Real-Time Dynamic Simulation of Korean Power Grid for Frequency Regulation Control by MW Battery Energy Storage System

The aim of this study was to develop a real-time dynamic simulator of a power grid with power plant and battery model. The simulator was used to investigate the frequency control characteristics of a megawatt-scale high-capacity energy storage system connected to the electric power grid. In this study, a lithium-ion secondary battery was chosen as one of the batteries for a grid-connected model. The dynamics of the model was analysed in both steady and transient states. The frequency control system of the battery model plays a role in regulating the grid frequency by controlling the power of energy storage systems according to process variables and grid frequencies. The power grid model based on the current power network of South Korea, included power plants, substations and power demands. The power supply is classified by the type of turbine generator as thermal, nuclear, hydro power, pumped power storage, combined power plants and batteries, including high-capacity energy storage systems rated for a maximum of 500 MW. This study deals with an installed capacity of 87.17 GW and peak load of 77.30 GW in the Korean power grid. For 24 hours of operation, the maximum and minimum power outputs were simulated as 61.59 GW and 46.32 GW, respectively. The commercialized real-time dynamic simulation software ProTRAX was used. The simulation was conducted to observe the operation characteristics of the frequency control system during a breakdown of power plants, as well as under governor-free operation, auto generation control operation, and with the battery energy storage system connected. The results show that the model is valid for each power plant breakdown simulation. They also confirm that the output power and frequency controls of the battery operated well during simulations.