Sustainable Energy Management in Islanded Microgrids via <scp>HHO</scp> – <scp>BE</scp> Tuned Adaptive Controllers and Demand‐Side Flexibility

ABSTRACT Frequency control in isolated hybrid microgrids is an emerging field. The present work investigates the theoretical background and practical applications of adaptive controllers. These controllers are optimized using the Harris Hawks optimization algorithm modified with the balloon effect (HHO + BE), ensuring high precision and adaptability. The hybrid microgrid configuration includes photovoltaic (PV) systems, electric vehicles (EVs), and heat pumps (HPs), all coordinated with the diesel generator to act as flexible resources during disturbances. Full‐scale simulations were performed in MATLAB/Simulink to assess the system response under different disturbance scenarios. The findings confirm that the proposed optimized controller outperforms traditional controller and existing metaheuristic‐based techniques, providing significantly less frequency deviation and faster recovery times. In addition to the technical performance analysis, an economic and environmental analysis was conducted based on 1000 h of annual corrective operation. The results are striking: the proposed system reduces diesel consumption by approximately 95%, resulting in an estimated annual savings of $4.86 million with a significant reduction in emissions. This highlights the controller's dual advantage of stabilizing the grid and promoting sustainability.