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Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation

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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 (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 9561

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Omar Hazem Mohammed

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Guest Editor

Technical Power Engineering Technical College, Northern Technical University, Mosul, Iraq
Interests: microgrids; smart grids; energy management; hybrid renewable energy; energy engineering; power systems analysis; renewable energy technologies; power converters

Dr. Mohammed Kharrich

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical Engineering, Mohammadia School of Engineers, Mohammed V University, Ibn Sina Street P.B. 765, Rabat 10090, Morocco
Interests: power systems; renewable energy; metaheuristic optimization algorithms; microgrid design and sizing

Dr. Salah Kamel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
Interests: power system analysis and optimization; smart grid; renewable energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the increase in global demands for electrical energy, the need to use hybrid systems to support power generation systems has increased. This has led to the emergence of new challenges that are represented by the use of these systems and their integration with each other in order to obtain optimal energy. Extensive research efforts to meet this demand have prompted many innovations to develop highly reliable and flexible microgrid systems. The smart, nano, mini, and microgrid systems, which are decentralized systems, are based on the integration of several sources of energy (renewable or fossil) into a smart power management grid that aims to realize the global energy-feeding targets while achieving low CO2 pollution, minimum cost, and power production security. Control strategies are used as solutions for problems that mainly occur during the integration of isolated microgrids to the main grid at both high and low voltage levels. Otherwise, all of the efficacy enhancements to renewable resources and to storage systems can represent good contributions that aim to achieve better power prices and durability. Likewise, the safety, reliability, and resilience of these sources of energy based on renewable sources, such as wind turbines, photovoltaic cells, biomass systems, and so on, in microgrid and hybrid electric power systems are a good addition. Production predictions made using artificial intelligence and smart systems can control the weather variables and complicated circumstances.
This Special Issue aims to encourage researchers and practitioners to share and exchange their original and high-quality research (new theories, methods, techniques, and applications) in the fields of the new generation of hybrid renewable energy, electrical power, renewable energy integration, and electric vehicles systems related to the aforementioned topics. In particular, potential topics include but are not limited to:

Smart grids, nanogrids, minigrids, and microgrids
Strengthening the power grid through smart hybrid systems;
Challenges in the new generation of hybrid energy systems;
New operation and maintenance strategies for power systems;
Resilience of hybrid electric power systems;
Modelling, sizing, and design of microgrids;
Smart grid self-healing;
Performance analysis of hybrid energy systems;
Advanced control techniques;
Electric vehicles and their systems;
Reliability analysis;
Power system management;
Implementation and modern optimization techniques algorithms for microgrids systems.

Manuscripts that are submitted to this special issue will be peer reviewed before publication.

Dr. Omar Hazem Mohammed
Dr. Mohammed Kharrich
Dr. Salah Kamel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

microgrids
storage systems
resilience
power system management
hybrid renewable energy systems
modelling energy systems
electric vehicle systems
new generation of hybrid energy systems
optimization algorithms
advanced control of the microgrids
energy systems
demand response
self-healing strategies for smart systems
smart grid systems
applications of smart electric hybrid vehicles systems
power quality assessment and improvementl
self-healing systems

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2657 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Economic Controls Co-Design of Hybrid Microgrids with Tidal/PV Generation and Lithium-Ion/Flow Battery Storage

by Jonathan Cohen, Michael B. Kane, Alexia Marriott, Franklin Ollivierre III and Krissy Govertsen

Energies 2023, 16(6), 2761; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062761 - 16 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1886

Abstract

Due to the uncontrollable generators, islanded microgrids powered only by renewable energy require costly energy storage systems. Energy storage needs are amplified when load and generation are misaligned on hourly, monthly, or seasonal timescales. Diversification of both loads and generation can smooth out such mismatches. However, the ideal type of battery to smooth out remaining generation deficits will depend on the duration(s) that energy is stored. This study presents a controls co-design approach to design an islanded microgrid, showing the benefit of hybridizing tidal and solar generation and hybridizing lithium-ion and flow battery energy storage. The optimization of the microgrid’s levelized cost of energy is initially studied in grid-search slices to understand convexity and smoothness. Then, a particle swarm optimization is proposed and used to study the sensitivity of the hybrid system configuration to variations in component costs. The study highlights the benefits of controls co-design, the need to model premature battery failure, and the importance of using battery cost models that are applicable across orders of magnitude variations in energy storage durations. The results indicate that such a hybrid microgrid would currently produce energy at five times the cost of diesel generation, but flow battery innovations could bring this closer to only twice the cost while using 100% renewable energy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation)

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21 pages, 4787 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Techno-Economic Assessment of PV Power Systems to Power a Drinking Water Treatment Plant for an On-Grid Small Rural Community

by Fernando Amoroso, Rubén Hidalgo-León, Kevin Muñoz, Javier Urquizo, Pritpal Singh and Guillermo Soriano

Energies 2023, 16(4), 2027; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16042027 - 18 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1447

