Hierarchical Control Structure for Optimising Building Microgrid Self-consumption

Renewable energy sources are increasingly deployed as distributed generators, restructuring the traditional electrical grid toward smart grids. Their intermittent power generation makes difficult the development of a complete carbon-free MicroGrid. Hence, aiming to keep the safe operation of a building MicroGrid (BMG) under stochastic variations in the power imbalance while respecting the requirements imposed by grid regulation to maximise self-consumption, a three-level energy management system was designed. The BMG main grid interaction aspects are assured by the two upper control level throughout a hierarchical model predictive control, whereas the power sharing among all electric vehicles is ensured via a deterministic state machine. The entire hierarchical control structure was tested through simulation in MATLAB under different scenarios. Results prove that the proposed control allows the BMG to keep its self-consumption index within expected boundaries despite environmental disturbances.