Energy Management System for Dc Microgrid: Balancing Sustainability and Economics

Microgrids are gaining popularity due to their enhanced reliability and resilience in power distribution. Integrating renewable energy-based distributed energy sources (DERs), such as solar and wind, into the Microgrid is crucial for reducing reliance on fossil fuels and promoting sustainability in the energy sector. However, efficiently integrating these sources poses a research challenge due to their intermittent nature. Further, the random load variation on the consumer side greatly affects the power quality and stability of the system. This work is developing a centralized controller-based energy management system (EMS) for a DC Microgrid. The Microgrid is modeled with one dispatchable source, one non-dispatchable source, and a Hybrid energy storage system (HESS). The function of the proposed EMS is based on power generation by the DERs, variable load profiles, state of charge (SoC) of the battery, and the tariff flag color of the electricity pricing scheme. The proposed EMS is applicable in both Grid-connected and Islanded modes. In Islanded mode, the EMS distributes the load demand among available DERs and HESS to make the power economic and utilize the dispatchable source to meet the critical load and enhance the reliability. In Grid-connected mode, the load demand is distributed among DERs, HESS, and Grid based on the tariff flag color. A supercapacitor is employed along with the battery in HESS to mitigate abrupt and unexpected battery stress. The proposed EMS for DC Microgrid benefits remote communities and industrial facilities. The complete model comprising DERs, HESS, Power electronic systems, and Control Strategy is developed using Simulink/ MATLAB.