Abstract

This paper shows the technical–economic assessment of two power systems based on renewable electricity to cover the energy consumption requirements of a drinking water treatment plant in the town of Pile, Ecuador, with a planning horizon of 15 years. A stand-alone and a grid-connected solar PV system were proposed to power this plant, which was designed considering the maximum daily potable water supply condition. This plant operated under two scenarios: (1) 12 h during daylight hours and (2) 24 h. Both schedules were proposed to assess the impact of PV power systems on plant operation. We modeled and optimized a total of four scenarios, where each scenario consisted of one of the proposed PV power systems and the plant with one of its operating schedules. Homer Pro software was used to size and find an optimal solution in each scenario, considering the net present cost (NPC) as the main criterion for optimization. The results showed that the change in the plant operation schedule significantly influenced the parameters of each scenario, such as component sizing, electricity production, initial capital, NPC, and electricity purchase/sale capacity from the plant as a grid power service user to the electric utility company. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation)

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23 pages, 13352 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Nonlinear Control Strategies for Enhancing the Performance of DFIG-Based WECS under a Real Wind Profile

by Hamid Chojaa, Aziz Derouich, Mohammed Taoussi, Seif Eddine Chehaidia, Othmane Zamzoum, Mohamed I. Mosaad, Ayman Alhejji and Mourad Yessef

Energies 2022, 15(18), 6650; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15186650 - 12 Sep 2022

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 2059

Abstract

Wind speed variations affect the performance of the wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) negatively. This paper addressed an advanced law of the backstepping controller (ABC) for enhancing the integration of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based grid-connected WECS under wind range of wind speed. This enhancement was achieved through three control schemes, which were blade pitch control, rotor-side control, and grid-side control. The blade pitch control was presented to adjust the wind turbine speed when the wind speed exceeds its rated value. In addition, the rotor and grid-side converter controllers were presented for improving the direct current link voltage profile and achieving maximum power point tracking (MPPT) under speed variations, respectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed ABC control, a comparison between PI and sliding-mode control (SMC) was presented, considering the parameters of a 1.5 MW DFIG wind turbine in the Assilah zone in Morocco. Moreover, some changes in the DFIG parameters were introduced to investigate the robustness of the proposed controller under parameter uncertainties. Simulation results showed the capability of the proposed ABC controller to enhance the performance of the DFIG-WECS based on variable speed and variable pitch turbine, at both below and above-rated speed, leading to an error around 10⁻³ (p.u), with an ATE = 0.4194 in the partial load region; in terms of blade pitch control, an error of 2.10⁻⁴ (p.u) was obtained, and the DC-link voltage profile showed a measured performance of 5 V and remarkable THD value reduction compared to other techniques, with a measured THD value of 2.03%, 1.67%, and 1.46% respectively, in hyposynchronous, hypersynchronous, and pitch activation modes of operation. All simulations were performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK based on real wind profiles in order to make an exhaustive analysis with realistic operating conditions and parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation)

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16 pages, 4085 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mitigating Misfire and Fire-through Faults in Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems Utilizing Dynamic Voltage Restorer

by M. Osama abed elraouf, Mansour Aljohani, Mohamed I. Mosaad and Tarek A. AbdulFattah

Energies 2022, 15(16), 5769; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15165769 - 9 Aug 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1143

Abstract

Recently, there was a great focus on integrating renewable energy sources (RESs) into electrical power systems (hybrid systems) due to their many environmental and economic advantages. The output of most of these RESs is DC; some power electronic devices, including inverters, must be used to integrate these RESs into the electrical grid. Any maloperation, faults, or improper control in these power electronic devices will enormously affect these hybrid systems’ performance. This paper aims to mitigate the misfire and fire-through faults that occur at the switching of the inverter that connects three renewable sources: PV, wind, and the fuel cell to the grid. This mitigation of such inverter faults (misfire and fire-through) is performed through optimal tuning of the PI controller driving a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) connected at the system’s AC side. The optimization technique used is particle swarm optimization (PSO). While mitigating these two inverter faults using the PI-PSO controller for the DVR, improved system performance through voltages, currents, and powers waveforms is achieved. Besides, the three renewable sources were kept in continuous operation without disconnection from the system during these faults. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation)

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Review

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25 pages, 6230 KiB

Open AccessReview

Microgrid Applications and Technical Challenges—The Brazilian Status of Connection Standards and Operational Procedures

by José F. C. Castro, Ronaldo A. Roncolatto, Antonio R. Donadon, Vittoria E. M. S. Andrade, Pedro Rosas, Rafael G. Bento, José G. Matos, Fernando A. Assis, Francisco C. R. Coelho, Rodolfo Quadros, João I. Y. Ota, Luiz C. P. Silva and Rafael K. Carneiro

Energies 2023, 16(6), 2893; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062893 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2055

Abstract

One of the challenges faced by Brazilian distribution utilities to enable the connection and operation of microgrids (MGs) is the absence of a solid set of technical standards in the country. An alternative has been to use and adapt existing standards applied to micro- and mini-distributed generation. In this context, this paper presents an analysis of the development status of norms, standards, and general requirements for the connection and operation of microgrids, as well as a proposal for the regulation and structuring of technical and operational requirements related to the implementation of microgrid projects. Some critical points highlighted in the paper include: the modes of operation, the minimum requirements for the different modes of operation, interoperability of systems, a conceptual model with attribution of responsible actors for the decentralized management of microgrids adapted to the institutional standards of the Brazilian sectorial model, a proposal for a standard connection structure considering the point of connection (PoC) implanted using multifunctional relay and recloser, procedures for technical feasibility assessment (operational studies) of MGs connection, and, finally, a discussion of operational issues of storage systems in a microgrid environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges with Microgrids, Mini-Grids, and Nanogrids in Remote Communities: Modeling, Control, and Operation)

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