Optimal placement and sizing of microgrids in composite reliability of a deregulated power system

Abstract

With the advent of small-scale power system that interconnect local generation, storage and loads, termed microgrids, investigating their impact on power system operation, control and planning is attracting a great deal of attention among power researchers. In this paper, we focus on optimising the placement and sizing of microgrids in composite reliability of a deregulated power system to mitigate cascading failures leading to blackouts. To this end, we apply sequential Monte Carlo simulation that accounts for the optimal coordination among the three energy sources within microgrids, namely renewable energy conversion, energy storage and micro-turbine generation. Optimal placements under different system scenarios are determined subject to fixed investment budget. The performance of the approach is evaluated on the Roy Billinton test system (RBTS) and the IEEE reliability test system (RTS). Simulation results show that in both power systems, microgrids contribute to the improvement of system reliability and the decrease of the risk of cascading failure.