Developers of the solution: Katarzyna Połczyńska and Teodor Sawicki
Teodor Sawicki and Katarzyna Połczyńska from the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering and the Power Engineering Student Research Group have developed a project of a microgrid powered only with renewable energy sources. Such a solution could provide energy self-sufficiency for buildings and even for cities.
The WUT team first built a model for a production park and then tried to rescale it for Warsaw. The students calculated that on average the capital uses 147 thousand MWh a month. For the Warsaw microgrid to be independent of the rest of Poland, it would have to be equipped with wind farms of the power of ca. 500 MW and ca. 500 MW PV installations.
– We calculated this on the basis of a simulation we developed - of wind power and PV power stations, using historical weather data, such as wind speed and sun hours – says Teodor Sawicki.
First tests at the Warsaw University of Technology
Of key importance in the project are an additional energy storage, balancing temporary and seasonal energy generation, and a control system.
– In the future we would like to run tests at one WUT faculty: we could build there solar panels, a small wind farm and devices for energy management – explains Teodor. – In this way we would make the building independent of electricity supply from the grid.
Our students were awarded a grant to complete this project within the programme Science ONDE Flow Innovation Academy.
The WUT team was represented by Teodor Sawicki at the celebration of award of the grants
Towards climate neutrality
After the test at the University, Teodor and Katarzyna want to develop their project. They emphasise that now this is concept work but they are convinced that it may bring about tangible results.
– Thanks to such models, we can decarbonise small parts of our power system, starting with University campuses and small groups of buildings, and ending with city districts and whole agglomerations – Teodor said. – This is the best way to complete the goal of Poland''s climate neutrality in 2050.
So is there a need to implement such a system in Warsaw?
– This project would require the construction of wind farms of the area of ca. 2.5 thousand hectares over an area 20 times smaller than the area of Warsaw – lists Teodor. – Just to secure such powers is a challenge since this is an area of circa 5 thousand football fields. Moreover, we need energy storage that controls the demand and the generating power of renewable energy sources required for the capital exceeds the existing power, so there are many years of work ahead of us.
In urban conditions, it will also be a challenge to find an area suitable for construction of the installation. Here technologies of the future may be of help: wind turbines installed on buildings, automatic reduction of recipients'' demand or better forecast of production and consumption.
Model of the microgrid designed by the WUT students
Positive impact of the microgrid
Development of independent low-voltage distribution networks, i.e., microgrids, is a response to the challenges related to further development of renewable energy sources, which start to be installed at end recipients'' premises in greater numbers. This could solve the problem of lack of modernisation of transmission networks and overload caused by that.
– Thanks to microgrids, more dispersed RES sources may be developed and energy will be used where it is generated – explains Katarzyna. – This will make the electricity generation process more flexible, it will not have to be distributed all over Poland.
– Energy islands made of wind turbines, PV panels, energy storage and recipients connected in one system will become the future of power engineering – argues Teodor. – Development of independent power networks will improve Poland''s energy security and in the future will decrease the costs of RES development. In future, there will be power cooperatives, similar to the present housing cooperatives.
"The time has come to focus on renewables and smart energy systems," says Patryk Chaja of Polish research centre KEZO. Studies at the centre show that hybrid energy storage systems can balance out the inherent instabilities of renewable power production, making green power as reliable as fossil fuel-based power – with mature technology that is available today. DEIF ASC-4 and AGC-4 controllers are playing a key role in the KEZO microgrid by enabling control and communication between all system components.
It''s nice to know that when you flick the switch on your coffee machine, the power comes from solar panels. But on cloudy days, the power for your coffee, and for everything else, needs to be supplied in other ways. Increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix is an ideal solution as the world works to reduce GHG emissions and comply with the Paris agreement. However, the inherent instability of renewables means that the energy sector needs to find reliable ways of balancing energy systems, ensuring security of supply and stable voltage levels when renewable production cannot cope with demand – and when production surges.
Hybrid microgrids combining several renewables such as PV panels and wind turbines enable a relatively high overall percentage of renewable power. In order to ensure reliability and balance, such microgrids require intelligent control and the ability to store power in order to use it later. Several mature technologies for achieving this goal are currently being tested at Polish research centre KEZO. Using an energy storage system (ESS) with different types of batteries and managing the setup with DEIF controllers is producing very promising results.
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