Testbed for Standardizing the Integration of Utility Grade Battery Energy Storage System

This paper discusses the architecture of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) testbed developed at San Diego Gas & Electric using the RTDS™ real-time digital simulator. It allows BESS suppliers and the utilities to test the controls, Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) interfaces and protection system settings under all types of grid conditions and BESS operating modes. The testbed is also very useful to develop, test and validate a standardized interface so that the utility can specify the interface requirements and verify it before commissioning. The platform was tested with utility grade DERMS with DNP3 protocol and commercial protective relays. The discussion includes enough details of the testbed development including model details to help extend this concept to other utility-assets. A full range of test results are included.