Line-Voltage Control Based on Wayside Energy Storage Systems for Tramway Networks

This paper presents a control strategy for the power flow management of a wayside energy storage system based on a supercapacitor technology installed in a tramway network. The control is based on the management in real time of voltage levels at catenary point connections in order to optimize the energy flow among the running tramcars and substations with the goals of improving the energy saving and reducing the voltage drops in the supply network. The suggested control algorithm was experimentally validated using a laboratory-scale model to verify the effectiveness of the strategy. A lithium-ion capacitor module with 72 series-connected laminated cells of the JSR Micro ULTIMO type was used. Thus, an emulation of a real tramway network in the city of Naples (ANM) was implemented to evaluate the potential impact in terms of costs/benefits of the next installation on the ANM network.