Smart Microgrid and Sustainable Management in Virtual Power Plant (VPPs)

Dear Colleagues,

Managing the shift towards a more distributed energy system based on renewables is an enormous challenge for the energy sector. Numerous distributed energy resources (DERs) need to be perfectly coordinated to provide a reliable supply of energy.  Consumption processes should also be intelligently scheduled to ensure that energy supply at any moment meets the energy demand. The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a key technology for solving the tasks of this distributed energy world. The VPP not only allows the aggregatation of thousands of electricity producers, consumers, and storage units, it also allows them to implement their power and flexibility into different markets by intelligently controlling their feed-in and consumption. However, the research on VPP control and protection is a new and challenging issue which should be solved.

In this Special Issue, we invite original and unpublished research in areas including (but not limited to) the development and advancement of smart microgrids and sustainable management in virtual power plants (VPPs), including smart microgrids. The main goal is to provide key information needed to inform readers on the sustainable use of VPP systems and management of future electricity networks with massive penetration in terms of renewable energy sources. This includes using various control methods and energy management algorithms to master and control the sustainability of virtual power plant systems (innovative technologies, operations and energy production systems, autonomous systems, power dispatch, robustness and stability, etc.). We are also interested in microgrids in smart buildings (residential, commercial, industrial) and advancements made in the ICT of microgrids/VPPs for smart energy communities and local energy markets (including blockchain, DLT, IoT, etc.). Contributions that study the dispatchable and nondispatchable renewable energy systems in VPP systems within the main energy system are also welcome.

Dr. Allal El Moubarek Bouzid
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Benbouzid
Prof. Dr. Seifeddine Elghali
Dr. Mohamed Zerrougui
Guest Editors

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