Artificial Intelligence-Aided Model Predictive Control for a Grid-Tied Wind-Hydrogen-Fuel Cell System

Integrating renewable energy into power grids is seen in increase in recent years since these energy sources are sustainable and clean. However, the integration brings about considerable technical challenges associated with fluctuations and uncertainties of the energy availability whilst maintaining the stability of smart grids. The prediction of renewable energy generation is key to achieve optimal power dispatch in renewable-intensive smart grids. However, uncertain interruption and prediction errors will make an optimal decision more challenging. Model predictive control (MPC) is an effective way to overcome the discrepancies between the prediction and the real-world system through a closed-loop correction over iteration process. This study develops an improved MPC scheme used with a hybrid energy storage system for optimal power dispatch in a smart grid. This hybrid renewable energy system consists of a wind farm, a hydrogen/oxygen storage system and several fuel cells (FCs). In this study, particle swarm optimization (PSO) with a back propagation (BP) artificial neural network is developed to predict the wind energy availability by using measured data. Then, a genetic algorithm (GA) is combined with a state space model (SSM) to achieve the MPC control. A dataset of 24-hour ahead predictive generation is calibrated from the measured data and is defined for optimal power flow between the grid, the wind farm and the storage subsystem so as to balance the supply and load. The optimization target is to achieve a minimal energy exchange between the power grid and the hybrid renewable energy storage system. Based on actual measured data, the test results have shown that the proposed methodology can maximize the local usage of wind power whilst minimizing the power exchange with the grid. An optimal power dispatch strategy is proved to be effective to meet the demand and efficiency with dynamic control of the FCs. The usage of the intermittent wind power is increased from 45% to 90% in the four test studies. Therefore, this work can minimize the impact of fluctuating renewable energy on the power grid and enhance uptakes of FC-based energy systems. This is particularly economic and relevant to the remote and under-developed regions where their power networks are weak and vulnerable.