Integration of Local and Central Control Empowers Cooperation among Prosumers and Distributors towards Safe, Efficient, and Cost-Effective Operation of Microgrids

The advent of energy communities will revolutionize the energy market. However, exploiting their full potential requires innovations in the structure and management of low-voltage grids. End users shall be aggregated within microgrids, where their physical interaction is possible and coordinated ope...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Energies (Basel) 2023-03, Vol.16 (5), p.2320
Main Authors:	Tenti, Paolo, Caldognetto, Tommaso
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Alternative energy sources Circuit breakers Communication Control methods Distributed generation Efficiency Electric power systems Electrical equipment End users energy community Energy management Energy resources Energy storage Firmware Load local control microgrid Network topologies Physiological aspects Power flow Power sources Retrofitting Simulation methods Storage systems
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The advent of energy communities will revolutionize the energy market. However, exploiting their full potential requires innovations in the structure and management of low-voltage grids. End users shall be aggregated within microgrids, where their physical interaction is possible and coordinated operation of power sources and energy storage systems can be achieved. Moreover, meshed network topologies will enable multiple paths for the power flow. The combination of smart control and meshed networks can dramatically improve microgrid performance in terms of power quality, efficiency, and resilience to transients and faults. Ubiquitous control of the power flow becomes possible, as well as active fault clearing and isolation of subgrids without tripping circuit breakers. This paper proposes a control approach that pursues such goals without requiring modification of control and communication hardware implemented in commercial inverters. Instead, a revision of control firmware, integrated with local measurements, allows retrofitting existing plants to improve microgrid operation. Further improvements may derive from the installation of community power sources and energy storage systems, which can extend microgrid operation to pursue demand response and islanding. The potential of the proposed control methods is demonstrated by simulation considering a standard microgrid under different operating conditions.
ISSN:	1996-1073 1996-1073