An Automation System Simulator for Integration of a Hybrid Power Plant: A Real-Unit Case Study

This paper describes the implementation of an automation system simulator using low-cost prototyping for testing the communication interfaces and data flow in the automation architecture of a hybrid power plant (HPP) real-unit. The CHESF PV-WF-BESS HPP in study is composed by the insertion of a Photovoltaic System (PV) and a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for the hybridization of a Wind Farm (WF) at Casa Nova - Bahia, Brazil. The automation system of this HPP follows a hierarchy architecture divided into five layers: (1) Local controllers; (2) Remote Terminal Unit (RTU); (3) Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA); (4) Plant Information Management System (PIMS); and (5) Intelligence software for power dispatch orders. The simulator structure is obtained using two Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) Siemens SIMATIC S7 1200, simulating the local asset controllers and RTU in Layers 1 and 2; and two Personal Computers (PCs), representing the roles of SCADA system in Elipse Power, PIMS in Elipse Plant Manager and Application Programming Interface (API) coded in Python, in Layers 3, 4 and 5, respectively. From this system simulator, the integration between the automation layers can be validated, in order to assist in commissioning and implantation stages of the CHESF PV-WF-BESS HPP.