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A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Electromechanical Energy Conversion Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 12319

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Raquel Villena-Ruiz

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Guest Editor

1. Renewable Energy Research Institute ,Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), 02071 Albacete, Spain
2. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Interests: modeling, dynamic simulation and grid integration of renewable power plants; development of virtual power plants; deployment of renewable facilities at large-scale

Dr. Paula Bastida-Molina

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Guest Editor

1. Institute for Energy Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), 46022 València, Spain
2. Renewable Energy Research Institute ,Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), 02071 Albacete, Spain
Interests: hybrid renewable energy systems; microgrids; energy sustainability; renewable energy sources introduction for power generation

Dr. Andres Honrubia-Escribano

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Guest Editor

Renewable Energy Research Institute, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales de Albacete, Department of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Control Communications, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
Interests: electrical engineering; energy storage systems; integration of distributed generation; modeling of renewable power plants; model validation; solar photovoltaics; wind power
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The European Union has targeted a 55% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 towards the 2050 climate neutrality goal, and so there is an urgent need to adopt specific measures to pursue this objective. In this context, promoting renewable energy policies, increasing the share of renewable sources in energy mixes worldwide, and increasing energy efficiency, among others, will be key to success. This has led renewable energy power plants (REPPs) becoming increasingly relevant in the operation of current power systems. Specifically, wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants play a key role in the electricity generation mix of many countries. However, increasing the share of variable renewable energy inevitably involves an effective and secure integration of these sources to ensure future reliable power systems, and special attention should be paid to all aspects related to the operation of REPPs, whether from an electrical, mechanical, or economic perspective.

On the other hand, accomplishing a proper integration of REPPs also means upgrading installations, since a remarkable share of current REPPs are old, and hence the operational performance of these REPPs is far from the efficiencies observed in new REPPs. Wind power technology has evolved from small-sized fixed-speed operation to multi-MW variable-speed operation. Similarly, solar PV power plants may be based on different cell technologies as well as different mounting topologies. Therefore, it is also necessary to address the evolution of repowering and revamping solutions, prospects for this sector and even strategies for recycling PV panel and wind turbine waste.

Moreover, new shares of renewable resources have increased over time, especially distributed renewable energy sources (i.e., microgrids). Microgrids enable the development of energy prosumers through hybrid renewable power generation systems, including off-grid and on-grid scenarios.

The aim of this Special Issue is to cover promising, recent and novel research trends focused on the improvement of the operational performance of renewable energy power plants and hybrid renewable energy systems, both from an electrical and a mechanical viewpoint. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:

Sustainable renewable generation systems (PV, wind, biomass, geothermal, etc.).
Operational and performance analysis of REPPs.
Grid code compliance of REPPs.
Review of national grid code technical requirements.
Novel control strategies for REPPs.
Distributed renewable energy sources.
Hybrid renewable energy systems.
Energy prosumers.
Repowering/revamping of REPPs.
Lifetime extension of REPPs.
End-of-life issues of REPPs.
Recycling strategies for REPPs waste.
Novel operation and maintenance (O&M) methodologies implemented in REPPs.
Stress, vibration and fatigue studies of the mechanical parts of REPPs.

Dr. Raquel Villena-Ruiz
Dr. Paula Bastida-Molina
Dr. Andres Honrubia-Escribano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

control strategies
cost–benefit
distributed energy
end of life
grid code
hybrid systems
mechanical aspects
microgrid
O&M
renewable energy
sustainable generation systems

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 5160 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Energy Consumption Analysis and Efficiency Enhancement in Manufacturing Companies Using Decision Support Method for Dynamic Production Planning (DSM DPP) for Solar PV Integration

by Simona Skėrė, Paula Bastida-Molina, Elías Hurtado-Pérez and Kazimieras Juzėnas

Machines 2023, 11(10), 939; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11100939 - 02 Oct 2023

