TERMPAPER ON MICROGRID: DISCUSSION OF ISSUES INVOLVED, APRIL 2014 1

Microgrid: Discussion of issues involved

Amrit Paudel, M.Sc student, IOE
AbstractMicro grids are small-scale, LV CHP supply net-
works designed to supply electrical and heat loads for a small
community, such as a housing estate or a suburban locality,
or an academic or public community such as a university or
school, a commercial area, an industrial site, a trading estate or
a municipal region. Micro-grid is essentially an active distribution
network because it is the conglomerate of DG systems and differ-
ent loads at distribution voltage level. The generators or micro
sources employed in a Micro grid are usually renewable/non-
conventional DERs integrated together to generate power at
distribution voltage. From operational point of view, the micro
sources must be equipped with power electronic interfaces (PEIs)
and controls to provide the required exibility to ensure operation
as a single aggregated system and to maintain the specied power
quality and energy output. This control exibility would allow the
Micro grid to present itself to the main utility power system as a
single controlled unit that meets local energy needs for reliability
and security
Index TermsMicrogrid, Distributed Generation, Grid Con-
nection, Standalone mode, Power Quality
I. INTRODUCTION
M
Icro grids are small-scale, LV combined heat and power
(CHP) supply networks designed to supply electrical
and heat loads for a small community, such as a housing estate
or a suburban locality, or an academic or public community
such as a university or school, a commercial area, an industrial
site, a trading estate or a municipal region. The technical
features of a Micro grid make it suitable for supplying power
to remote areas of a country where supply from the national
grid system is either difcult to avail due to the topology
or frequently disrupted due to severe climatic conditions or
man-made disturbances. From grid point of view, the main
advantage of a Micro grid is that it is treated as a controlled
entity within the power system. It can be operated as a single
aggregated load. This ascertains its easy controllability and
compliance with grid rules and regulations without hampering
the reliability and security of the power utility. From cus-
tomers point of view, Micro grids are benecial for locally
meeting their electrical/heat requirements. They can supply
uninterpretable power, improve local reliability, reduce feeder
losses and provide local voltage support. From environmental
point of view, Micro grids reduce environmental pollution and
global warming through utilization of low-carbon technology.
However, to achieve a stable and secure operation, a number of
technical, regulatory and economic issues have to be resolved
before Microgrids can become commonplace. Some problem
areas that would require due attention are the intermittent
and climate-dependent nature of generation of the distributed
Mr. Paudel is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IOE Central
Campus,Pulchowk Lalitpur e-mail: (amritpaudel403@gmail.com).
This paper was assigned by Mr. Jeevan Kumar Mallik in the course Digital
Simulation and Analysis of Power System , submitted April 28, 2014.
energy resources (DERs), low energy content of the fuels and
lack of standards and regulations for operating the Microgrids
in synchronism with the power utility. The study of such
issues would require extensive real-time and off line research,
which can be taken up by the leading engineering and research
institutes across the globe.
II. A TYPICAL MICRO GRID CONFIGURATION
A typical Micro grid conguration is shown in Figure 1. It
consists of electrical/heat loads and micro sources connected
through an LV distribution network. The loads (especially the
heat loads) and the sources are placed close together to mini-
mize heat loss during heat transmission. The micro sources
have plug-and-play features. They are provided with PEIs
to implement the control, metering and protection functions
during stand-alone and grid-connected modes of operation.
These features also help seamless transition of Micro grid from
one mode to another.
Micro grid consists of three radial feeders (A, B and C)
to supply the electrical and heat loads. It also has two CHP
and two non-CHP micro sources and storage devices. Micro
sources and storage devices are connected to feeders A and
C through micro source controllers (MCs). Some loads on
feeders A and C are assumed to be priority loads (i.e. requiring
uninterrupted power supply), while others are non-priority
loads. Feeder B, however, contains only non-priority electrical
loads. The Micro grid is operated in two modes:
Grid-connected and
Standalone
In grid-connected mode, the Micro grid remains connected
to the main grid either totally or partially, and imports or
exports power from or to the main grid. In case of any
disturbance in the main grid, the Micro grid switches over
to stand-alone mode while still feeding power to the priority
loads. This can be achieved by either (i) disconnecting the
entire Micro grid by opening CB4 or (ii) disconnecting feeders
A and C by opening CB1 and CB3. For option (i), the Micro
grid will operate as an autonomous system with all the micro
sources feeding all the loads in feeders A, B and C, whereas for
option (ii), feeders A and C will supply only the priority loads
while feeder B will be left to ride through the disturbance.
