Abstract
Microgrid (MG) is the vital technology that can be utilized to supply electricity to rural areas by fulfilling various aspects of electricity such as sustainability and reliability. Further, MG technology can also be used as localized generation sources and back up supply source. As MG can be worked in interconnected mode, various issues related to interconnection with utility grid are raised. Several issues such as technical, regulatory, and operational are associated with grid integration. Therefore, this chapter deals with the issues that are associated with the grid integration of microgrid.
TopIntroduction
Traditional electricity grid is converted into the smart structure. The key feature of this smart system is the incorporation of the renewable energy sources at different levels such as distributed level and bulk level. International energy agency predicted that the energy generation from the renewable energy sources is increased up to three times till 2035 (Khan and Singh, 2017; Mulualem and Khan 2017). Further, the total energy production from the renewable energy sources will be increased to 31%, in which hydro, wind and solar will provide 50%, 25% and 7.5%, respectively. The two major issues with renewable energy generation are intermittency and climate dependency of renewable sources. These problems make integration of these sources with conventional grid more difficult and complex. The above discussed problems can be minimized with the help of energy storage devices. These devices incorporated various storage systems such as batteries, heat buffers along with advanced generation techniques such as fuel cell technology, electric vehicle technology etc. Therefore, there was a necessity to develop such a system, which incorporates different renewable energy sources with energy storage options to mitigate the issues related with renewable energy sources. This necessity is fulfilled with the development of Microgrid system (Khan and Singh, 2017; Fanuel et al. 2018). It is the combination of different type of loads (domestic, commercial, industrial) with various renewable energy sources such as solar photo voltaic, wind, micro turbine and small hydro along with energy storage devices such as battery energy storage, heat buffer, flywheel storage, and electric vehicle technology system.. In smart grid structure, micro grid technology provides a holistic approach for the integration of renewable energy sources. It has several benefits over the conventional grid system as it’s minimise energy losses, improve reliability and enhance energy management. Further, at distribution level, micro grid technology provided better solution of energy scarcity, generation coordination and control problems due to its better performance with respect to distributed generation technology (Khan and Singh, 2017; Kifle et al. 2018).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Electric Grid: An electrical grid is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from producers to consumers. It consists of generating stations that produce electrical power high voltage transmission lines that carry power from distant sources to demand centers distribution lines that connect individual customers.
Micro-Grid PPC: The point where the microgrid is connected with the main grid through a breaker mechanism.
Microgrids: A microgrid is a localized group of electricity sources and loads that normally operates connected to and synchronous with the traditional wide area synchronous grid, but can also disconnect to “island mode”—and function autonomously as physical or economic conditions dictate.