At the heart of the plant is Skycontrol energy management system, a highly flexible control scheme incorporating pre-programmed, automatic control functions that provide active and reactive power capping; maximum ramp rate; frequency control based on power shifting; voltage stabilisation; and reactive power setpoint control.
Skytron energy’s Remote Interface Control Center (RICC) enable manual adjustment of grid feed parameters. The user interface has been specifically developed to suit the country’s method of grid control and stabilisation: the control command messages are relayed by CEB, Mauritius’ Central Electricity Board, and the plant operator must respond immediately by manually entering the new setpoints for active and reactive power, power factor, ramp rate and by selecting pre-defined control curves applicable at that moment. The connection to the plant and the skycontrol controller is established directly via the local plant intranet or remotely by way of a secure VPN link.
Weather-model based production forecasts, updated several times a day, supplying estimates of hourly production for up to 5.5 days into the future are provided by the PVGuard performance analysis tool. This provides knowledge of how much power can be generated and made available by the solar plant. It is based on a SCADA platform which is part of skytron energy’s real-time monitoring and supervision system installed in the Bambous plant. It operates as the plant operator’s daily tool for remote alarm diagnostics but also also offers all the functions necessary for reporting and long-term performance analysis.
Plant performance and all live data can also be viewed directly at the plant. This is ensured by skytron energy’s on-site server skyserv LM which gives the operator instant access to actual values of all plant data at 1 minute resolution as well as selected power data such as active, reactive and apparent power, frequency, current and power factor at one second intervals measured at the grid connection point.
“Mauritius has a great solar outlook with a potential average radiation yield of some 6 kWh per square metre every day” said André Pohl, managing director of Tauber Solar Energy Technology GmbH, the German general contractor for the project. “The country has ambitious plans to reduce its dependence on imported petroleum products and encourages the advancement of solar power generation. With this first ground-mounted plant we have proved to the country’s electricity authority that renewable energy enhances grid stability. With skytron energy we have found a highly competent partner whose expertise in flexibly adjusting their control system to local grid requirements has helped tremendously to integrate this first solar plant into the island’s electricity grid.”
Skytron Energy provides integrated monitoring, control and remote monitoring systems for renewable energy generation facilities, specializing in commercial power generation plants and power plants. It has installed monitoring systems in more than 600 plants with a total capacity of 5GWp.
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