Mobile Energy Storage Operation in Micro-Grid Integrated Distribution Systems Considering Network Reconfiguration

Abstract

Integration of mobile energy storages in a microgrid integrated power distribution system helps to improve the distribution system’s operational performance. This research identifies the optimum locations of mobile energy storage units as well as sectionalizing switches in a multi-microgrid power distribution system. Moreover, the benefits of mobile energy storages along with the system’s reconfiguration has been investigated in terms of power system operational costs, energy losses, environmental emissions, and total system operational costs which includes system operational costs, emissions costs, and system losses costs together. Three different case studies are presented: 1) PV supported microgrids (MGs), 2) wind turbine supported MGs, and 3) both PV and wind turbine supported MGs in the power distribution system. The well-known PG&E 69 bus distribution system has been chosen for the simulation and case studies, and a heuristic based Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm has been used for solving the optimization problem. Because of the uncertain natures of PVs and wind turbines in terms of their output powers in different times of the day, a probabilistic approach is applied during simulations and case studies to ensure the most realistic results. The simulation results show that optimal operation of mobile energy storages along with the corresponding optimal switch positions largely helps to improve the distribution system operational performances.