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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 16690

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mojgan Hojabri

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Guest Editor

Competence Center of Digital Energy and Electric Power, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 6048 Horw, Switzerland
Interests: power electronics; smart grids; microgrids; distribution systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The research and development of smart grids and microgrids that have taken place in recent decades is how some countries have modernized their transmission and distribution networks in order to respond to the challenges and problems that the grid has to face, such as the increasing demand or the higher penetration levels of renewable energy resources, while keeping high-quality standards in an efficient, reliable, safe, economical, and robust manner.

The operation and management of such complex systems require the use and mix of different technologies of different fields, from advanced communications and information technology to smart metering and monitoring equipment. The need for gathering information from suppliers and consumers is critical to determining the state of the grid and to optimizing the operation and management of the system regarding load shedding, storage administration, and strategies to face faults and grid contingencies.

This section is intended to present new contributions, studies, and reviews in the area of smart grids, microgrids, and active distribution networks related to generation, transmission, and distribution systems.

This Special Issue includes but is not limited to the following topics:

AC/DC/AC-DC hybrid microgrids;
Power electronics-based microgrids;
Microgrids for all/hybrid electrical ships and planes;
Microgrids for electrical vehicle charging stations;
Multienergy microgrids;
Smart grid device management;
CHP Systems for microgrids;
Advanced control techniques for microgrids;
Renewable energy systems;
Energy storage technology for microgrid and active distribution networks;
Smart metering;
Wide area monitoring systems (WAMS);
PMU applications in distribution systems;
Demand side management and demand response;
100% renewable grid;
Communication technologies for smart grid applications;
AI applications in smart grids.

Dr. Mojgan Hojabri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Distributed energy resources (DER)
Active distribution networks
Smart grids
Microgrids
Smart metering
WAMS
PMU
Energy storage systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 3355 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Advancing the Industrial Sectors Participation in Demand Response within National Electricity Grids

by Alexander Brem, Dominic T. J. O’Sullivan and Ken Bruton

Energies 2021, 14(24), 8261; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248261 - 8 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2613

Abstract

Increasing the level and diversifying the sources of flexible capacity available to transmission system operators will be a pivotal factor for maintaining reliable control of national electricity grids. These response capacities are widely available; however, one area with large capacities that could benefit from advancements is the industrial sector. This sector’s highly regulated nature ensures that structured procedures and thorough investigations are required to implement significant change. This study presents a systematic methodology to effectively categorise assets and evaluate their perceived risk of participation in demand response, allowing industries to present a sustainable portfolio of flexible capacity to the grid. Following implementation on an internationally relevant industrial site, this methodology identified several assets for participation, determining that it is realistic to expect 35 to 75 kW of flexible capacity from only air handling units on a single site. A selected unit was further evaluated using an internal air-temperature modelling tool. This demonstrated its ability to respond safely to the actual 2019 and 2020 grid frequency events and even remain off, at no risk to the indoor thermal environment for at least 20 min in each case. The potential impact of advancing industrial participation is presented, with the highest scenario providing almost 15 MW of flexible capacity to the Irish national grid. The financial benefit achievable on a site from the most conservative assets was found to be between EUR 993 and EUR 2129 annually for a single response category and up to EUR 6563 based on payment multipliers. Overall, this research demonstrates the significant flexible capacities available within the industrial sector and illustrates the low-risk capabilities and considerable benefits achievable on a single site and for the wider national electricity grids with this concept. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grids, Microgrid and Active Distribution Networks)

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22 pages, 8212 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Port PWM DC-DC Power Converter for Renewable Energy Applications

by Abdulaziz Almutairi, Khairy Sayed, Naif Albagami, Ahmed G. Abo-Khalil and Hedra Saleeb

Energies 2021, 14(12), 3490; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123490 - 12 Jun 2021

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 4643

Abstract

In this paper, a new multi-port DC-DC power converter used to deal with the intermittent nature and slow response in renewable energy applications is proposed. The proposed converter integrates a DC-DC converter and a DC-AC inverter, and the proposed circuit integrates various renewable energy sources in addition to the energy storage unit. By combining renewable energy sources with a statistical trend to offset each other, the impact of the intermittency can be considerably minimized. This combination increases the overall system reliability and usability. Moreover, integrating such systems with energy storage systems can overcome the slow response issue of renewable sources. It can provide the additional energy required by the load or absorb the extra energy provided by the power sources, which greatly improves the dynamics of the overall system. The proposed converter can reduce the system cost and size and improve the efficiency and reliability. The operation principle is studied in detail, and the design considerations are provided. The proposed architecture and its control strategy were analyzed and studied using the Simulink/MATLAB environment. Finally, the feasibility of the proper operation of the studied converter was experimentally verified based on the results of experimental studies conducted on a 300 W prototype implemented in a laboratory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grids, Microgrid and Active Distribution Networks)

