A primary power control of small hydro power plants operating in autonomous, micro and minigrids

This article presents concept, strategy and realization of primary power control for small hydraulic generators operating in autonomous, micro and minigrids. Based on field measurements and software simulations analysis on the current state of the art control strategies is made. A new improved active power control strategy is presented as suitable to overcome the main drawbacks of the current control schemes available. A hardware solution is realized and tested. The results obtained show that the new control strategy allows efficient use of the generated energy and offers lower harmonic distortions of the generated voltage.