A study of the installed capacity and electricity quality of a fuel cell‐independent microgrid that uses locally produced energy for local consumption

SUMMARY Reducing the rates of nuclear power generation for all electric power sources has been seriously discussed in Japan since the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011. Thus, the distributed power supply is expected to expand. The local production of safe and clean energy for local consumption is greatly needed in Japan. In this paper, the Saroma Lake green microgrid (SLMG), a fuel cell microgrid using tidal power generation and photovoltaics, has been planned. Energy balance equations were used to investigate this system's method of operation. Further simulated analysis of the facility, its operation cost, and the electric power quality of the network were conducted using MATLAB/Simulink, and the relationships among the capacity of a facility, the cost, and supply rate of green energy and the electric power quality (interphase voltage, frequency, and higher harmonic wave) of the power network were clarified. The total projected cost of the equipment and operation for introducing the proposed SLMG is ¥1,500,000,000/10 years. Increasing the supply rate of green energy and reducing the facility cost will require the introduction of biofuels and the reduction of the facility costs of solid oxide fuel cells in the SLMG. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.