Active Power Grid

The Active Power Grid research group is based on an evolutionary conception of power infrastructures enabling it to create efficient and reliable automatized energy systems. These involve communications, control, power conversion and automation capabilities in energy grids, heterogeneous energy sources, decentralized generation based on power electronics, active consumers, energy storage capabilities, large-scale energy interconnections, flexibility and services markets, and cross-jurisdictional energy regulation structures.

The research of the group requires collaboration and integration between a wide array of specializations, including power system planning and analysis, the operation of transmission and distribution networks, communications technology, networked control systems, computer science, power processing, digital markets and regulation services. The research and development activities of the APG group address not only technical challenges but also new business models, policies and societal benefits

Main Expertise

Specialization fields:

Automatic grids
Micro-grids
Super-grids
Virtual power plants
Power processing
Distributed control systems

Transversal fields:

Big data
Artificial Intelligence (machine learning models)
Deep Learning
Cyber-Physical Energy Systems
Software Engineering
Energy Cloud Computing

Research Challenges

Shifting energy production to renewable and low-carbon sources;
Enabling power converter dominated power systems;
Expanding digitalization among energy systems to achieve previously unseen levels of coordination and optimization;
Exploiting computational advances to spread intelligence throughout the system, from physic-edges to extensive clouds;
Improving power processing capacities of power systems, moving from electromechanical generation and passive demand to power active converter-dominated power systems at both the generation and demand sides;
Managing bi-directional energy flows, as consumers play an active role in energy supply and demand;
Unlocking demand response and integrating small-scale generation and storage, from the residential and industrial sectors;
Developing new energy conversion options (P2X) and integrating different energy vectors (electricity, molecule-based energy vectors, heating/cooling etc.).

Application areas

Renewable energy generation/conversion systems
Electric grids and infrastructures
Smart grid technologies
Distributed control systems
Microgrids
Multi-terminal dc and hybrid ac/dc networks
Power conversion systems
Energy storage systems
Fuel-cell conversion systems and electrolysers
Electric vehicle charging
Energy Internet and digital platforms
Computational energy intelligence

Main assets

FLEXITRANSTORE - An Integrated Platform for Increased Flexibility in Smart Transmission Grids with Storage Entities and Large Penetration of Renewable Energy Sources. (H2020 / 2017-2021)

Equipment

Three interconnected RT-simulation systems
Smart meters, PMU and RTU measurement systems interfaced with RT simulators
Networked controllers supporting multiple communication protocols for edge-control
Local HPC for fog-control of systems
High-level HPC for cloud-computing
Power amplifier for HIL
Grid emulator
PV and battery emulators
Programmable loads
Several power conversion systems

Selected publications

AI-based Damping of Electromechanical Oscillations by using Grid-connected Converter. Baltas, G. N.; Lai, N. B; Tarasso, A.; Marin, L. Blaabjerg, F.; Rodriguez, P., 2021. Frontiers in Grid Connection of Converters in Renewable Applications, vol.9, pp. 39
Grid-Forming Power Converters controller with Artificial Intelligence to Attenuate Inter-Area Modes. Baltas, G. N.; Lai, N. B.; Marin, L.; Tarasso, A.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. IEEE Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics, Aalborg, Denmark, November 9-12
Voltage Sensorless Control for Grid-connected Power Converters based on State Feedback and State Observer. Lai, N. B.; Baltas, G. N.; Marin, L.; Tarasso, A.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. 2020 IEEE 21st Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL), pp. 1-5
Small-signal Model and Analysis of a Grid-forming Power Converter based on the Synchronous Power Controller. Marin L., Tarrasó, A., Lai N. B, Baltas G. N. and Rodriguez P., 2020. 2020 IEEE 21st Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL), pp. 1-6.
Grid-Forming Power Converters Tuned Through Artificial Intelligence to Damp Subsynchronous Interactions in Electrical Grids. Baltas, G. N. ; Lai, N. B.; Marin, L.; Tarraso, A.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 93369-93379
Inertia Emulation in Power Converters with Communication Delays. Lai, N. B.; Tarraso, A.; Baltas, G. N.; Marin, L.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. 2020 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), pp. 1665-1669
A Growing Self-Organising Maps Implementation for Coherency Identification in a Power Electronics Dominated Power System. Baltas, G. N.; Lai, N. B.; Marin, L.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. 2020 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 1963-196.
Virtual Admittance PLL Structure for Grid-forming Power Converters in Microgrids. Tarrasón, A.; Candela, J. I.; Lai, N. B.; Baltas, G. N.; Rodriguez, P., 2020. 2020 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 5007-5011.