IPSYS - A simulation tool for performance assessment and controller development of integrated power system distributed renewable energy generated and storage

An essential part of rural development is the supply of electrical energy. In particular, electrical energy is used for household appliances, telecom, clean water and many other services to the local community. This requires up to standards power quality and reliability. There is a push for exploitation of local renewable energy resources such as wind, and a battery system will often be an option for further reduction of fossil fuel consumption. Even though such types of systems can be quite complex, there is a need during the feasibility study, design and evaluation phases of a development project to be able to assess their performance. A key factor in this assessment is the ability to accurately model the power system. This includes accurate modelling of the actual control of the system, voltages and frequency, as well as losses. A new simulation tool, IPSYS, has been developed for that purpose. The core of the tool is a multi busbar load flow calculation for explicit modelling of voltage and frequency combined with the possibility of explicit modelling of other services e.g. water production and supply. This is combined with very flexible controller modelling that makes it possible to include the detailed behaviour of e.g. a battery energy storage in the system overall controls. The IPSYS simulation tool will be presented illustrating its potential for modelling systems with wind, storage and diesel gensets in different grid layouts and with different controllers.