beauties of using ETAP is that now that we have the complete digital twin of the system, not only can we set these Microgrid Controller Black Start set points in ETAP, but we can also see the entire interaction of the mockery controller black start function, and the primary controllers that do that.
by Ms. Mohammad Zadeh, Chief Product Officer, SVP of Engineering, ETAP

Due to the size and number of Distributed Energy Resources used in Tabuk Red Sea microgrids, an advanced collaborative control approach has been adopted to control the system's voltage and frequency. This means that all DERs, even solar PV systems, dynamically contribute to frequency and voltage control through droop curves; hence, the ETAP microgrid controller provides a secondary voltage and frequency control function to slowly transfer Solar PV’s dynamic contributions to energy storage systems. Since this microgrid is mainly supplied by renewable energy resources and battery systems, soft energization of the microgrids has been adopted to perform black start and avoid transformer inrush currents. A new black start function has been developed within the ETAP microgrid controller to orchestrate the black start steps and coordinate dispatching and switching DERs, transformers, and loads to fully and reliably restore the microgrid system.

Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation III, or SEPCO III, is a Chinese construction and engineering company that designs, builds, operates, and owns power plants. SEPCO3 offers the construction of power plants via the EPC method (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) on a turnkey lump sum basis. Moreover, SEPCO3 also provides the development of power plant projects through BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) and BOO(T) Build-Operate-Own(-Transfer) methods.

Location: Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Year: 2023

Microgrid Control with 100% Renewable Power Supply

Challenges

  • Provide research on the islanded and growing microgrid consisting of 2 Solar PVs (Photovoltaic Sources), 2 BESSs (Battery Energy Storage Systems), and 2 ICEs (Combustion Engines).
  • Build the virtual model of the microgrid system and conduct tests using accurate data to avoid critical situations in reality. Consider all parameters, such as weather, time of day, battery charging and recharging, and possible failures.
  • Research Load-Frequency control by incorporating possible scenarios of BESS operation, setting or confirming the size of the batteries, and controlling solar source behavior and generators in the virtual model.
  • Control Voltage for the electrical system to avoid losses in reactive power.
  • The critical challenge is to research ways to energize a network after a possible blackout, avoiding rush current in cables and transformers, to allow the energization of the energy system.
  • Key objectives include designing, sizing, validating, operating, and visualizing the project with predictive analytics and event forecasting to support decision-making.

Which solutions did they choose?

Selected applications

They chose ETAP, a Microgrid Energy Management Solution, to cover all the steps in designing, configuring, and managing island electrical microgrids. Integrated SCADA, ADMS, DERMS, and Business Intelligence Dashboards ensure high communication possibilities and visualization. ETAP μGrid controller is used for coordination and managing the distribution of energy.

Sepco cooperates strongly with ETAP to ensure coherence and high quality in the used solution.

Why do they use ETAP?

Main Customer Benefits

  • Digital-twin off-grid microgrid for design, size, real-time power management, monitoring, and visibility. Simulating and having a digital twin of the entire microgrid network is essential to designing, selecting the controller scheme, and setting the optimal control settings.
  • Validation of the designed microgrid control system in the design phase. Validating the entire control system, including primary, secondary, and even tertiary systems, is essential for such microgrids.
  • Predicting events and failures using different scenarios on the virtual microgrid model minimizes Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) tests.
  • Voltage and frequency controls were provided as the key aspects of the system's resiliency.
  • Soft system energization after a possible outage was calculated and analyzed as a crucial method for the safe operation of transformers.
  • Coordination of the crucial operations in a single digital model was achieved.

What do they think about ETAP?

Opinions

Off-grid microgrids supplied by renewables typically have batteries and are very sophisticated. Simulating and having a digital twin of the entire microgrid is essential to designing, selecting the control scheme, and setting the optimal control settings.
by Ms. Mohammad Zadeh, Chief Product Officer, SVP of Engineering, ETAP

The entire process of the Black Start can be monitored in ETAP and visualized. And this is a great deal when it comes to this type of project.

by Ms. Mohammad Zadeh, Chief Product Officer, SVP of Engineering, ETAP



Videos

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How ETAP Microgrid Controllers manage the Red Sea Utility off-grid Microgrids in Tabuk

The Red Sea Utility Grid is in the Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia. The site is a vast 33,000 km2 of islands, lagoon, coastal plain and mountains with extremely diverse marine life and terrestrial landforms. The grid is divided into four off-grid microgrids. The focus of this presentation is about three of the microgrids that are very similar in size and operation. Each of these microgrids includes two PV generation (total 6 MW), two battery storages (total 5MW, ~18 MWh), and two emergency backup diesel generators (~ total 3.8 MW). The system is designed to achieve high reliability by having redundancy at various levels.


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