Economic energy distribution and consumption in a microgrid Part 2: Macrocell level controller

Abstract Energy management of a small scale electrical microgrid is investigated. The microgrid comprises residential houses with local renewable generation, consumption and storage units. The microgrid has the possibility of connection to the electricity grid as well to compensate energy deficit of local power producers. The final objective is to fulfil the microgrid's energy demands mainly from the local electricity producers. The other objective is to manage power consumption such that the consumption cost is minimum for individual households. In this study, a hierarchical controller composed of three levels is proposed. Each layer from bottom to top focus on individual energy consuming units, individual buildings, and the microgrid respectively. At the middle layer, a model predictive controller is formulated to schedule the building's energy consumption using potential load flexibilities. The top level energy manager is designed to distribute available power resources among the houses or sell the remainder to the electricity grid. Simulation results show the economically optimal energy consumption in the buildings and economically efficient power trading between the houses.