Integrated Management of Energy Storage for Sustainable Operation of Energy Microgrids

Energy microgrids are a key building block of smart grids. Energy microgrids can not only provide voltage and VAR support to the power grid but also reduce the emission footprint of the overall power generation infrastructure. While it provides added advantages like grid decongestion and reduced operating cost for system operators, it creates significant challenges in stable operation and meeting economic goals of the microgrid owners. Currently, energy microgrids are heavily subsidized through government grants/rebates and require high maintenance in terms of skilled operating staff and advance control systems. In this paper, we propose a microgrid energy storage architecture that could reduce the cost of ownership and simplify control and management of energy microgrids while retaining the advantages of reduced emissions and resource consumption. The controls existing in normal energy storage also offers unique opportunities in simplifying the control system of such distributed generation infrastructure and improving the reliability of microgrid in meeting local demand constraints. From a utility operator’s perspective, energy storage provides a reliable and dispatchable source as opposed to intermittent distributed energy resources.