Optimal Coupling of Multiple Microgrid Clusters

Large remote areas may consist of multiple microgrids (MG), each owned and operated by a different owner (operator) in standalone mode. However, they can be coupled provisionally to support each other during overloading or excessive generation by renewables. This paper proposes a technique to maintain the voltage and frequency (VF) of each MG within the desired range in such situations. To this end, a multilevel optimization approach is utilized that determines the most suitable actions to recover the troubled MG. At first, the proposed technique utilizes the local resources of an MG, such as adjusting the generation levels of the dispatchable sources, charging or discharging of existing battery energy storages, and determining the best configuration for the microgrid’s network. It then proceeds to determine the required support from neighboring healthy MGs if the local supports are not adequate. In that case, the proposed technique optimally selects the MGs (and level of support) to be coupled to support the troubled MG(s). In this regard, it considers the trading cost, reliability, emission and VF of the prospective coupled MG’s network while forming an MG cluster. The performance of the developed technique is evaluated through numerical analyses in MATLAB.