The EnergyVille Low Voltage Grid Lab is a platform for testing smart grid products and systems

Wim Michielsen

Contact

wim.michielsen@vito.be
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wimmichielsen

Wim Michielsen

Business developer Energy Markets and Smart Energy Management Systems for Buildings at EnergyVille/VITO
Description
Technical Notes

In the Low Voltage Grid Lab, our highly experienced team executes tests and validates:

  • Power line communication systems in distorted grids
  • Long-term automated cycling of Li-ion batteries and reference performance tests
  • Research on low voltage distribution grids with a high amount of renewable energy sources:
    • Development & testing of Intelligator: an agent-based control algorithm to match supply and demand of energy
    • Power quality: voltage dips, phase unbalance, harmonic distortions
    • Voltage droop control: taking grid constraints into account by power adjustments
    • Inverter control algorithms for unbalanced grid conditions
  • Data analysis:
    • Different energy flows (V, I, cosφ,..) are logged in a dedicated SCADA system
    • Accurate high speed PQ measurements according to EN 50160

The EnergyVille Low Voltage Grid Lab consists of:

  • A 150 kVA low voltage AC-grid, connected to:
    • The EnergyVille Home Lab with test facilities for energy management systems and smart domestic appliances.
    • EnergyVille’s Thermo Technical Lab with test facilities for heat pumps, μCHP and thermal storage.
    • Extra cable loops.
    • A PV installation.
    • EnergyVille’s Battery Testing Lab.
  • PHEV and BEV charging infrastructure
  • A programmable inverter
  • A 700 V low-voltage DC-grid connected to:
    • A DC-DC converter with battery storage and/or supercapacitor storage.
    • DC-sources such as fuel-cells and PV.
  • A 150kW bidirectional DC module, useful to simulate batteries or PV installations as source or batteries or other DC devices as load.

The EnergyVille Low Voltage Grid Lab enables multidisciplinary research, integrating different smart-grid topics in an interconnected low voltage AC and DC grid, using flexible facilities & laboratories.

Equipment

  • Dedicated programmable inverter and converter equipment:
    • 70 kVA inverter as three-phase grid connected inverter, with or without neutral line
    • Inverter as grid independent voltage source that reproduces voltage/frequency
    • Deviations and harmonic distortions
    • Two dedicated 100 A DC-DC converters
  • Reconfigurable programmable inverter and converter equipment
  • Possible configurations:
    • Two 11 kW grid-connected inverters with neutral line
    • Three three-phase 11 kW grid-connected inverters
    • One 11 kW grid-connected inverter with three 32 A DC-DC converters
  • Battery test facility with dedicated battery room and safety equipment
  • Charging station for plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles & electric scooters
  • PV systems & simulation equipment
  • 10 kW programmable AC load
  • SCADA system