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Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities...
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Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 19496

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shafi Khadem

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Energy Research Centre, Tyndall National Institute, Cork T12 R5CP, Ireland
Interests: He is research active in the area of micro and intelligent grid networks with special focus on grid stability and power quality, embedded & distributed generation systems integration, energy storage integration, power and energy conversion, microgrids, VPPs solutions for smart energy communities. His interest also includes local energy markets, grid ancillary services and wholesale energy market.
Prof. Dr. Geert Deconinck

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Interests: robust distributed coordination and control; specifically in the context of smart electric distribution networks; smart grids; user-centric energy systems; smart metering; distributed control; robust system design; sustainability; multi-energy systems; infrastructure interdependencies and dependability modelling; all in a context of energy and data infrastructures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Antonios Papaemmanouil

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Head, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland
Interests: His special interests include the Smart Grids, Asset Management, Grid Analytics, digitalization of the power industry and the modernization of asset management, market and grid operations. In addition, his research includes innovative energy markets (peer to peer, transactive energy, community energy).

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Smart Grid intelligently integrates the actions of all actors connected to it in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic, and secure electricity supplies. It combines information and communication technology and data science with the electricity network to improve the reliability, security, and energy efficiency and economic efficiency of the power system. To achieve this, massive integration of sensors and devices for data collection across the grid is necessary. While collecting and transmitting data across the grid, it accepts integration of distributed energy resources (DER) and storage systems at any point of the network, especially integration at the consumer/prosumer level, creating the opportunity for any consumer/prosumer on the grid to become an energy/power supplier and take part in energy trading. This is key for the consumer to be converted into an active energy citizen.

Research on empowering energy citizens is being carried out through the ideas of smart buildings, smart energy communities, smart cities, etc. to achieve the target of decarbonizing smart grid. Hence, for the better operation and management, consumers/prosumers with multiple DERs and/or storage systems in the distribution network can be coordinated to form an integrated energy system (IES), for example through local microgrids and virtual power plants (VPPs). Local consumers/prosumers and communities can be engaged with these microgrids and VPPs development with the aim to empower energy citizen or uplift smart energy communities to become “zero net energy” or “energy plus” communities.

In this Special Issue, we invite original and unpublished research work in areas including (but not limited to):

  • Innovative design and control of community-based microgrids and VPPs
  • Integrating renewable energy, thermal/electrical energy storage, electric vehicles, heat pump integration for a net-zero energy community
  • Power quality and energy management in microgrids/VPPs for smart energy communities and local electricity markets
  • Participation of community microgrids/VPPs in local grid ancillary services and local energy markets (LEMs)
  • Impacts of local microgrids/VPPs/LEMs on the distribution network
  • Energy trading between communities (interaction between local energy markets)
  • Microgrids in smart buildings (residential, commercial, industrial)
  • Techno-economic modelling and optimisation of community and local microgrids/VPPs for market participation and energy services
  • Advancement in control for microgrids/VPPs for smart energy communities and local electricity markets
  • Advancement in ICT for microgrids/VPPs for smart energy communities and local energy markets (including blockchain, DLT, IoT, etc.)

We kindly invite you to submit your relevant work in the field of “Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) for Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets” for possible publication. This Special Issue represents an opportunity to gather the most recent advances in this field with application to network operation, market participation and empowering energy citizens.

Dr. Shafi Khadem
Dr. Antonios Papaemmanouil
Prof. Dr. Geert Deconinck
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Microgrids
  • Virtual Power Plants
  • Smart Energy Community
  • Local Energy Market
  • Ancillary Services
  • Energy Storage
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Heat Pump
  • Energy Markets
  • Grid Services
  • Energy Trading
  • Aggregator

