Real-Time Grid and DER Co-Simulation Platform for Testing Large-Scale DER Coordination Schemes

Distributed energy resources (DERs), such as responsive loads and energy storage systems, can help grid operators to more effectively balance supply and demand and manage network constraints. However, consumer acceptance of load coordination schemes depends on ensuring customer quality of service (QoS), thus requiring the careful management of device-level constraints. Simultaneously managing both device-level and system-level objectives is a difficult problem. Most potential solutions to the DER coordination problem are in some way distributed, with decision logic running both at the device (such as a thermostat) and the coordinator, with potentially complex communications between devices and one or more coordinators. It is difficult to effectively test distributed DER control schemes, particularly when there are thousands of devices with both device-level and grid-level constraints and asynchronous communications. This paper addresses this challenge by presenting a novel real-time grid-and-DER cyber-physical co-simulation platform for testing advanced DER coordination schemes and characterizing the behaviors of a DER fleet. The co-simulation platform is particularly suitable for:
$i$
) testing the real-time performance of a large fleet of DERs delivering advanced grid services;
$ii$
) characterizing the distribution of states for a large fleet of managed DERs; and
$iii$
) incorporating practical limitations of DERs and communications and analyzing the effects on fleet-wide performance. To illustrate these benefits, we demonstrate how the platform can be used to test a fleet with thousands of DERs coordinated using Packetized Energy Management (PEM) and interacting with a realistic transmission system model.