Viewed by 926

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution brought major technological progress and the growth of manufacturing, which resulted in significant changes in energy use. However, it also brought about new environmental issues such as increased energy needs, unstable electricity costs, and worsened greenhouse gas effects. Nowadays, it is crucial to analyze energy use to stay competitive. Manufacturers, highly dependent on electricity, can save energy and enhance efficiency by improving production methods. This article presents the findings of a research study conducted on a Lithuanian manufacturing company, aiming to investigate its electricity consumption over a 15-month period from 2022.01 to 2023.03—detailed data about the monthly consumption of the six most powerful machines and their active and standby hours are presented. The total electricity consumption of those matched 173.62 MWh. Employing the Decision Support Method for Dynamic Production Planning (DSM DPP), which was previously developed and refined, the study examines the potential for time savings and, subsequently, energy savings, through process reorganization. A detailed three-month production orders observation period demonstrates tangible time savings while using the proposed DSM DPP—time savings of approximately 5% can be achieved. Compared to that, production might achieve a 20% productivity increase with advanced technology implementation, so 5% is a great result for an easily adaptable method. Based on this, changes in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions due to electricity consumption are calculated and presented knowing that the company uses energy from the grid. Adaptation of the replanning method resulted in a reduction of electricity use by 175 kWh and a reduction of CO₂ consumption by 27 kgCO₂. With proper production planning, energy and CO₂ consumption can be decreased, which is a high priority in today’s world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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29 pages, 4956 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of a Fully Renewable System for the Total Decarbonization of the Economy with Full Demand Coverage on Islands Connected to a Central Grid: The Balearic Case in 2040

by Yago Rivera, David Blanco, Paula Bastida-Molina and César Berna-Escriche

Machines 2023, 11(8), 782; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11080782 - 27 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 858

Abstract

The transition to clean electricity generation is a crucial focus for achieving the current objectives of economy decarbonization. The Balearic Archipelago faces significant environmental, economic, and social challenges in shifting from a predominantly fossil fuel-based economy to one based on renewable sources. This study proposes implementing a renewable energy mix and decarbonizing the economy of the Balearic Islands by 2040. The proposed system involves an entirely renewable generation system with interconnections between the four Balearic islands and the Spanish mainland grid via a 650 MW submarine cable. This flexible electrical exchange can cover approximately 35% of the peak demand of 1900 MW. The scenario comprises a 6 GWp solar photovoltaic system, a wind system of under 1.2 GWp, and a 600 MW biomass system as generation sub-systems. A vanadium redox flow battery sub-system with a storage capacity of approximately 21 GWh and 2.5 GWp power is available to ensure system manageability. This system’s levelized electricity cost (LCOE) is around 13.75 cEUR/kWh. The design also incorporates hydrogen as an alternative for difficult-to-electrify uses, achieving effective decarbonization of all final energy uses. A production of slightly over 5 × 10⁴ tH₂ per year is required, with 1.7 GW of electrolyzer power using excess electricity and water resources. The system enables a significant level of economy decarbonization, although it requires substantial investments in both generation sources and storage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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15 pages, 644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Penetration Levels for Vehicle-to-Grid Integration on a Power Distribution Network

by Ana Simarro-García, Raquel Villena-Ruiz, Andrés Honrubia-Escribano and Emilio Gómez-Lázaro

Machines 2023, 11(4), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11040416 - 23 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1279

Abstract

With the exponential growth of electric vehicle sales worldwide over the past years and progress in technology and actions to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the trend is expected to continue with a significant increase in the deployment of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Given these circumstances, it is essential to identify the constraints that this increase in the number of electric vehicle charging stations poses for the electricity system. Therefore, the analysis developed in this paper discusses the effect of integrating electric vehicle charging stations in a real distribution network with different penetration levels. For this purpose, a typical electric system in Greece, managed by the Greek distribution system operator (HEDNO), is modeled and simulated in DIgSILENT PowerFactory software, one of the most widely used simulation tools in the electricity sector. To study the feasibility of connecting electric vehicle charging stations to the network, different case studies are presented, showing changes in the quantity of electric vehicles feeding power into the network through vehicle-to-grid technology. Quasi-dynamic simulations are used to analyze and discuss the voltage profiles of the system nodes, active power flows with the external source and power losses of the distribution network to determine whether the system is capable of supporting the increase in load produced by the electric vehicle charging stations and to promote awareness of the benefits of implementing vehicle-to-grid connections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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19 pages, 361 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Scheduling of Photovoltaic Generators in Asymmetric Bipolar DC Grids Using a Robust Recursive Quadratic Convex Approximation

by Oscar Danilo Montoya, Walter Gil-González and Jesus C. Hernández

Machines 2023, 11(2), 177; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11020177 - 28 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 807

