Design and Application of Energy Router to Realise the Smart Power Microgrid

Abstract

With the rapid development of smart grid and information technology, Energy Internet has been attracting increasing attention from government as well industry. The current power grid and energy management system cannot meet optimal allocation and auxiliary function of clean energy power generation. The Energy router is an effective power device which cannot only realise the power control of each power supply, but also can optimise the allocation of electrical energy by communication equipment. Within an Energy Internet, energy router is the key element to receive, control, transmit, transfer, store and distribute energies, just like what a conventional router does in telecommunications. The energy router is designed as a control center on the distribution side. Based on conventional concept of energy hub, new features and improvements, including combining information processing unit, adding renewable energy as input power, proposing cost deduction solutions, and redesigning the storage system, have been added in designing energy router, which is to realize the final target of Energy Internet. In the end, with the consideration of market conditions, energy routers can be constructed based on existed industrial foundation, including in the markets that are controlled by monopoly electricity enterprises. Feasibility analysis and related advantages of developing energy routers are provided in the paper.