Quantification of economic, environmental and operational benefits due to significant penetration of Microgrids in a typical LV and MV Greek network

SUMMARYThe effect of the use of a Microgrid Central Controller (MGCC) to achieve co-ordinated operation of various DG sources, storage devices andcontrollableloadswithregardstothepotentialeconomicbenefitsandthepowerlossesavoidedinthe localnetworkispresented.Additionally,theeffectofconnecting numeroustypical Microgridsinatypicalmediumvoltage(MV)networkregardingpowerlossesandthe emissionsavoidedisstudied. The emissions avoidance calculation is based on the marginal emissions curve of the upstream network, quantifying also the calculatedlosses reduction impact on emissions avoidance. The presented results, based on a variety of realistic market prices time-series, various levels ofrenewable energy resource (RES) production and demand from different seasons, show clear benefits in terms of both losses and emissionsavoidance.Finally,thispaperperformsasensitivityanalysisonthepotentialimpactoftheDGtopologywithinaMicrogridonlossesandemissionsavoidance. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.key words: Microgrids; distributed generation; environmental assessment; power losses; renewable energy sources (RESs); markets