Microgrid Applications on Rural Dairy Plants and Farms

Abstract

With microgrids becoming more prevalent across the world, so too are their applications to varying industries and power systems. To demonstrate another application of these power systems, this study presents the source optimization and feasibility process for the University of Wisconsin - Platteville’s future Dairy Plant. In this analysis, multiple renewable energy sources are considered along with energy from the local utility. A software optimization tool known as XENDEE was used to determine the optimal sizes and types of sources to meet three different optimization scenarios. These being cost only, emissions only, and a combination of both (CO2 and cost). For all three cases, reliability was also prioritized. To perform a reliable optimization, several factors are required for each renewable source. Such factors are discussed in this study. Moreover, to account for a more accurate monetary loss during a power outage, an improved baseline was created for use with the XENDEE platform. The process and nuances required for this baseline form another feature of this study. Using the improved baseline, varying scenarios were run and studied to help improve each of the three key scenarios. In the end, the scenarios were met, finalized and are presented here in this report.