Design and Implementation of a Flexible Microgrid Controller through Mixed Integer Linear Programming Optimization

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a microgrid centralized controller (MGCC) designed to work under different grid configurations and ensuring energy cost reduction and reliability in both islanded and connected modes by solving a mixed integer linear programming optimization problem containing the energy resources configured in the controller's software. The work will tackle the creation a generic controller for energy resources, as well as the mathematical model for the optimization problem and its interaction to a graphic user interface prepared for non-specialized operators. In addition, simulation and experimental results demonstrate the controller's capability to dispatch these resources rightly, always respecting the power balance within the microgrid, a feature needed for operation under islanded mode. Experimental results were taken from a test bed comprised of a real office building installed in the city of Bauru, SP, in Brazil, where the controller may dispatch energy resources to achieve its goals in a real system.