Networked Microgrids for Improved Resilient Operation: A Case Study in Adjuntas Puerto Rico

Conference · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/ISGT-LA56058.2023.10328283· OSTI ID:2234357

Ferrari Maglia, Max ^[1]; Olama, Mohammed M. ^[1]; Sundararajan, Aditya ^[1]; Ollis, Ben ^[1]; Liu, Guodong ^[1]

---

1. ORNL

This paper presents a case study of a network microgrid orchestrator designed to allow coordinated operation of microgrids. Through Control Hardware in the Loop (CHIL), the proposed microgrid orchestrator was validated using, as case study two community-owned microgrids in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. These two microgrids in Adjuntas were designed to provide affordable and reliable access to electricity to 14 businesses located in the town square. In its current design, these two microgrids operate independently from each other. This paper studies how networking them would increase their resiliency metrics while operating as an island. A distributed optimization is implemented in the microgrid orchestrator due to its superior scalability compared to centralized approach as well as to maintain data privacy. Two operational modes are considered in this study to showcase the advantages of networking microgrids: a) normal island, and b) degraded island. CHIL simulations are performed to validate the proposed microgrid orchestrator. CHIL results show meaningful resiliency improvements obtained by networking microgrids during contingencies such as loss of PV generation.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 2234357
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English