Zero-carbon microgrid: Real-world cases, trends, challenges, and future research prospects

Abstract

Under the carbon neutrality goal, the projects to develop zero-carbon microgrids are emerging all over the world. However, the categories, trends, challenges, and future research prospects of the zero-carbon microgrid are still unclear. To deal with this problem, this research first reviews the real-world and simulation cases of zero-carbon microgrids in recent years and classifies them into two categories, i.e., on-grid mode and off-grid mode. Then, three development trends of the zero-carbon microgrid are discussed, including an extremely high ratio of clean energy, large-scale energy storage, and an extremely high ratio of power electronic devices. Next, the challenges in achieving the zero-carbon microgrids in terms of feasibility, flexibility, and stability are discussed in detail. Finally, future research prospects in long-term low-cost energy storage, power/energy balancing, and stability control, are emphasized.