Cost Optimization and Day-Ahead Scheduling for a Renewable Energy Microgrid

An increasing number of microgrids are using renewable energy sources exclusively. When operating off-grid, the microgrids must cover the entire load demand. Since energy production is dependent on meteorological conditions for certain renewable resources, the uncertainty in weather prediction must be considered when scheduling the operation of a microgrid. The accuracy with which the load demand was estimated is another uncertainty that must be considered. Stochastic programming allows for those uncertainties to be included in the optimization problem, thus providing a more realistic result. This paper presents the use of stochastic programming for the day-ahead scheduling of an islanded microgrid that uses renewable energy sources. The purpose of the optimization is to achieve the minimum operating cost of the microgrid. The results obtained can be used as a stand-alone solution or as a starting point for a real-time scheduling algorithm.