Flexible Distribution of Energy and Storage Resources: Integrating These Resources into a Microgrid

Abstract

NDUSTRIAL POWER SYSTEMS IN the mining and metal industries typically comprise several large and fluctuating loads, such as crushers, excavators, shovels, and steel mills. Flexible distribution of energy and storage resources (FDERS) is a proposed new framework for reliably regulating the quickly varying loads supplied by a network of multiple smaller-rated distributed energy resources (DERs), especially when power from the main grid is not available. It was inspired by the cooperative V-shape formation of flocks of birds and the peloton/echelon formation of cycling racing teams for extending their IEEE Industry ApplIcAtIons MAgAzInE • sEpt|oct 2015 • www.IEEE.org/IAs 32 IEEE Industry ApplIcAtIons MAgAzInE • sEpt|oct 2015 • www.IEEE.org/IAs 33 endurance limits. Similar ideas applied to integrating DERs can extend sustainability through increased resource lifetime, optimal energy storage deployment, enhanced controllability, and improved system robustness.FDERS is a cooperative framework among multiple interconnected DERs to achieve these goals through in situ reconfiguration, variable interface reactances, virtual inertia, and/or adaptive controls. The decisions can be based on various factors, such as energy resource availability, response characteristics, and the life-cycle costs of participating DERs. This article explains the basic concept of FDERS and its benefits supported by case studies focusing on battery-lifetime analyses. DERs and Their IntegrationLarge and fluctuating loads, such as crushers, excavators, and steel rolling mills, are typical at any mining or metal industrial site. Their industrial power-system design invariably requires precise and painstaking planning in the early stages. The key motivation for this article was to address a basic question: What is the best way of integrating multiple smaller-rated DERs to enable them as a whole to reliably supply a large and fluctuating load, especially when power from the main grid is not available?DERs include combined heat and power (CHP), microturbines (MTs), fuel cells (FCs), microhydro power, solar/ photovoltaic (PV) systems, and wind power [1]-[4]. Energy production from smaller-rated and dispatchable DERs on a low-voltage distribution system may have a slow response time. On the other hand, renewables, such as solar and wind power, are nondispatchable resources. Under islanded conditions, it is essential to complement them with energy storage for reliable operation of the DERs [4]- [8]. A higher penetration of DERs has become inevitable for meeting ever-growing energy demands [9], [10], and coordinating them is essential to achieve sustainable and reliable distribution. In the recent past, concepts such as microgrids [2], [8] and virtual power plants [3] have been presented to tackle DER coordination issues. Illindala [11] introduced the concept of FDERS, where multiple DERs operate as a network, teaming up in a formation that secures energy stability through optimal resource utilizations.FDERS was inspired by the V-shape formation of flocks of...

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