Evaluating the Feasibility to Use Microgrids as a Resiliency Resource

• Published in: IEEE transactions on smart grid Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 687 - 696
• Main Authors: Schneider, Kevin P., Tuffner, Francis K., Elizondo, Marcelo A., Chen-Ching Liu, Yin Xu, Ton, Dan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.03.2017; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Subjects: Black start; Customer services; Disasters; Distributed generation; distribution system analysis; Electric utilities; Feasibility studies; Hurricanes; in-rush; Jacobian matrices; Load modeling; Mathematical model; Meteorology; Microgrids; power modeling; Power reliability; power simulation; Reliability; Resilience; resiliency; restoration; smart grid; Weather
• ISSN: 1949-3053; 1949-3061
• DOI: 10.1109/TSG.2015.2494867

Regulated electricity utilities are required to provide safe and reliable service to their customers at a reasonable cost. To balance the objectives of reliable service and reasonable cost, utilities build and operate their systems to operate under typical historic conditions. As a result, when abnormal events such as major storms or disasters occur, it is not uncommon to have extensive interruptions in service to the end-use customers. Because it is not cost effective to make the existing electrical infrastructure 100% reliable, society has come to expect disruptions during abnormal events. However, with the increasing number of abnormal weather events, the public is becoming less tolerant of these disruptions. One possible solution is to deploy microgrids as part of a coordinated resiliency plan to minimize the interruption of power to essential loads. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using microgrids as a resiliency resource, including their possible benefits and the associated technical challenges. A use-case of an operational microgrid is included.