Abstract

This paper presents a robust quadratic convex model for the optimal scheduling of photovoltaic generators in unbalanced bipolar DC grids. The proposed model is based on Taylor’s series expansion which relaxes the hyperbolic relation between constant power terminals and voltage profiles. Furthermore, the proposed model is solved in the recursive form to reduce the error generated by relaxations assumed. Additionally, uncertainties in PV generators are considered to assess the effectiveness of the proposed recursive convex. Several proposed scenarios for the numerical validations in a modified 21-bus test system were tested to validate the robust convex model’s performance. All the simulations were carried out in the MATLAB programming environment using Yalmip and Gurobi solver. Initially, a comparative analysis with three combinatorial optimization methods under three PV generation scenarios was performed. These scenarios consider levels of 0, 50, and 100% capacity of the PV systems. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed recursively solved convex model, which always achieves the global optimum for three levels of capacity of the PV generators, with solutions of

95.423

kW,

31.525

kW, and

22.985

kW for 0%, 50%, and 100% of the capacity PV rating, respectively. In contrast, the combinatorial optimization methods do not always reach these solutions. Furthermore, the power loss for the robust model is comparable to the deterministic model, increasing by 1.65% compared to the deterministic model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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39 pages, 8448 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Assessment of a Fully Renewable Generation System with Storage to Cost-Effectively Cover the Electricity Demand of Standalone Grids: The Case of the Canary Archipelago by 2040

by Yago Rivera-Durán, César Berna-Escriche, Yaisel Córdova-Chávez and José Luis Muñoz-Cobo

Machines 2023, 11(1), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11010101 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1881

Abstract

The change towards a clean electric generation system is essential to achieve the economy decarbonization goal. The Canary Islands Archipelago confronts social, environmental, and economic challenges to overcome the profound change from a fossil fuel-dependent economy to a fully sustainable renewable economy. This document analyzes a scenario with a totally renewable generation system and with total electrification of the economy for the Canary Islands by 2040. In addition, it also shows the significant reduction in this fully renewable system when an optimized interconnection among islands is considered. This scenario consists of a solar PV system of 11 GWp, a wind system of only 0.39 GWp, a pumped storage system of 16.64 GWh (2065 MW), and a lithium-ion battery system of 34.672 GWh (3500 MW), having a system LCOE of 10.1 cEUR/kWh. These results show the certainty of being able to use an autonomous, reliable, and fully renewable system to generate and store the energy needed to dispense with fossil fuels, thus, resulting in a system free of greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity market. In addition, the proposed system has low energy wastage (less than 20%) for a fully renewable, stand-alone, and off-grid system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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21 pages, 4384 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Rate Parallel Real-Time Simulation Method for Doubly Fed Wind Power Systems Based on FPGA–CPU

by Guangrao Yang, Yahui Li, Zhenghang Hao, Zhuo Chen, Puxiang He and Jing Zhang

Machines 2022, 10(11), 1073; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10111073 - 14 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1049

Abstract

A multi-rate parallel real-time simulation method based on FPGA–CPU is studied to realize the asynchronous co-simulation of the converter of doubly fed wind power systems with the wind turbine and external power grid. The doubly fed wind power system is partitioned by simulation step length, and the partitioned small-step-length data are processed using integral homogenization. For large-step data, an improved delay-compensated linear interpolation method combined with Newton interpolation is proposed for processing. The general small time-step (GST) model method is used to implement the FPGA modeling of the small-step converter, and resource optimization is achieved through timing time-division multiplexing. Asynchronous parallel co-simulation of a doubly fed wind power system is implemented on an FPGA–CPU co-simulation platform. Among them, the FPGA realizes the development of the converter HDL with a small step of 1

μ s

, while the CPU completes the simulation of the wind turbine and power grid synchronously with a large step of 50

μ s

. Finally, by comparing with MATLAB/Simulink offline simulation and analyzing the error, it is concluded that the simulation accuracy of the improved method in this paper is higher than that of the un-interpolated parallel simulation, which verifies the real-time performance and accuracy of the modeling and improved method in this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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29 pages, 12332 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Control Strategy of LCL-Type Grid-Connected Inverters for Improving the Stability and Harmonic Suppression Capability

by Xian Wang, Dazhi Wang and Shuai Zhou

Machines 2022, 10(11), 1027; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10111027 - 04 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1346

