Hardware-in-the-Loop Validation of Utility-Scale Power Plant Controllers for Inverter-Based Resources

The purpose of this paper is to propose, implement, validate, and demonstrate an improved quality-assurance-driven approach using Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) methodology for the design and validation of the control systems of Inverter-based Resources (IBR), primarily photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) connected to the bulk power system. The demonstrated quality assurance process of the IBR's control system shall be site-specific, incorporating the balance-of-system (BOS) components. This paper integrates the actual inverter HIL model with the real PPC hardware to establish a high-fidelity replica of a project equipped with other BOS components. The paper offers a site-specific HIL validation at the plant level, demonstrating optimal controller parameter tuning to meet the grid codes and obtain stable plant performance under normal grid conditions.