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The concept of microgrid was first introduced in 2001 as a solution for reliable integration of distributed generation and for harnessing their multiple advantages. Specific control and energy management systems must be designed for the microgrid operation in order to ensure reliable, secure and economical operation; either in grid-connected or stand-alone operating mode. The problem of energy management in microgrids consists of finding the optimal or near optimal unit commitment and dispatch of the available sources and energy storage systems so that certain selected criteria are achieved. In most cases, energy management problem do not satisfy the Bellman's principle of optimality because of the energy storage systems. Consequently, in this paper, an original fast heuristic algorithm for the energy management on stand-alone microgrids, which avoids wastage of the existing renewable potential at each time interval, is presented. A typical test microgrid has been analysed in order to demonstrate the accuracy and the promptness of the proposed algorithm. The obtained cost of energy is low (the quality of the solution is high), the primary adjustment reserve is correspondingly assured by the energy storage system and the execution runtime is very short (a fast algorithm). Furthermore, the proposed algorithm can be used for real-time energy management systems.

A Microgrid (MG) Energy Management System (EMS) is a vital supervisory control to make decisions regarding the best use of the electric power generation resources and storage devices within this MG. This paper presents an operational architecture for Real Time Operation (RTO) of an islanded MG. This architecture considers two different parts including Central Control Unit (CCU) and MG Testbed. CCU implements an EMS based on Local Energy Market (LEM) to control a MG. In order to reach this objective, this unit executes Day Ahead Scheduling (DAS) and Real Time Scheduling (RTS). Regarding DAS, a Modified Conventional EMS (MCEMS) based on LEM (MCEMS−LEM) algorithm has been proposed to find out hourly power set-points of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and customers. LEM is also presented in MCEMS−LEM to obtain the best purchasing price in Day-Ahead Market (DAM), as well as to maximize the utilization of existing DER. With regard to RTS, it must update and feedback the power set-points of DER by considering the results of DAS. The presented architecture is flexible and could be used for different configurations of MGs also in different scenarios. Simulations and experimental evaluations have been carried out using real data to test the performance and accuracy of the MG testbed. This paper aims to operate the MG in islanded mode, ensuring uninterruptable power supply services and reducing the global cost of generated power. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and show a reduction in the generated power cost by almost 8.5%.

The reconstruction or revitalization of electrical substations provides the possibility to introduce very powerful new switchgears, and as a result, to simplify the substation circuit diagram. Taking into account these tendencies, the authors propose a systematical method for establishing the optimal structure of electrical substations for increasing the operational level of reliability at the lowest economic cost. The graph theory is used to solve this particular problem. A (multi)graph will be associated to the network under study, where the bus system are taken for nodes, while the power lines and the (auto)transformers are considered as branches. By developing this model, the task of finding the critical equipment is reduced to the determination of (multi)graph critical nodes (articulation points) and critical branches (isthmuses). The paper presents an original method that, using the determination of critical equipment (systems of buses, transformers, power lines), indicates the most appropriate (minimal) structure for electrical substation circuit diagrams.

Modern power systems are in the process of entering in a new stage of development where will be fundamentally different from classical ones, which implies new challenges and approaches. By carrying out of command, control, protection, automation, metering and power quality monitoring complex systems, the prerequisites for an electricity distribution network to become intelligent ("smart grid") are created. However, a set of issues remains related to how such an infrastructure is used in order to maximize consumer supply safety, minimize losses of active power, optimize power quality indices etc. The central idea is that a "smart grid" must be an optimized network. In this paper, the authors present their vision on the issue of optimizing the operation of an electric distribution network.

The optimization in the operation of distribution electric systems has become an acute problem. In order to evaluate some essential criteria (e.g., active power losses) the computation of power flow is absolutely necessary. Taking into account the real operating conditions (unbalance, harmonics) it is of great interest for accurate steady state estimation. The existent solutions proposed in literature are complex and it is difficult to implement them in unbalanced and harmonic polluted systems. By the original adaptation of the backward/forward sweep algorithm, the authors propose a novel paradigm to analyze the propagation of asymmetries and harmonic distortions through radial electric networks.

The reliability of a distribution system can be considered from the point of view of a particular customer or from the entire supply system, e.g. average interruption frequency (SAIFI) and system average interruption duration (SAIDI). The reliability indices which are referring at the interruption frequency are mainly influenced by the adopted operational configuration and the minimization in operation of SAIFI represents an important aim. A substantial change in the power distribution systems behavior appears because of the large-scale introduction of distributed generation as distributed generators connected directly to the main distribution system or inside of microgrids which are also connected to the main distribution system. In the paper, authors propose an original fuzzy based method for the estimation of the average interruption frequency on distribution smart grids.

The concept of microgrid was first introduced in 2001 as a solution for reliable integration of distributed generation and for harnessing their multiple advantages. Specific control and energy management systems must be designed for the microgrid operation in order to ensure reliable, secure and economical operation; either in grid-connected or stand-alone operating mode. The problem of energy management in microgrids consists of finding the optimal or near optimal unit commitment and dispatch of the available sources and energy storage systems so that certain selected criteria are achieved. In most cases, energy management problem do not satisfy the Bellman's principle of optimality because of the energy storage systems. Consequently, in this paper, an original fast heuristic algorithm for the energy management on stand-alone microgrids, which avoids wastage of the existing renewable potential at each time interval, is presented. A typical test microgrid has been analysed in order to demonstrate the accuracy and the promptness of the proposed algorithm. The obtained cost of energy is low (the quality of the solution is high), the primary adjustment reserve is correspondingly assured by the energy storage system and the execution runtime is very short (a fast algorithm). Furthermore, the proposed algorithm can be used for real-time energy management systems.

The reconfiguration of a power distribution system, by exchanging the functional links between its elements, represents one of the most important procedures to improve the performance in the operation of a distribution system. The optimization through reconfiguration (or optimal reconfiguration) of a power distribution system is not a new problem but still represents a difficult one and is specified in some strategies for smart grids. The paper addresses this problem as a single objective one, where, as main criterion, active power losses have been chosen. There is no unique acceptance regarding which approach (based on heuristics, meta-heuristics, genetic algorithms, etc.) is the most proper to use in order to solve this problem. The most important thing is how the specific knowledge of the problem domain is used and modeled in the implementation. Moreover, the indices which can quantify the quality of a reconfiguration method consist in runtime and the obtained solution and these indices can be confirmed only by experimental results. In order to solve the problem (to search and find the optimal solution) an original genetic algorithm based on connected graphs is proposed. Comparative tests performed on some test systems demonstrated the accuracy and the promptness of the proposed algorithm.

Reconfiguration, by exchanging the functional links between the elements of the system, represents one of the most important measures which can improve the operational performance of a distribution system. The authors propose an original method, aiming at achieving such optimization through the reconfiguration of distribution systems taking into account various criteria in a flexible and robust approach. The novelty of the method consists in: the criteria for optimization are evaluated on active power distribution systems (containing distributed generators connected directly to the main distribution system and microgrids operated in grid-connected mode); the original formulation (Pareto optimality) of the optimization problem and an original genetic algorithm (based on NSGA-II) to solve the problem in a non-prohibitive execution time. The comparative tests performed on test systems have demonstrated the accuracy and promptness of the proposed algorithm.