Hybrid operation of wind-diesel-fuel cell Remote Area Power Supply system

Due to the uncertainties associated with wind profiles, the load side voltage and frequency control of a wind dominated Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) system is a challenging task. The performance of such a wind dominated hybrid RAPS system consisting of a diesel generator, fuel cell system, dump load and mains load is investigated in this paper. Integrating a fuel cell into the RAPS system enables the diesel usage to be kept at its minimum level while avoiding operation of the diesel generator at low load factor. The diesel generator is used to provide the reactive power requirement of the system throughout the operation and to provide active power whenever necessary. The excess power that arises during over generation scenarios such as high wind and low load conditions are handled through the dump load. To achieve acceptable voltage and frequency regulation, individual controllers have been designed and developed for each system component. In addition, a strategy for control coordination has been established among all the system modules. The entire system was modelled using SimpowerSystem toolbox in MATLAB and the suitability of the system is investigated in relation to its voltage and frequency regulation capability under changing wind and variable load conditions.