Strengthening Grid Stability with Hybrid Energy Control

ComAp collaborated with MSR Engines, a provider of comprehensive backup power solutions, to deliver a hybrid energy control system combining battery energy storage and diesel generation. The project, completed in the Czech Republic, supports the delivery of balancing energy for the national grid, helping to stabilise the electricity network during periods of high demand. To achieve this, the system integrates two 500 kW Sinexcel power conversion systems (PCSs) with EVE batteries and the existing diesel gen-sets under the site's master control system, ensuring grid compliance and enabling flexible operation to support stability and reliability. MSR Engines has worked with ComAp for several years, selecting ComAp controllers as their preferred solution for gen-set control, and is now extending this experience into battery energy storage systems to improve energy management.

The challenge was to ensure cooperation between two BESS systems on a single site while maintaining compliance with local distributed system operator (DSO) requirements and grid codes. Each BESS, equipped with an InteliNeo 530 controller, needed to operate in sync under the site's existing master control system, which coordinated charge and discharge and managed nearby diesel gen-sets. This combined operation enabled the customer to provide grid support services for ČEPS, the Czech Transmission System Operator (TSO), including active and reactive power control and to optimise overall performance.

In this application, the amount of energy required within the grid is communicated directly from ČEPS to the aggregator based on grid parameters via the IEC 60870-5-104 communication protocol. When additional energy is needed, the BESS discharges; once the batteries are depleted and the demand persists, the diesel gen-sets start automatically. When there is a surplus in the grid, the BESS recharges. While the main control logic is managed within the InteliNeo 530 controllers, compliance with grid codes requires an InteliMains 1010 controller to supervise the grid connection.

The solution included two InteliNeo 530 BESS controllers, one InteliMains 1010 controller for grid supervision, ComAp’s WebSupervisor tool for remote monitoring and management, and commissioning support. The project was delivered in close cooperation between MSR Engines and ComAp. MSR prepared the site, completed terminations and set up the communication infrastructure, integrating the components supplied by ComAp. About 90% of the commissioning was completed by MSR, with ComAp engineers fine-tuning the system and performing handover testing to ensure optimal performance and compliance.