A lab test assessing a smart inverter controller to monitor and control solar rooftop systems was launched in Hanoi on 24 January 2022. The test was conducted by GIZ’s Smart Grids for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SGREEE) Project in cooperation with the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam (ERAV) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the School of Electrical Engineering – Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the Applied Technical Systems (ATS) Company.
The assignment is within the demonstration initiative, which is expected to contribute to the safe grid operation and dispatch planning, resulting in increasing the capacity of solar rooftop integration in Viet Nam.
Along with the lab test, training courses on usage of ATS’s smart controller devices (SmartDER) and central system (@DERM) were provided to lecturers and students to carry out the operation and maintenance of the systems. They learned about the main functions of the systems, which were successfully tested at the lab, namely, 1) Active power control, 2) Reactive power control, 3) Power factor control, 4) Voltage control, 5) Voltage monitoring, 6) Control of plant output reactive power and 7) Start-up and shutdown of a power plant.
After testing at the lab, the field test will be implemented at power companies in the second phase. Testing at solar rooftop systems and the companies’ control centres will verify the feasibility of the smart inverter controllers under realistic operation and will be used as a reference for future deployment on the power system.
These activities were part of the SGREEE project, which is implemented by the ERAV/MOIT and GIZ. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
For more information about the SGREEE project, please see here.
For further information, please contact Markus Bissel – SGREE’s Project Director, Energy Cluster, GIZ Viet Nam.
