How can digital twins and real-time simulation help facilitate the integration of renewable energy?

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The design of new renewable energy systems and their integration into the existing power grid pose numerous challenges, whether in terms of defining operating modes, selecting protective devices, ensuring grid stability, or optimizing energy management. It is therefore necessary to validate the proper functioning of these new systems even before they are deployed in the field.

In this context, Nergica is partnering with OPAL-RT to develop a library of digital twin models for decentralized energy generation systems and a controller to optimize power/energy flow management in microgrids. These developments will ultimately make it possible to optimize the use of renewable energy sources with high penetration rates in microgrids.

Research focused on the needs of system integrators and operators

Various analytical tools and testing methods can be used for research and development in the integration of renewable energy sources, as well as for energy management in integrated or isolated power grids. Among these, testing methods based on real-time simulation and involving detailed numerical models show great promise. Among other things, they allow for the testing of operational strategies or scenarios that might occur before they actually happen in the real world. The use of real-time simulators and the addition of hardware to the simulation loop (Hardware-in-the-Loop) also lead to lower research and development and network design costs.

Using infrastructure operating under real-world conditions, parameter determination techniques, and test plans tailored to different energy production sources, it is possible to create digital twins—models whose dynamic behavior is validated and realistic.

In short, Nergica has the infrastructure—including, notably, a full-scale microgrid and the OPAL-RT real-time simulation platform—and the expertise to take a concept from design to testing under operational conditions in situ and to perform real-time simulation validations using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) technology. These research efforts, conducted in collaboration with OPAL-RT, will help develop expertise to study the reliability and viability of deploying renewable energy systems, whether in steady-state or transient conditions. In doing so, the project will address the concerns of system integrators and operators, thereby promoting greater integration of renewable energy and an effective energy transition.

It is worth noting that projections for the evolution of the global electricity mix predict that by 2050, 64% of electricity will come from renewable sources, whereas in 2017, two-thirds of the electricity generated still came from fossil fuels. Thus, of the 11,500 billion U.S. dollars that will be invested by 2050 to increase generation capacity by 13,157 GW, 86% will go toward zero-emission technologies, including 8,400 billion US dollars for wind and solar PV projects[1]. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the price of a megawatt-hour (MWh) of solar power will be around US$25. As for wind power, costs are expected to fall another 58% by 2050, while battery storage costs will drop by 67%.[2].

[1] A. Barbaux, “64% of the World’s Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2050, According to Bloomberg – L’Usine de l’Energie,” L’usine Nouv., June 2018.

[2] Same as above