The Cell Controller Pilot Project: Testing a Smart Distribution Grid in Denmark

In order to hit ambitious national targets for the integration of renewable energy sources and the reduction of carbon emissions, the national Danish transmission operator has commissioned the Cell Controller Pilot Project. Coordinated smart control of existing distributed assets such as wind turbines, co-generation facilities and managed loads can support transmission operations during emergency condition, while also enabling enhanced market-based control over these assets during routine operations. The aim of the Cell Project is to develop the controllers and the dataacquisition, command, and communication infrastructure necessary to realize such wide-area control of a distribution grid. At the time of the first series of comprehensive field tests in late 2008, the pilot solution had been deployed to a 100 km area comprising two co-generation facilities, four 1 MW wind turbines, and approximately 5 MW of residential and commercial load. The 2008 Cell Controller release included two primary functions. The first manages the intentional islanding of the cell from the transmission system, its continued operation under local, distributed generation, and its resynchronization with the grid. The second controls a combination of distributed assets as a virtual generator in grid-connected operation. This report presents the 2008 Cell Project testing.