Sizing of a Scattered Housing Microgrid in a Remote Rural Area

Abstract

Power solutions for remote rural regions are mainly based on generator sets or individualized generation systems per household. These solutions have low reliability and high financial and environmental costs, especially those involving fossil fuels. However, current solutions incorporate hybrid systems with renewable energy sources to reduce pollutant gas emissions and costs and increase the reliability and robustness of power generation. These hybrid systems can be considered micro-grid (MG) and could contribute to energizing remote noninterconnected areas. However, implementing MGs in these regions must challenge energizing dispersed households. Thus, both the sizing of the generation and distribution systems must be considered to guarantee the correct operation of the MG and a low cost. This paper explores coordinated sizing between the power sources and the distribution system to address the challenges of energizing remote areas with dispersed loads through MG. It presents a literature review on energization strategies for remote regions and proposes coordinated MG sizing. Finally, it applies coordinated sizing to a case study in Colombia. The sizing is approached as a mixed-integer nonlinear integer programming optimization problem and is solved by a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm.