Assessing the Techno-Economic Benefits of Flexible Demand Resources Scheduling for Renewable Energy–Based Smart Microgrid Planning

Abstract

The need for innovative pathways for future zero-emission and sustainable power development has recently accelerated the uptake of variable renewable energy resources (VREs). However, integration of VREs such as photovoltaic and wind generators requires the right approaches to design and operational planning towards coping with the fluctuating outputs. This paper investigates the technical and economic prospects of scheduling flexible demand resources (FDRs) in optimal configuration planning of VRE-based microgrids. The proposed demand-side management (DSM) strategy considers short-term power generation forecast to efficiently schedule the FDRs ahead of time in order to minimize the gap between generation and load demand. The objective is to determine the optimal size of the battery energy storage, photovoltaic and wind systems at minimum total investment costs. Two simulation scenarios, without and with the consideration of DSM, were investigated. The random forest algorithm implemented on scikit-learn python environment is utilized for short-term power prediction, and mixed integer linear programming (MILP) on MATLAB® is used for optimum configuration optimization. From the simulation results obtained here, the application of FDR scheduling resulted in a significant cost saving of investment costs. Moreover, the proposed approach demonstrated the effectiveness of the FDR in minimizing the mismatch between the generation and load demand.

Demand response integration in microgrid planning as a strategy for energy transition in power systems

“…The incorporation of the DSM strategy for effective optimal microgrid configuration, considering flexible demand resources, is addressed in [87]. The objective is to determine the optimal size of DER at minimum total costs.…”

Optimal Capacity and Operational Planning for Renewable Energy-Based Microgrid Considering Different Demand-Side Management Strategies

“…Due to its low operational costs and emission-free nature, adopting renewable energy has been crucial for achieving carbon neutrality in electric power grids. Variable renewable energy sources (VREs), mainly wind and solar, currently comprise most of the world's electricity sources due to their abundant resource potential and local availability [1,2]. However, due to their intrinsic variability, the widespread incorporation of VREs has imposed massive complexity in the power systems' capacity sizing and operational planning [3].…”

A bi-cyclic co-optimization method for sizing of electricity-hydrogen hybrid energy storage microgrid

“…However, the economics of microgrid design entail two crucial aspects: optimal capacity sizing and optimal scheduling. 16 And these segregated sizing strategies often lead to sub-optimality in the overall systems, such as undercapacity or overcapacity sizing of the system components, and high operation costs. This sub-optimality tends to emanate from the failure of long-timescale sizing models to meet the practical conditions of short-timescale scheduling.…”