best practices remote microgrid design · application of a dc microgrid system ... project...

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Best Practices – Remote Microgrid Design

Copyright © Hatch 2018. All Rights Reserved.

Alexander Stickler | [email protected]

Solar Canada Conference 2018, 20-21 June, Calgary

mailto:[email protected]

HATCH: A professional services firmcombining engineering & technicalacumen


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Hatch – Engineering microgrids since 1987


Electric arc smelting furnaces are a challenge for microgrids and weak local grids: in response, we developed the Hatch SPLC technology for EA

furnaces

No SPLC SPLC On

What is a microgrid?


Small number of loads (generally behaving as one load)

Generation capacity sized close to total load

Features for control, power quality, reliability

Microgrid

How big can a microgrid be?

‒Mine – 5 - 250 MW

‒Town – 5 - 50MW

‒Village - 1-2 MW

‒ Single load – 10kW – 1MW‒Home‒Critical Infrastructure

‒ Fire station‒ Runway lights‒ Medical clinic‒ Water pumping/treatment


All of these can be microgrids

Maybe this is a “nanogrid”?

Electrification of 175,000 homes in rural Peru

2017-2018

Hatch MicroGrid control system (HµGrid)


(This is not a sales pitch for Hatch’s microgrid controller)

Raglan Mine Wind – Energy Storage Project

Currently expanding to 2nd – 3MW turbine

Raglan Microgrid

Courtesy of Tugliq – Photographer Justin Bulota

Opportunities

‒Historically, gensets for microgrids; but, now:‒Solar, wind cost coming down as diesel goes up‒Storage becoming mainstream‒Insulate against fuel price variability

‒Distributed Generation‒ ‘Small’ power as affordable as ‘big’ power ‒Solution to grid modernization needs

‒Hybridization


• Feasibility & economics of solar + energy storage

• Increase site’s capacity for expanded mine operation

• Restricted electricity supply

• Reduce reliance on diesel generators

• Going forward with further studies and installation plans

http://www.sudburyminingsolutions.com/musselwhite-mine-on-track-to-improve-productivity.html

Musselwhite Mine: Solar & Storage Feasibility Study

The Case for Remote Hybrids

‒The transition answer ‒We are in the transition century‒“Diesel relief”

‒80/20 rule: high penetration solar, wind, storage by itself is costly

‒Why: must insulate against very low probability events!

‒Example: 3 days of storage that gets used 3 days a year→if 1 day is normal need for storage, then extra 2 days have very poor capital utilization Copyright © Hatch 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Economies of Microgrid Hybridization for Mine Electrification

20-30 hours of

Storage Capacity

10-20 hours of Storage

CapacityLess than 10 hours of Storage Capacity

Source: Dr. Joel Guildbaud, PhD Thesis

Energy storage systems

Hydrogen storage

tanks

ElectrolyserFuel CellsBattery systemFlywheel and

electrical substation

Courtesy of Tugliq – Photographer Justin Bulota


Energy Stored

Po

we

r o

utp

ut

MW

MW-h

10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 102 103 104 105

103

102

10

1

10-1

10-2

10-3

1 hour

103 hour

(41 days)

10-3 hour

(3.6 s)

Flywheels

Supercapacitors

Flow

Batteries

CAES

PHS

Electrochemic

al

Batteries

LAES

Many storage choices, but…

16

Battery Technology Trends

‒ Lithium ion, the most common choice‒ >97% of deployments in 2016

‒ Leading lithium-ion suppliers – the big names‒ LG Chem, Samsung SDI, BYD

Tesla (Panasonic)

‒ Other “fast followers”

‒ Other technologies on the radar‒ Sodium Sulfur, NaS (NGK), Zinc Air (Eos)

‒ Flow Batteries: Vanadium, Zinc chemistries(Sumitomo, ViZn)

‒ CAES, LAES

‒Li-ion is now, flow batteries may be the future

Source: Navigant Research Leaderboard Report: Li-Ion Grid Storage (June 2015)

BL

AC

K

&

VE

AT

CH

A

DD

RE

SS

IN

G

NE

ED

S

&

IS

SU

ES

A job for storage: Load shifting, intermittency


Wind Power Output Load

To manage this scenario, we need storage or dispatchable generation to fill in gaps

Another job for storage: power quality, response


Storage

‒One size does not fit all‒Continuous events vs. periodic events vs. rare events

‒Short discharge time (seconds) vs. long (minutes, hours)

‒Consider the environment, location ‒ Is this a job for flow batteries, li-ion, pumped storage,

CAES?

‒Costs are moving down – should you wait?


On the horizon: DC coupled storage


DC Power

AC Power

Source: Dynapower

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjPtsvC-ZzVAhVk5YMKHff_COUQjRwIBw&url=https://www.dynapower.com/dc-to-dc-converter/&psig=AFQjCNEzYOE01sEPBMJShn5ZS5jnMWJccw&ust=1500814940922573

DC vs AC Coupled Systems

‒Harvest solar energy that would otherwise be lost


DC Coupled with DC-DC ConverterAC Coupled with DC-AC Inverters

However, are the economics there yet? Depends on several factors…

U of T Solar DC Microgrid Research Installation


‒State-of-the-art application of a DC microgrid system

‒Includes: ‒Solar PV

‒Lithium-ion BESS

‒DC load: high-efficiency LED lighting system

• Feasibility study for a clean energy community microgrid

• Energy model & microgrid optimization

• Capital costs analysis

• Revenue streams & savings review

• Financial & operation risk mitigation

• Identify sources of funding, financing & incentives

Clean Energy Community Microgrid, City of Berkeley

• Energy assessment for the Arawak Port, Bahamas

• Potential to:

• Reduce energy costs & grid dependence

• Improve efficiency of back-up generation system

• Recommended solution: Solar farm or solar + storage microgrid

• Ongoing support for:

• Feasibility & integration studies

• Upgrades to existing electrical network

Arawak Port Development, Microgrid Assessment

Considerations in Remote Microgrid Design‒ Why: Deep understanding of needs

‒ Economics, reliability, sustainability

‒ N.b.: Reliability (back-up) may be in conflict with economics…

‒ What: Consider the resource and other opportunities‒ Wind? Solar? Existing gen-sets? Geothermal?

‒ Biomass sources? Industrial offtake nearby?

‒ Demand response? – more degrees of freedom!

‒ How: Model solutions ‒ There is no universal answer; solutions are site-specific

‒ Engineering, simulation and iteration costs less on paper than in the field!!

‒ Stay agnostic to technology

‒ Lots of technology exists (and more is coming)!

‒ How: Get creative with financing! ‒ Project ‘buys’ the fuel up front in the form of PV, wind, storage capex

‒ Grants, PPAs, etc.


For more information,

please visit www.hatch.com

Thank you!


best practices remote microgrid design · application of a dc microgrid system ... project...

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