Innovative ABB solutions for microgrids

The Microgrid Plus System integrates high penetration renewable power into a microgrid, while improving grid reliability and energy efficiency.

Microgrids are small, self-sufficientpower grids that serve as a selfcontained,often isolated entitysuch as an island, a remote rural community,industrial site, military base or municipal,which traditionally rely on diesel generation.

It can draw or supply power to the main gridor operate in ‘island-mode’, which is oneof the advantages to avoid consumers fromoutages due to natural disasters, thus idealfor rural electrification.

Implementing a microgrid
Setting up a microgrid is much simpleras compared to building a coal-fired orcombined cycle power plant. Even so,important steps need to be followed startingfrom conceptualization, design and modellingfor most optimized and efficient solution,deployment and grid stabilization to obtainhighest degree of efficiency and reliability.

Innovative ABB solution
Microgrid Plus™ System is built around twocore microgrid technologies – the PowerStoregrid-stabilizing generator and the MGC600™controller platform. It is supported by years ofmicrogrid engineering and project executionexperience. ABB’s microgrid technologies arebest suited for systems of between 300 kWand 50 MW of peak demand.

PowerStore grid-stabilization generator
The PowerStore grid-stabilization generatoruses a fast-acting, spinning flywheel to storeenergy and absorb or inject power onto thegrid. PowerStore enables seamless operationof the microgrid. Because PowerStore canswitch from a full-power charge to a fullpowerdischarge in less than 5 milliseconds,all the loads contained within a microgridcan be transferred seamlessly between themicrogrid’s distributed energy resources(DERs). Temporary power interruptions due tointermittencies from the renewable sourcesor from the start-up sequences of fuelbasedgenerators will go unnoticed by themicrogrid’s end users.

Microgrid Plus control system
The Microgrid Plus control system is based onABB’s MGC600 controller, and is responsiblefor the control and communications aspectsof the microgrid. The Microgrid Plus controlsystem is decentralized, which means it hasno single master controller. It consists insteadof many control modules that are distributed
across the microgrid area and communicatewith each other on a peer-to-peer basis. Thisarrangement gives the system a high level offlexibility and redundancy.

Microgrid engineering services
Each Microgrid Plus System is engineeredto address specific customer needs andachieve operational objectives. ABB’smicrogrid engineers can perform energy yieldstudies, power system dynamic modeling,and protection studies in order to make atechnical and financial assessment of theproject.

ABB’s advantages

• ABB global support network that canserve almost any project from local officesworldwide.
• Extensive experience delivering projectswith advanced logistics and strict deliverytimelines
• Field-proven solution with more than 80 installations worldwide and decades of operational history
• Proven microgrid solutions that achieve high fuel savings through maximum renewable penetration combined with highest microgrid stability and reliability
• Open, scalable automation solutions with broad application range and maximum project flexibility over the solution’s lifetime

To learn more about ABB’s portfolio ofmicrogrid technologies, contact your localABB office or visithttps://new.abb.com/power-generation/microgrids-solutions.