Grid Forming Energy Router: A Utility Interface for Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Storage Grid Integration Applications

With the increasing energy demand and stress on the conventional power grid, focus has shifted towards integrating Renewable Energy Sources (RES), with smart devices into the grid. In order to incorporate smart devices and energy efficient resources, with real-time control of energy supply and demand, Energy Routers (ER) are required. ER is an intelligent ac-dc interface for RES and grid integration, which dynamically manages the energy supply/demand and information exchange within the grid. This paper discusses the architecture and control of Grid Forming (GFM) ER proposed for Solar/Photovoltaic (PV) and Energy Storage (ES) grid integration applications. Proposed GFM control emulates the behavior of a Synchronous Machine (SM) to reduce or even eliminate the frequency deviations and grid instability issues due to low inertia of inverter based RES resulting in efficient and stable RES and grid integration.