It is difficult to achieve accurate distribution of reactive power based on conventional droop control due to the line impedance mismatch in an islanded microgrid. An adaptive virtual impendence method based on consensus control of reactive current is proposed in this paper. A distributed control structure without the central controller has been established. In this structure, each distributed generation unit (DG) is an independent agent, one-way communication is used between the adjacent DGs, and the reactive power sharing is equivalent to a problem of reactive power current consensus. It has been proven that the system is asymptotically stable under the proposed control strategy. When the adjacent DG’s reactive power is not proportionally distributed, the current weight error term will generate a virtual impedance correction term through the proportional-integral controller based on the reactive current consensus control strategy, thus introducing adaptive virtual impedance to eliminate mismatches in output impedance between DGs. Reactive power auto-proportional distribution can be achieved without knowing the line impedance. At the same time, the power control loop is simplified and the virtual impedance compensation angle is employed to compensate the decreased reference voltage magnitude and varied phase angle due to the introduction of the virtual impedance, so the stability of the system can be improved. Finally, the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed strategy are verified by modeling analysis and microgrid simulations.

Power grid dispatching is a high-risk process, and its execution depends on an available cyber system. However, the effects of cyber systems have not caught enough attention in current research on risk assessments in dispatching processes, which may cause optimistic risk results. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a risk assessment model that considers the impact of a cyber system on power grid dispatching processes. Firstly, a cyber-physical switchgear state model that integrates the reliability states of both cyber system functions and switchgears is proposed, based on the transition of switchgear states in the dispatching process. Then, the potential effects of each operating step on power grid states are analyzed considering the failure model of cyber-physical system (CPS) components. The risk probabilities and consequences of the power grid states are calculated to quantify the risk index. Finally, the workings and effectiveness of this model are illustrated using the IEEE Reliability Test System-1979.

Utility scale energy storage devices have been considered for integration with renewable energy systems to improve their sustainability and dispatch. In this paper, we analyze and model an advanced zinc energy storage device (ZESS), for grid level applications. This energy storage system has high energy and power density, high efficiency and long life. A series of tests have been conducted on the ZESS in order to develop an electrical model that describes its behavior. The modeling is based on the observation that, at constant temperature, both the open circuit voltage of the ZESS and its internal resistance are exclusive functions of its state of charge (SOC). Since the value of the SOC is crucial to the developed model, and due to the inexistence of charge sensors, Kalman filtering is used to estimate the SOC of the ZESS at any operating point. The model and the SOC estimator are necessary blocks to use when integrating the ZESS with some renewable energy system so that the controller can decide whether the ZESS should store/release energy from/to the system.

The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper

Ultracapacitors are energy storage devices that have shown outstanding capability in a vast spectrum of applications, mainly in energy storage systems required to deliver short bursts of electrical energy. Ultracapacitors possess high power density while batteries possess high energy density. In this paper, a hybrid energy storage device comprising a lithium-ion ultracapacitor module and a lead acid battery was modeled, built, and tested for vehicular start–stop application, which requires a much larger number of engine cranking events than conventional vehicles. The combination of a lead acid battery with Li-ion ultracapacitors was chosen due to the fact that the vast majority of vehicles utilize lead acid batteries to crank the internal combustion engine. This allows retrofitting this hybrid setup in conventional vehicles along with the start–stop feature without inflicting damage to the already installed lead acid battery. The start–stop feature puts high stress on the lead acid battery, contributing to its faster aging. This feature is commonly found in hybrid vehicles to save the unnecessarily burned fuel during idling. This paper discusses aging of the lead acid battery as a result of being used in hybrid vehicles equipped with start–stop when used alone versus when used in the hybrid setup. The paper shows cranking tests performed on a number of cars to obtain voltage, current, power, and energy requirements for combustion engine cranking. Mathematical derivation, analysis, and an energy storage age estimation method are also presented. A set of cranking events followed by capacity checks performed on two automobile energy storage systems, one being a lead acid battery alone and the other being the proposed hybrid module, show the advantage of integrating the ultracapacitor module with the lead acid battery to extend its life span almost fivefold in a hybrid automobile.