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1459 KiB  
Article
Bidding Strategy for VPP and Economic Feasibility Study of the Optimal Sizing of Storage Systems to Face the Uncertainty of Solar Generation Modelled with IGDT
by Michelle Maceas Henao and Jairo José Espinosa Oviedo
Energies 2022, 15(3), 953; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030953 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
Virtual power plants (VPP) emerge as a new participant that, in order to maximise their visibility and income, represents a group of distributed energy resources (DER) in the electricity market. However, this DER aggregation brings challenges, such as fluctuating renewable sources dependent on [...] Read more.
Virtual power plants (VPP) emerge as a new participant that, in order to maximise their visibility and income, represents a group of distributed energy resources (DER) in the electricity market. However, this DER aggregation brings challenges, such as fluctuating renewable sources dependent on weather variables and guaranteeing power set points. One way to deal with these intermittencies is to incorporate the energy storage system (ESS) into the VPPs. Therefore, this paper presents a novel bidding strategy of VPP that includes modelling the uncertainty associated with solar generation using information gap decision theory (IGDT) and the optimal sizing of ESS systems so as to deal with solar generation fluctuations. Additionally, a study is carried out to determine the economic viability of this methodology in the short, medium and long terms using the return on investment (ROI). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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15 pages, 5860 KiB  
Article
Local Energy Exchange Market for Community Off-Grid Microgrids: Case Study Los Molinos del Rio Aguas
by Christos Karystinos, Athanasios Vasilakis, Panos Kotsampopoulos and Nikos Hatziargyriou
Energies 2022, 15(3), 703; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030703 - 19 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1904
Abstract
The energy transition to renewable energy in a democratic way is directly connected to the development of energy communities and community microgrids. Los Molinos del Rio Aguas (LMRA), an ecological community in the south of Spain, offers a promising case study for an [...] Read more.
The energy transition to renewable energy in a democratic way is directly connected to the development of energy communities and community microgrids. Los Molinos del Rio Aguas (LMRA), an ecological community in the south of Spain, offers a promising case study for an off-grid community-owned microgrid. In this paper, the interconnection of autonomous solar home systems is proposed with the addition of community assets in order to create an off-grid community microgrid that is financially beneficial for the community. Based on this scenario, a Local Energy Market (LEM) based on Distributed Ledger (DL) technologies is implemented in order to foster the energy exchange and contribute to the social welfare of the community. The results provide a win-win scenario for the community and provides an example of an off-grid community microgrid in combination with a LEM that takes into consideration the social aspect of the community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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26 pages, 5868 KiB  
Article
Voltage Regulation Performance Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resource Management via Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation
by Jing Wang, Harsha Padullaparti, Fei Ding, Murali Baggu and Martha Symko-Davies
Energies 2021, 14(20), 6734; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206734 - 16 Oct 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2050
Abstract
This paper evaluates the performance of coordinated control across advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), distributed energy resources (DERs), and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) using an advanced hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform. This platform provides a realistic laboratory testing environment, including accurate dynamic modeling [...] Read more.
This paper evaluates the performance of coordinated control across advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), distributed energy resources (DERs), and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) using an advanced hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform. This platform provides a realistic laboratory testing environment, including accurate dynamic modeling of a real-world distribution system from a utility partner, real controllers (ADMS and DERMS), physical power hardware (DERs), and standard communications protocols. One grid service—voltage regulation—is evaluated to show the performance of the coordinated grid automation system. The testing results demonstrate that the coordinated DERMS and ADMS system can effectively regulate system voltages within target operation limits using DERs. The realistic laboratory HIL testing results give utilities confidence in adopting the grid automation systems to manage DERs to achieve system-level control and operation objectives (e.g., voltage regulation). This helps utilities mitigate potential risks (e.g., instability) prior to field deployment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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12 pages, 3415 KiB  
Article
Two-Stage Stochastic Model to Invest in Distributed Generation Considering the Long-Term Uncertainties
by Jorge Luis Angarita-Márquez, Geev Mokryani and Jorge Martínez-Crespo
Energies 2021, 14(18), 5694; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185694 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1318
Abstract
This paper used different risk management indicators applied to the investment optimization performed by consumers in Distributed Generation (DG). The objective function is the total cost incurred by the consumer including the energy and capacity payments, the savings, and the revenues from the [...] Read more.
This paper used different risk management indicators applied to the investment optimization performed by consumers in Distributed Generation (DG). The objective function is the total cost incurred by the consumer including the energy and capacity payments, the savings, and the revenues from the installation of DG, alongside the operation and maintenance (O&M) and investment costs. Probability density function (PDF) was used to model the price volatility in the long-term. The mathematical model uses a two-stage stochastic approach: investment and operational stages. The investment decisions are included in the first stage and which do not change with the scenarios of the uncertainty. The operation variables are in the second stage and, therefore, take different values with every realization. Three risk indicators were used to assess the uncertainty risk: Value-at-Risk (VaR), Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR), and Expected Value (EV). The results showed the importance of migration from deterministic models to stochastic ones and, most importantly, the understanding of the ramifications of every risk indicator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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17 pages, 6273 KiB  
Article
Development of a Smart Energy Community by Coupling Neighbouring Community Microgrids for Enhanced Power Sharing Using Customised Droop Control
by Sandipan Patra, Sreedhar Madichetty and Malabika Basu
Energies 2021, 14(17), 5383; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175383 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1716
Abstract
This article aims to develop a smart isolated energy community (EC) by coupling the neighbouring rural community microgrids (CMGs) with enhanced droop control for efficient power sharing. This recommended solution employs a power management (PM) based droop-control to enable independent neighbouring CMGs to [...] Read more.
This article aims to develop a smart isolated energy community (EC) by coupling the neighbouring rural community microgrids (CMGs) with enhanced droop control for efficient power sharing. This recommended solution employs a power management (PM) based droop-control to enable independent neighbouring CMGs to share power on an available basis by not constraining CMG inverters to equal power sharing. During the grid-connected mode, the droop control may have different power setpoints of each CMG. However, during the standalone mode of operation, the power setpoint should be defined according to their power rating and availability to maintain the system stability. In this article, a PM strategy is developed to maintain the power setpoints of the autonomous CMGs. An improper selection of power setpoints in autonomous CMG can raise the DC link voltage to an unmanageable value and can cause an inadvertent shutdown of CMG. The suggested PM-based droop control enables the CMG inverter not to restrict the inverter to equal power share but to distribute its active power as available in an asymmetric way, if required. The dynamic performance of the proposed coupled system incorporated with two remote isolated CMGs is investigated in a MATLAB environment. Further, a laboratory prototype of the proposed system has been developed using a LabVIEW-based sbRIO controller to verify the efficacy of the proposed approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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Review