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26 pages, 4969 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Voltage–Frequency Regulation in Distributed Sustainable Energy-Based Hybrid Microgrids with Integrated Resource Planning

by Amar Kumar Barik, Dulal Chandra Das, Abdul Latif, S. M. Suhail Hussain and Taha Selim Ustun

Energies 2021, 14(10), 2735; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102735 - 11 May 2021

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 3049

Abstract

This work is the earliest attempt to propose an integrated resource planning for distributed hybrid microgrids considering virtual-inertia support (VIS) and demand-response support (DRS) systems. Initially, three-distributed sustainable energy-based unequal hybrid microgrids are envisioned with the availability of solar/wind/bioenergy resources. In order to overcome the effects of intermittency in renewable resources and low inertia, each microgrid is incorporated with DRS and VIS units for demand- and supply-side management, respectively. The proposed system is simulated in MATLAB considering real-time recorded solar/wind data with realistic loading for 12 months. A novel quasi-oppositional chaotic selfish-herd optimization (QCSHO) algorithm is proposed by hybridizing quasi-opposition-based learning and chaotic linear search techniques into the selfish-herd optimization, for optimal regulation of voltage and frequency in microgrids. Then, the system responses are compared with 7 algorithms and 5 error functions to tune PID controllers’ gains, which confirmed the superiority of QCSHO over others. Then, the study proceeds to investigate the voltage, frequency, and tie-line power coordination in 5 extreme scenarios of source and load variations in the proposed system without retuning the controllers. Finally, the system responses are analyzed for 10 different possible allocation of VIS and DRS units in different microgrids to find the most suitable combinations, and the results are recorded. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grids, Microgrid and Active Distribution Networks)

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14 pages, 653 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancement of Advanced Metering Infrastructure Performance Using Unsupervised K-Means Clustering Algorithm

by Daisy Nkele Molokomme, Chabalala S. Chabalala and Pitshou N. Bokoro

Energies 2021, 14(9), 2732; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092732 - 10 May 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2488

Abstract

Data aggregation may be considered as the technique through which streams of data gathered from Smart Meters (SMs) can be processed and transmitted to a Utility Control Center (UCC) in a reliable and cost-efficient manner without compromising the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. In a typical Smart Grid (SG) paradigm, the UCC is usually located far away from the consumers (SMs), which has led to a degradation in network performance. Although the data aggregation technique has been recognized as a favorable solution to optimize the network performance of the SG, the underlying issue to date is to determine the optimal locations for the Data Aggregation Points (DAPs), where network coverage and full connectivity for all SMs deployed within the network are achieved. In addition, the main concern of the aggregation technique is to minimize transmission and computational costs. In this sense, the number of DAPs deployed should be as minimal as possible while satisfying the QoS requirements of the SG. This paper presents a Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) placement scheme based on the unsupervised K-means clustering algorithm with silhouette index method to determine the efficient number of DAPs required under different SM densities and find the best locations for the deployment of DAPs. Poisson Point Process (PPP) has been deployed to model the locations of the SMs. The simulation results presented in this paper indicate that the NAN placement scheme based on the ageless unsupervised K-means clustering algorithm not only improves the accuracy in determining the number of DAPs required and their locations but may also improve the network performance significantly in terms of network coverage and full connectivity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grids, Microgrid and Active Distribution Networks)

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24 pages, 3572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Impedance-Based Main and Backup Protection Scheme for Active Distribution Lines in AC Microgrids

by Seyyed Mohammad Nobakhti, Abbas Ketabi and Miadreza Shafie-khah

Energies 2021, 14(2), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14020274 - 6 Jan 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2184

Abstract

Microgrids active characteristics such as grid-connected or islanded operation mode, the distributed generators with an intermittent nature, and bidirectional power flow in active distribution lines lead to malfunction of traditional protection schemes. In this article, an impedance-based fault detection scheme is proposed as the main protection of microgrids by applying the proposed equivalent circuits for doubly-fed lines. In this scheme, relay location data and positive sequence voltage absolute value of the other end of the line are used. It can detect even high impedance faults in grid-connected and islanded modes. It is robust against load and generation uncertainties and network reconfigurations. Low sampling rate and minimum data exchange are among the advantages of the proposed scheme. Moreover, a backup protection scheme based on the conductance variations is suggested. No requirement for the communication link is a distinguished advantage of the proposed backup protection scheme. The proposed schemes have been simulated using PSCAD and MATLAB software and the results confirmed their validity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grids, Microgrid and Active Distribution Networks)

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