Energy management systems in microgrids and future prospects application in nuclear power plants: a review

Nowadays, microgrids (MGs) become one of the most recent interest of researchers and investors as a sustainable energy system. As MG is a group of distributed energy resources (DERs) with different intermittent properties, big challenges are presented when either integrating with conventional resources or renewable energy to feed different types of loads within a specified area. To face these encounters, MGs and energy management system (EMS) installations, operation, control performance, quality, resilience and security for such complicated system should be understood, analyzed and satisfied. This article presents a comprehensive review on the structure of the MGs, planning strategies, close monitoring systems along with the utilized interactive control approaches and optimization strategies that were developed for the MGs’ optimal operation. Also, the classifications of EMS based on supervisory control, and the approach for making a decision are presented along with their advantages and disadvantages. The role of MGs to introduce a reliable power supply for loads in different applications, especially critical loads are introduced. Among these applications is the emergency power supply for the critical and safety loads inside nuclear power plants (NPP). The utilization of EMS strategies and decisions in supporting NPP is discussed, to ensure they do not violate its safety rules. The integration between EMS, the NPP standards and the regulatory guides issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency and other international entities are presented. To attain the goals mentioned, more than 260 articles are handled but only 172 papers are introduced in this review. This article may be used as a guide for those interested in power system planning, control, improving power system operation and reliability and utilization of the MGs inside NPPs.