Optimal operation of smart distribution systems

Abstract

The energy industry all over the world is undergoing a transfor mational change, a shift which would define the way how the future of the industry would look like. The awareness towards global warming and the damage caused by conventional methods of generation has led to huge investments in the research and deployment of renewable energy technologies and their integration into the current system. The technological advancements made in different non - conventional sources of energy is really commendable and the rate at which the more mature technologies like solar PV, wind energy, etc. are being put in to application is extravagant. One of the major challenges, which the industry faces now is to integrate these energy resources in to the grid. Since the renewable resources of energy are dependent on factors like topography, location, weather etc., they are more physically distributed and have a tendency to be intermittent. Hence, the current grid facilities built according to the conventional sources of generation, are not capable of handling the uncertainty and intermittenc y in generation, hence not suitable for renewable energy sources, putting a constraint on the integration of such sources into the grid. Since the current grid facilities have been built over many years with huge investments, changing it completely in neit her possible physically or economically in the present day scenario. The concept of microgrids has hence been a great step towards introducing more renewable generation sources into the grid without having the need to change the utility grid. Microgrids ar e being adopted and implemented all across the world due to different reasons and benefits. While it is being used to provide basic rural electrification with the help of available resources like PV or biomass in developing countries, on the other hand, it is being used to have a resilient electric distribution in areas prone to natural calamities and disasters. Along with the technology, various new business models related to microgrid organization are also coming up, benefitting the customers economically and creating more business opportunities