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30 pages, 3965 KiB  
Review
Community-Based Microgrids: Literature Review and Pathways to Decarbonise the Local Electricity Network
by Rohit Trivedi, Sandipan Patra, Yousra Sidqi, Benjamin Bowler, Fiona Zimmermann, Geert Deconinck, Antonios Papaemmanouil and Shafi Khadem
Energies 2022, 15(3), 918; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15030918 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 6224
Abstract
This article addresses the suitable approaches for empowering energy citizens and smart energy communities through the development of community-based microgrid (C-MG) solutions while taking into consideration the functional architectural layers and system integration topologies, interoperability issues, strategies for consumer-centric energy trading under the [...] Read more.
This article addresses the suitable approaches for empowering energy citizens and smart energy communities through the development of community-based microgrid (C-MG) solutions while taking into consideration the functional architectural layers and system integration topologies, interoperability issues, strategies for consumer-centric energy trading under the local electricity market (LEM) mechanism, and socio-economic aspects. Thus, this article presents state-of-the-art microgrid solutions for the smart energy community along with their motivation, advantages and challenges, comprehensibly contrasted between the recommended generic architecture and every other reported structure. The notion of LEM for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy exchange inside a transactive energy system based on a flexible consumer-centric and bottom-up perspective towards the participation in the wholesale electricity market (WEM) is also reviewed and critically explored. Furthermore, the article reviews the interoperability issues in relation to the development of C-MG including energy trading facilities. The article’s overall contribution is that it paves the path for advanced research and industrialisation in the field of smart energy communities through the analytical recommendations of the C-MG architecture and DER (distributed energy resource) integration structure, considering the future trend of local energy markets and socio-economic aspects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrids and Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Smart Energy Communities and Local Energy Markets)
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