Performance analysis of iec 61850 messages in lte communication for reactive power management in microgrids

Reactive power management in microgrids with high penetration of distributed renewable energy sources (DRESs) is challenging. The intermittent generation of DRES makes the power management cumbersome. Generally, Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices such as Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) are employed for reactive power compensation in microgrids. However, for effective results in microgrids, coordinated operation between DSTATCOM and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) is required. In this paper, IEC 61850 communication is proposed for realizing coordinated operation between microgrid controller (MGCC), DSTATCOM and DERs. In microgrids, there may be large number of DERs dispersed over a large area. Hence, the underlying communication network technology for IEC 61850 communication must be highly scalable with wide range. Recently developed communication technology Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a promising solution since it offers high data rates, reliability, scalability and longer range. In this paper, the developed IEC 61850 based reactive power management system is tested with the LTE technology and the performance evaluation tests have been performed. Firstly, IEC 61850 messages have been mapped on LTE stack to enable their transmission. Then, simulations over a network emulator have been performed to evaluate the performance of IEC 61850 communication message exchanges over LTE network in terms of End to End (ETE) delays.