Prof. Marcelo Molina
IEEE Member
Director of the Institute of Electrical Energy, UNSJ-CONICET
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Academic Career Length
22Years (2005-Present)
(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)
Representative Publications
View All Publications15 September 2017 in Proceedings of the IEEE
Journal Article
Marcelo MolinaThe electric power industry is facing unprecedented transformations and challenges with the implementation of the smart grids. This new grid paradigm has arisen to build a flexible electric power system that better coordinates energy resources and loads aiming at efficiently delivering sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. As a part of the smart grids (SGs), microgrids (MGs) have been developed to exploit the full benefits from the integration of distributed energy resources, especially distributed renewable generation based on variable and intermittent sources, such as wind and solar. Nevertheless, meeting all these goal requires the implementation of innovative energy storage technologies integrated with high efficiency and very fast response electronic power conditioning systems to interface with the electrical grid. Power electronics systems play a key role in regulating the raw energy from energy storage systems (ESSs) and connecting to the electrical grid. Hence, this paper performs a comprehensive analysis of major technologies in electrical energy storage systems and their electronic interface for applications in smart grids. The work provides a complete study of the technology profile of both energy storage and power electronics suitable for applications in the evolving grid.
6 December 2010 in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
Journal Article
Marcelo MolinaPMPedro Enrique Mercado
Pedro Enrique Mercado
High penetration of renewable energy sources such as wind generation in microgrids (MGs) causes fluctuations of power flow and significantly affects the power system (PS) operation. This can lead to severe problems, such as system frequency oscillations, and/or violations of power lines capability. With the proper control, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) is able to significantly enhance the dynamic security of the PS. In an SMES system, the power conditioning system (PCS) is the crucial component that directly influences the validity of the SMES in the dynamic control of the PS. This paper proposes the use of an improved SMES controller for the stabilization and control of the power flow of wind-hybrid MGs. In this sense, the design and implementation of a novel high-performance PCS scheme of the SMES is described. Moreover, a detailed model of the SMES unit is derived and a novel three-level control scheme is designed, comprising a full decoupled current control strategy in the d -q reference frame and an enhanced PS frequency controller. The dynamic performance of the proposed systems is fully validated by computer simulation.
4 September 2012 in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid
Journal Article
GSGastón Orlando Suvire
Gastón Orlando Suvire
Marcelo MolinaPMPedro Enrique Mercado
Pedro Enrique Mercado
The connection of wind power generation into ac microgrids (MGs) is steadily increasing. This incorporation can bring problems onto the power quality and dynamics of the electrical grid due to the lack of controllability over the wind. In this work, a flywheel energy storage (FES) is used to mitigate problems introduced by wind generation into MGs. A dynamic model of the FES device is briefly presented and a technique to control the power exchanged between the device and the power system is proposed. The control technique has three modes, namely: voltage control (VC), frequency control (FC), and active power stabilization (APS). Simulation tests on the behavior of the FES device are analyzed when it works in combination with wind generation in the electrical microgrid. Results show an acceptable performance of the proposed control techniques along with a high effectiveness to smooth the active power fluctuations of wind generation.
1 June 2010 in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Journal Article
1 September 2012
Conference Paper
Marcelo MolinaGrid connection of renewable energy sources (RESs), such as wind and solar, is becoming today an important form of distributed generation (DG). The penetration of these DG units into electrical microgrids (MGs) is growing rapidly, enabling reaching high percentage of the installed generating capacity. However, the fluctuating and intermittent nature of this renewable generation causes variations of power flow that can significantly affect the stability and operation of the electrical grid. To overcome these problems, short-term distributed energy storage (DES) systems based on advanced technologies, such as superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), supercapacitor (or ultracapacitor) energy storage (SCES or UCES) and flywheel energy storage (FES), arise as a potential alternative in order to balance any instantaneous mismatch between supply and demand in the microgrid. This paper is intended to offer a major insight into the emerging energy storage technologies for smart microgrid applications. The work provides a unique comprehensive analysis of both the modeling and the control design of leading emerging DES devices.
1 June 2011 in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion
Journal Article
Marcelo MolinaPMPedro Enrique Mercado
Pedro Enrique Mercado
EWEdson Hirokazu Watanabe
Edson Hirokazu Watanabe
Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems are getting increasing interest in applications of power flow stabilization and control in the transmission network level. This trend is mainly supported by the rising integration of large-scale renewable energy power plants into the high-power utility system and by major features of SMES units. In a SMES system, the power conditioning system (PCS) is the crucial component for controlling the power exchange between the superconducting coil and the ac system. The dynamics of the PCS directly influences the validity of the SMES in the dynamic control of the power system. This paper describes a novel PCS scheme of SMES to simultaneously perform both active and reactive power flow controls. Moreover, a detailed model of the SMES unit is derived and a three-level control scheme is designed, comprising a full decoupled current control strategy in the d-q reference frame with a novel controller to prevent PCS dc bus capacitors' voltage drift/imbalance. The dynamic performances of the proposed systems are fully validated by computer simulation.
About Me
Marcelo G. Molina was born in San Juan, Argentina. He received his MS degree in electronic engineering from the Universidad Nacional de San Juan (UNSJ), Argentina in 1997 and his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the UNSJ in 2004. Dr. Molina is currently a Full Professor in Power Electronics, Renewable Energy Systems and Smart Grids at the UNSJ and a Senior Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina, where he also holds various academic and administrative positions. From 2019 he serves as Director of the Institute of Electrical Energy (IEE), UNSJ-CONICET. Concurrently, he is Co-director of the Renewable Energies Laboratory at the IEE, Director of the Smart Grids Research Group and Director of the Binational Master Program in Intelligent Energy Systems at UNSJ-Universität Siegen, Germany. He is also a Senior Power Systems Engineering Consultant at the IEE. In all these positions, he has had extensive research, teaching, speaking and executive experience. Dr. Molina has co‐authored over 200 peer‐reviewed journal and conference publications, authored one book in the energy storage field and eight book chapters in various EE areas. His current research interests include power systems modeling, analysis and control, power electronics, smart grids, renewable generation and energy storage.
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