Robustness of damping control implemented by Energy Storage Systems installed in power systems

An Energy Storage System (ESS) installed in a power system can effectively damp power system oscillations through controlling exchange of either active or reactive power between the ESS and power system. This paper investigates the robustness of damping control implemented by the ESS to the variations of power system operating conditions. It proposes a new analytical method based on the well-known equal-area criterion and small-signal stability analysis. By using the proposed method, it is concluded in the paper that damping control implemented by the ESS through controlling its active power exchange with the power system is robust to the changes of power system operating conditions. While if the ESS damping control is realized by controlling its reactive power exchange with the power system, effectiveness of damping control changes with variations of power system operating condition. In the paper, an example of power system installed with a battery ESS (BESS) is presented. Simulation results confirm the analytical conclusions made in the paper about the robustness of ESS damping control. Laboratory experiment of a physical power system installed with a 35 kJ/7 kW Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) was carried out to evaluate theoretical study. Results are given in the paper, which demonstrate that effectiveness of SMES damping control realized through regulating active power is robust to changes of load conditions of the physical power system. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.