An extensive review on energy management system for microgrids

Abstract

ABSTRACT Microgrids, a scaled-down version of utility grids, are gaining attention in the last decades. The distinct features of microgrids such as the utilization of renewable energy resources and elimination of power transmission requirements made them an inevitable area of research in the power sector. The intermittent nature of the distributed generation resources and the need for improvising the economic feasibility of the microgrid made the energy management of microgrids as an inexorable research paradigm. Using recent literature, the Energy Management Systems (EMS) developed for microgrids is reviewed based on the aspects of EMS and the optimization techniques used in the EMS framework. An extensive analysis of literature on microgrid EMS based on four categorizations, namely, the optimization techniques used, type of grid considered, mode of microgrid operation (grid-connected or islanded), and software/solvers used as a platform for solving the EMS problems, is presented. The components of the microgrid test system considered such as energy resources and storage systems are also reviewed later. The meta-heuristic methods are found to be the mostly used (nearly 33% of literature) optimization technique. The objective of the optimization model majorly focusses on cost minimization (approx. 62% of literature) and is of multi-objective nature. For the purpose of distributed generation, the Photovoltaics (PV) (approx. 27%) and Wind turbine (WT) (approx. 19.5%) is the most preferred source whilst batteries (approx. 67%) are the most preferred for storing energy. This article addresses the methods and effective prospects to achieve energy management objectives of the microgrid and concludes with futuristic insights.