III. INTERCONNECTION OF MICROGRIDS
Since Micro grids are designed to generate power at distri-
bution voltage level along with utilization of waste heat, they
have restricted energy handling capability. Therefore, their
maximum capacity is normally restricted to approximately 10
MVA as per IEEE recommendations. Hence, it is possible to
supply a large load pocket from several Micro grids through
a common distribution network, by splitting the load pocket
TERMPAPER ON MICROGRID: DISCUSSION OF ISSUES INVOLVED, APRIL 2014 2
Fig. 1. A typical Microgrid conguration
into several controllable load units, with each unit being
supplied by one Micro grid. In this way, Micro grids can be
interconnected to form much larger power pools for meeting
bulk power demands. For interconnected Micro grids, each
central controller (CC) must execute its control in close co-
ordination with the neighboring CCs. Thus, an interconnected
Micro grid would achieve greater stability and controllability
with a distributed control structure. It would also have more
redundancy to ensure better supply reliability.
IV. TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES
OF MICROGRID
The development of Microgrid is very promising for the
electric energy industry because of the following advantages:
1) Environmental issues: It is needless to say that Micro-
grids would have much lesser environmental impact than the
large conventional thermal power stations. However, it must
be mentioned that the successful implementation of carbon
capture and storage (CCS) schemes for thermal power plants
will drastically reduce the environmental impacts. Neverthe-
less, some of the benets of Microgrid in this regard are as
follows: (i) Reduction in gaseous and particulate emissions due
to close control of the combustion process may ultimately help
combat global warming. (ii) Physical proximity of customers
with micro sources may help to increase the awareness of
customers towards judicious energy usage.
2) Operation and investment issues: Reduction of physical
and electrical distance between micro source and loads can
contribute to:
Improvement of reactive support of the whole system,
thus enhancing the voltage prole.
Reduction of T and D feeder congestion.
Reduction of T and D losses to about 3
Reduction/ postponement of investments in the expansion
of transmission and generation systems by proper asset
management.
3) Power quality : Improvement in power quality and
reliability is achieved due to:
Decentralization of supply.
Better match of supply and demand.
Reduction of the impact of large-scale transmission and
generation outages.
Minimization of downtimes and enhancement of the
restoration process through black start operations of mi-
cro sources.
4) Cost saving: The following cost savings are achieved in
Micro grid:
A signicant saving comes from utilization of waste heat
in CHP mode of operation. Moreover, as the CHP sources
are located close to the customer loads, no substantial
infrastructure is required for heat transmission. This gives
a total energy efciency of more than 80
Cost saving is also effected through integration of several
micro sources. As they are locally placed in plug-and-
play mode, the T and D costs are drastically reduced
or eliminated. When combined into a Micro grid, the
generated electricity can be shared locally among the
customers, which again reduces the need to import/export
power to/from the main grid over longer feeders.
5) Market issues: The following advantages are attained in
case of market participation:
The development of market-driven operation procedures
of the Micro grids will lead to a signicant reduction
of market power exerted by the established generation
companies.
The Micro grids may be used to provide ancillary ser-
vices.
Widespread application of modular plug-and-play micro
sources may contribute to a reduction in energy price in
the power market.
The appropriate economic balance between network in-
vestment and DG utilization is likely to reduce the long-
term electricity customer prices by about 10
V. CHALLENGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
MICRO GRID DEVELOPMENT
In spite of potential benets, development of Micro grids
suffers from several challenges and potential drawbacks as
explained.
A. High costs of distributed energy resources
The high installation cost for Micro grids is a great dis-
advantage. This can be reduced by arranging some form of
subsidies from government bodies to encourage investments.
This should be done at least for a transitory period for meeting
up environmental and carbon capture goals. There is a global
target set to enhance renewable green power generation to 20
TERMPAPER ON MICROGRID: DISCUSSION OF ISSUES INVOLVED, APRIL 2014 3
B. Technical difculties
These are related to the lack of technical experience in
controlling a large number of plug-and-play micro sources.
This aspect requires extensive real-time and off line research
on management, protection and control aspects of Micro grids
and also on the choice, sizing and placement of Micro sources.
Specic telecommunication infrastructures and communica-
tion protocols must be developed in this area. Research is
going on for the implementation and roll-out of IEC 61850
in communication for Micro grid and active distribution net-
works. However, lack of proper communication infrastructure
in rural areas is a potential drawback in the implementation
of rural Micro grids. Besides, economic implementation of
seamless switching between operating modes is still a major
challenge since the available solutions for reclosing adaptive
protection with synchronism check are quite expensive.
C. Absence of standards
Since Micro grid is a comparatively new area; standards
are not yet available for addressing operation and protection
issues. Power quality data for different types of sources, stan-
dards and protocols for integration of micro sources and their
participation in conventional and deregulated power markets,
safety and protection guidelines, etc., should be laid down.
Standards like G59/1 and IEEE 1547 should be reassessed
and restructured for the successful implementation of Micro
grid and active distribution networks.
D. Administrative and legal barriers
In most countries, no standard legislation and regulations
are available to regulate the operation of Micro grids. Gov-
ernments of some countries are encouraging the establishment
of green power Micro grids, but standard regulations are yet
to be framed for implementation in future.
