Impact of BESS Frequency Control on Microgrids: the Case Study of the Small Island Lipari

Isolated microgrids (MG) will face significant challenges soon. The progressive penetration of RES mandated by European targets will jeopardize the already precarious stability of the system unless system operators take proper counteractions. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) represent an asset for restoring the balance between supply and demand. This paper evaluates a BESS's impact on the frequency regulation of a real isolated MG. To emulate BESS performances, an empirical model based on an experimental campaign has been implemented in Powerfactory DIgSILENT. Measurements gathered by the local DSO set the reference for the study case. Various regulations exploited the benchmark to evaluate the BESS impact. Results show that the most power-intensive regulation reduces frequency peaks by 40.5%, with 91.66 % of frequency slips lower than 50 mHz. The outcomes confirmed the BESS's capability to support system stability without jeopardizing its limited energy content.