State of The Art in Research On Microgrids
State of The Art in Research On Microgrids
State of The Art in Research On Microgrids
ABSTRACT The significant benefits associated with microgrids have led to vast efforts to expand their
penetration in electric power systems. Although their deployment is rapidly growing, there are still many
challenges to efficiently design, control, and operate microgrids when connected to the grid, and also when
in islanded mode, where extensive research activities are underway to tackle these issues. It is necessary to
have an across-the-board view of the microgrid integration in power systems. This paper presents a review of
issues concerning microgrids and provides an account of research in areas related to microgrids, including
distributed generation, microgrid value propositions, applications of power electronics, economic issues,
microgrid operation and control, microgrid clusters, and protection and communications issues.
INDEX TERMS
communications.
NOMENCLATURE
DER
DG
DR
DSM
EMS
ESS
GA
MAS
MILP
OPF
PCC
PHEV
PSO
PV
STATCOM
T&D
UPS
VSC
I. INTRODUCTION TO MICROGRIDS
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VOLUME 3, 2015
during peak hours and smooth out the load profile. The results
are significant in that vehicle-to-grid operations contribute to
local energy reliability during emergency as well as cost savings in electricity bills and fuels for generators by reducing
peak load. In [54], a new operating paradigm is proposed,
called risk-limiting dispatch, that uses real-time information
about supply and demand obtained from the smart grid, taking
into account the stochastic nature of renewable sources
and DR. The operational decision making of the proposed
approach is based on the criterion of limiting the risk in
operation, rather than the conventional worst case dispatch.
B. RESILIENCY
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B. MICROGRID SCHEDULING
Microgrid scheduling problem aims at minimizing the operation costs of local DERs, as well as the power exchange
with the utility grid, to supply forecasted microgrid loads in
a certain period of time (typically one day). The microgrid
scheduling problem is subject to a variety of operational
constraints such as energy balance, load management, and
DER limitations. An optimal model predictive control-based
strategy for the multi-objective optimization problem is proposed in [107] with the goals of minimizing fuel costs and
changes in power output of diesel generators, minimizing
costs associated with low battery life of ESS, and maximizing the ability to maintain real-time power balance during
operations. In [108], two new cost-prioritized droop schemes
are developed to reduce the microgrid total generation cost.
They operate by tuning the dispatch priorities of DGs and
curve shapes of their resulting active power versus frequency
plots. In [109], a knowledge based system controller is used
to schedule a wind-diesel-ESS isolated microgrid an hour
ahead so that the diesel generator power is reduced and fuel
cost is minimized. The study in [110] presents a scheduling
model for a residential microgrid considering temperature
dependent thermal load in the model facilitating a combined
heat and power control.
The microgrid scheduling problem can be investigated
from two major perspectives: scheduling architecture and
methodology. In the context of the scheduling architecture,
the existing Energy Management System (EMS) architectures for microgrids are reviewed in [111] and [112], where
centralized and distributed models are identified as common microgrid scheduling schemes. The scheduling problem can be solved centrally in a central computing unit,
able to access generation and load information and dispatching generation according to total load demand and
individual generators cost curve [113][120]. In [113], a
centralized control system that coordinates parallel operations of different DG inverters within a microgrid is
proposed, employing a model predictive control algorithm
that optimizes the steady-state and transient control problems separately. The large number of control devices requires
higher capacity of communication network and higher computational capability, which would act as a barrier for employing the microgrid centralized control. The study in [114]
proposes a control software aiming to provide advice to
power system operators regarding scheduling of resources in
an islanded system. In [115], a scheduling approach for a
hydrogen storage system is presented. In [116], the microgrid scheduling problem is solved by differential evolution
approach. In [118], a scheduling scheme is proposed for a
microgrid, including advanced PV generators with embedded
ESS and gas microturbines. The scheduling is performed
in two parts: a central energy management and a local
power management at the customer side. The study in [120]
proposes a scheduling model for microgrids considering
uncertain islanding. The problem is decomposed into normal
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As discussed previously, microgrids offer unprecedented economic and reliability benefits to electricity customers and the
utility grid as a whole. Microgrid benefits, however, must
be scrutinized and compared with the microgrid investment
cost to ensure a complete return on investment and further
justify microgrid deployments [188]. An accurate assessment of microgrid economic benefits is a challenging task
due to significant uncertain data involved in the assessment.
