Smart grid control and communication: The SmartC2net Real-Time HIL approach

The expected growth in distributed generation will significantly affect the operation and control of today´s distribution grids. Being confronted with fast fluctuating power from distributed generations, the assurance of a reliable service (grid stability, avoidance of energy losses) and the quality of the power may become costly. In this light, Smart Grids may provide an answer towards a more active and efficient electrical network. The EU project SmartC2Net aims to enable smart grid operations over imperfect, heterogeneous general purpose networks, which poses a significant challenge to the reliability due to the stochastic behaviour found in such networks. Therefore, key concepts are presented in this paper targeting the support of proper smart grid control in these network environments and its Real-Time Hardware-In-the Loop (HIL) verification. An overview on the required Information and Communication Technology (ICT) architecture and its functionality is provided and a description of a relevant use case that deals with voltage control on medium and low voltage networks along its evaluation approach on an experimental test bed is detailed.