E. Market monopoly
If the Micro grids are allowed to supply energy au-
tonomously to priority loads during any main grid contingency,
the main question that arises is who will then control energy
supply prices during the period over which main grid is not
available. Since the main grid will be disconnected and the cur-
rent electricity market will lose its control on the energy price,
Micro grids might retail energy at a very high price exploiting
market monopoly. Thus, suitable market infrastructure needs
to be designed and implemented for sustaining development
of Micro grids.
VI. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES
OF A MICRO GRID
Major management and operational issues related to a Micro
grid are as follows:
For maintaining power quality, active and reactive power
balance must be maintained within the Micro grid on a
short-term basis.
A Micro grid should operate stand-alone in regions where
utility supply is not available or in grid-connected mode
within a larger utility distribution network.
Micro grid operator should be able to choose the mode
of operation within proper regulatory framework.
Generation, supply and storage of energy must be suitably
planned with respect to load demand on the Micro grid
and long-term energy balance.
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) based
metering, control and protection functions should be
incorporated in the Micro grid CCs and MCs. Provisions
must be made for system diagnostics through state esti-
mation functions.
Economic operation should be ensured through gener-
ation scheduling, economic load dispatch and optimal
power ow operations.
System security must be maintained through contingency
analysis and emergency operations (like demand side
management, load shedding, islanding or shutdown of any
unit). Under contingency conditions, economic reschedul-
ing of generation should be done to take care of system
loading and load-end voltage/frequency.
Temporary mismatch between generation and load should
be alleviated through proper load forecasting and demand
side management. The shifting of loads might help to
atten the demand curve and hence to reduce storage
capacity.
Suitable telecommunication infrastructures and commu-
nication protocols must be employed for overall energy
management, protection and control. Carrier communi-
cation and IEC 61850 communication infrastructures are
most likely to be employed.
VII. DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS OF MICRO GRID
WITH MAIN GRID
The capacity of Micro grid being sufciently small, the
stability of main grid is not affected when it is connected
to the main grid. However, in future, when Micro grids will
become more commonplace with higher penetration of DERs,
the stability and security of the main grid will be inuenced
signicantly. In such case, the dynamic interactions between
Micro grid and the main grid will be a key issue in the
operation and management of both the grids. However, as of
now, since the DERs in Micro grids are mainly meant to ensure
only local energy balance within a small load pocket, the
effects of DER penetration are likely to have a low impact on
the main grid. Nevertheless, Micro grids need to be designed
properly to take care of their dynamic impacts on main grid
such that overall stability and reliability of the whole system
is signicantly improved.
VIII. CONCLUSION
The Micro grid is an alternative approach of distribution
level energy supply by integrating small-scale DERs into LV
as well as MV distribution networks. This facilitates simul-
taneous generation of electricity and heat to locally supply
the electrical and heat loads of the customers. Traditional
TERMPAPER ON MICROGRID: DISCUSSION OF ISSUES INVOLVED, APRIL 2014 4
connection of separate stand-alone DER units to the existing
distribution network in t-and-forget strategy has considerable
dynamic impacts on main utility grid behavior. On the other
hand, integrating them as Micro grids (with intelligent con-
trollers) is more likely to enhance overall distribution system
stability and safety. Micro grids can operate independently
as autonomous islands in synchronism with the main grid.
They are normally connected to main utility grid but are
capable of isolating themselves from the latter in case of any
disturbance in the main grid. This ensures economic and stable
performance to customer satisfaction. Technically, a Micro
grid is an autonomous group of controllable plug-and play
Micro sources and energy storage devices that are optimally
placed and operated for the benet of the customers. The micro
sources are basically renewable DERs driven by a diverse set
of controllable prime movers. Storage devices are incorporated
through demand side management to enable exible operation
of the micro sources using their own MCs. Power electronic-
based MC controllers are helpful to maintain energy balance
and power quality in the system by executing necessary local
controls of the micro sources and energy storage devices.
They are also capable of working both with and without the
intervention of the CC. They facilitate seamless connection,
disconnection and reconnection of devices without the neces-
sity of reconguring existing or new equipments. A signicant
feature of the Micro grid is its presentation to the main utility
grid as a single controlled unit of electric and heat loads
with local generation. Advanced PEI provides the necessary
exibility, security and reliability of operation between micro
sources and the surrounding AC distribution system to cus-
tomer satisfaction. The Micro grid structure ensures minimum
dynamic impacts on the main utility. A Micro grid also
benets the main grid by decreasing congestion, alleviating
the immediate needs for generation augmentation, increasing
system stability, responding to rapid changes in loads and
maintaining quality of supply to customer satisfaction. Micro
grids, as active LV and MV networks, can potentially provide
a large number of benets to the main power utility by
increasing its efciency of operation and improving reliability
and quality of service to the customer satisfaction. However,
a large number of technical and regulatory issues need to
be addressed carefully, requiring a considerable amount of
research and government intervention across the world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank Mr. Jiwan Kumar Mallik
for inspiring and motivating to write the review paper in IEEE
transaction format using LATEX.
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