Moreover, some of the assessment results, such as reliability
improvements, are difficult to comprehend for customers
903
Two common control architectures for microgrids are centralized and distributed. Standardized procedures and easy
implementations are among advantages of the centralized
approach. The study in [112] presents a microgrid central
controller with two major functions for distribution systems:
having a communication channel with the distribution system
operator and the electricity market, and exchanging information with the microgrid local controllers and processing
them. In the centralized control scheme, the central controller
makes decisions about the dispatch of all DGs and ESSs
according to the objective function and constraints. In [111], a
centralized EMS architecture is proposed for implementation
on isolated microgrids in the islanded mode of operation.
In [227], a control method is proposed for a set of inverters
separated by communication links that separates the control
tasks in the frequency domain. Power sharing and voltage regulation are controlled centrally, and commands are distributed
through a low-bandwidth communication link. High bandwidth controllers are distributed to each local inverter. The
disturbance rejection level achieved by this method is equal to
that of a single inverter with a single full bandwidth controller.
In microgrids where each DG has its own controller and
pursues distinct objectives, distributed control provides premium applicability. The number of transmitted messages
between different individual components and the microgrid
controller increases as the size of the microgrid increases,
necessitating a larger communication bandwidth. Decentralized control can reduce the number of messages and also
simplify the optimization with special constraints by reducing
it into subproblems and solving them locally [228]. In [88],
a differential algebraic system of the microgrid decentralized
active power/frequency and reactive power/voltage magnitude droop control is developed and simplified to determine
stable boundaries of the microgrid for different droop control gains. In [229], an analytical justification for using a
distributed voltage-control scheme is presented to stabilize
the grid-voltage under a wide-range of operating conditions,
and a novel DC microgrid solution, geared at maximizing efficiency and reducing the system installation cost, is
described. In [230], it is shown that the full exploitation
of energy resources is possible without central controllers,
by taking advantage of the local measurement, communication, and control capability. In particular, it is shown
that the microgrid operation can be optimized by applying
token ring control and grid mapping techniques, which only
require communication capability between neighbor nodes
via power lines. In [231], a decentralized power control
method in a single-phase flexible AC microgrid is proposed to enable the microgrid inverter to operate seamlessly
in both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation.
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In [376] shortcomings of protection approaches for microgrids that are not limited to an area with clear boundaries
are addressed, and a flexible framework is proposed for
protection scheme design of DC microgrid applications.
The proposed protection scheme enables the required levels
of fault discrimination to be achieved while minimizing
the associated installation costs. In [377], a low-voltage
DC microgrid protection system is proposed. The possibility
of using commercially-available devices to protect such a
system is shown in this study. Problems may arise with highimpedance ground faults which can be difficult to detect.
It was shown that during the coordination of protection
devices, problems may arise with the converter protection.
Therefore, the converter fault current can be used together
with the DC-link voltage to solve the problem and ensure
a reliable protection system. In [378], a fault protection
and location scheme is presented for a ring-bus-based
DC microgrid consisting of zone intelligent electronic
devices which are capable of detecting fault current in the
bus segment and isolating the segment to avoid the system shutdown. In [357], an arc model for studying series
faults in low-voltage DC microgrids is presented. It is
suitable for electromagnetic transient simulations of series
DC arc faults. The advantages of the method for transient
simulations are demonstrated via experiments. The study
in [379] presents feasibility analysis results of positioning
the superconducting fault current limiter and its effects on
reducing fault current in a utility grid containing AC and
DC microgrids. The strategic and optimal location of superconducting fault current limiter in the utility grid, which
could limit fault currents and has no negative effect on
DGs, is found to be the connection point of each DG.
In [380], a fault detection and isolation scheme is presented
for low-voltage DC microgrids to detect the fault in the bus
between devices and to isolate the faulted section regardless
of fault current amplitude or the power supplys feeding
capacity. Therefore the microgrid keeps operating without
disabling the entire system. It proposes a loop-type DC
microgrid, which has a segment controller between connected
components.
D. FAULT CURRENT LIMITATION (FCL)
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