Overload Control in Smart Transformer-Fed Grid

Renewable energy resources and new loads—such as electric vehicles—challenge grid management. Among several scenarios, the smart transformer represents a solution for simultaneously managing low- and medium-voltage grids, providing ancillary services to the distribution grid. However, unlike conventional transformers, the smart transformer has a very limited overload capability, because the junction temperature—which must always be below its maximum limit—is characterized by a short time constant. In this work, an overload control for smart transformer by means of voltage and frequency variations has been proposed and verified by means of simulations and experiments.