Abstract

The conventional inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme is weak in suppressing the grid-side current harmonics, posing a challenge for an inverter to inject high-quality current under distorted grid voltage. With capacitor current compensation added, the control scheme achieves controllability of the grid-side current harmonics so that it can effectively suppress some specific harmonic components. However, due to the stability requirements, only a few low-order harmonic resonance controllers can be applied, which limits the mitigation of high-order harmonics. To tackle this problem, the grid-side current feedback control with inductor–capacitor–inductor (LCL) resonance damping is proposed in this paper. In this case, a higher LCL resonance frequency can be set compared to the inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme. Thereby, more resonance controllers can be applied to suppress high-order grid-side current harmonics. The active damping method of capacitor current proportional feedback plus capacitor voltage proportional feedback is adopted because of its high robustness to grid impedance variations. Furthermore, this paper reveals that the applied active damping method has a limitation in that it only considers a single inverter under inductive grid impedance, which cannot eliminate the risk of resonance caused by the interaction of multiple inverters and the grid. To address this issue, a phase lead compensator (PLC) is proposed, eliminating the resonance risk by removing the non-passive region of the inverter output admittance. To retain the advantage of the inverter-side current single-loop feedback control scheme, i.e., only a few measuring devices are required, a digital differentiator is used to calculate the capacitor current from the capacitor voltage. The difference between the measured inverter-side current and the calculated capacitor current is taken to approximate the grid-side current for the feedback control. The control performance is comparable to using the grid-side current for feedback. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme endows the inverter with good stability and current quality without extra measurement devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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15 pages, 3673 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Employing Dye-Sensitized Solar Arrays and Synchronous Reluctance Motors to Improve the Total Cost and Energy Efficiency of Solar Water-Pumping Systems

by Alaa A. Zaky, Peter Sergeant, Elias Stathatos, Polycarpos Falaras and Mohamed N. Ibrahim

Machines 2022, 10(10), 882; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10100882 - 01 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1464

Abstract

In this work, a proposed high-efficiency and low-cost photovoltaic water-pumping system based on semitransparent dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is presented. DSSCs are low-cost third-generation photovoltaics that have gained a lot of interest as a promising alternative for silicon solar cells. DSSCs are fabricated at low cost and low temperature and present power conversions with high efficiency, exceeding 14%, thanks to high transparency, a variety of colors, and high efficiency, even in low light conditions. The DSSC modules used in this study were tested under different working conditions, and their characteristics were determined experimentally and simulated theoretically via MATLAB. A complete laboratory infrastructure is constructed to test the proposed photovoltaic water-pumping system based on the DSSC module array. The system contains a synchronous reluctance motor driving a water pump and feeding from the DSSCs via an inverter without DC–DC converters or batteries. The proposed system has many merits, such as high efficiency and low cost. The DSSCs’ maximum available power is obtained via a maximum power point tracking technique (perturb-and-observe). Moreover, a control system for driving the motor via the inverter was also implemented. The maximum torque per ampere strategy is also considered in the proposed control system to drive the motor efficiently using the inverter. Finally, experimental validation of the complete system via laboratory measurements is implemented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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15 pages, 1144 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Market Value and Agents Benefits of Enhanced Short-Term Solar PV Power Generation Forecasting

by Álvaro Manso-Burgos, David Ribó-Pérez, Sergio Mateo-Barcos, Pablo Carnero and Tomás Gómez-Navarro

Machines 2022, 10(9), 730; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10090730 - 26 Aug 2022

Viewed by 1674

Abstract

Renewable energy sources such as PV solar or wind power are intermittent and non-dispatchable. Massive integration of these resources into the electric mix poses some challenges to meeting power generation with demand. Hence, improving power generation forecasting has raised much interest. This work assesses the market value of enhanced PV solar power generation forecasting. Then, we analyse the different agents present in the electricity system. We link the studied agents to the proposed market values based on both analyses. Improving the accuracy of RES forecasting has massive potential as the sector grows and new agents arise. It can have reactive values like reducing imbalances or proactive values such as participating in intraday markets or exercising energy arbitrage. However, accurate forecasting can also lead to opportunistic values that can be exploited by malicious agents if they are not adequately regulated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Power Plants and Systems)

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