Demand response based microgrid's economic dispatch

Abstract

The development of energy management tools for next-generation Distributed Energy Resources (DER) based power plants, such as photovoltaic, energy storage units, and wind, helps power systems be more flexible. Microgrids are entities that coordinate DERs in a persistently more decentralized fashion, hence decreasing the operational burden on the main grid and permitting them to give their full benefits. A new power framework has emerged due to the integration of DERs-based microgrids into the conventional power system. With the rapid advancement of microgrid technology, more emphasis has been placed on maintaining the microgrids' long-term economic feasibility while ensuring security and stability. The objective of this research is to provide a multi-objective economic operation technique for microgrids containing air-conditioning clusters (ACC) taking demand response into account. A dynamic price mechanism is proposed, accurately reflecting the system's actual operational status. For economic dispatch, flexible loads and air conditioners are considered demand response resources. Then, a consumer-profit model and an AC operating cost model are developed, with a set of pragmatic constraints of consumer comfort. The generation model is then designed to reduce the generation cost. Finally, a microgrid simulation platform is developed in MATLAB/Simulink, and a case is designed to evaluate the proposed method's performance. The findings show that consumer profit increases by 69.2% while ACC operational costs decrease by 18.2%. Moreover, generation costs are reduced without sacrificing customer satisfaction.