Control of Smart Grid Architecture

One of the main microgrid requirements is to operate in the most cost-effective way in a long run. Generally, microgrid, besides utilizing the local resources, can trade electricity in energy market, either directly or through an aggregator. Therefore, an optimization layer that optimizes microgrid resources with respect to their technical constraints, as well as external electricity prices, is essential for guiding the control layer toward the goal of operating at minimum cost. The optimization layer is usually a 24-h look-ahead optimization model, which is compatible with today's market structures and energy trading framework.

This chapter formulates an optimization problem that minimizes the microgrid operating cost. However, since some of the parameters are uncertain, e.g., wind turbine output, photovoltaics output, and market prices, the initial deterministic formulation is expanded to capture this uncertainty. Thus, stochastic, robust, and interval optimization models are presented as well. An illustrative case study is derived in order to show the mechanics and specifics of all four formulations.