Abstract
With the growing scientific developments and achievements in marine energy, the large-scale integration of these devices is on the horizon. Applying marine energy devices to the grid and ensuring they become a significant portion of the energy mix is not trivial. It requires stability and reliability studies to ensure grid security. Grid security refers to the ability of the power system to withstand sudden disturbances such as electrical faults, line outages, or unexpected large changes in power demand and generation. It encompasses both the physical security of the infrastructure and the operational security to maintain continuous electricity supply under various conditions. Dynamic simulations play a crucial role in achieving grid security. These simulations mimic the physical and operational dynamics of power systems under diverse scenarios, including line outages, faults, and large load ramping. They are vital for assessing the impact of intermittent renewable marine energy sources on grid stability and reliability. The integration of these variable marine energy sources presents challenges, highlighting the need for comprehensive stability and reliability studies. Such studies are essential for the confident adaptation of this technology, ensuring that the integration of marine energy into the grid enhances the system's resilience and reliability, rather than posing a threat to its security. Our research aims to address this gap by improving the WEC-GRID framework, an open-source tool designed to facilitate the analysis of marine energy integration via steady-state and now dynamic simulations. This advancement aims to understand the grid's responses to a range of events with variable mix of traditional and renewable energy source including wind, solar, and marine. We utilize WEC-Grid to conduct these studies at the microgrid level. By employing a variety of dynamic simulation tools, including PSSe, a commercial simulator, ANDES, an open-source Python-based dynamic simulator, and PowerDynamics.jl, a Julia-based dynamic simulator, we intend to evaluate and compare the performance and reliability of these software in the adaption of WEC dynamic models. A primary goal is to underscore the efficacy of open-source solutions in conducting such analyses. This paper will present preliminary results derived from adapting both commercial and open-source simulation software in typical stressful grid conditions. The objective is to foster confidence in the application of open-source simulators for the analysis of marine energy dynamics. Through detailed dynamic simulations and stability assessments, our study underscores a pivotal step toward the seamless integration of marine energy into the electrical grid with our modeling tool, WEC-Grid. Furthermore, we aim to demonstrate the capabilities and potential of open-source tools in promoting the adoption and optimization of marine energy sources.