Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of a Micro-Hydro Power Plant for Microgrid Applications

this paper proposes readily computable, detailed model of a micro-hydropower plant suitable for use in small-scale power system studies. The proposed plant has one upper reservoir considered as an infinite source, a surge tank and the penstocks in-between. A detailed study of the hydraulic circuit, and the Francis turbine models is presented, along with the simplified first order model of the synchronous generator. In-depth analysis is made for the design of the speed controller and simulations are performed to observe the dynamic behavior of the resulting system under different operating conditions. The results show that the presented model covers a wider range of frequencies than the classical first order model used for the representation of hydraulic turbine and penstock, and may be more suitable when it comes to analyzing the influence of external disturbances on a micro-hydropower plant.