Adaptive DRM
The reliable operation of microgrids that are designed to meet customer load demand requires the electricity supply and demand to be constantly and precisely balanced in real time. However, it is difficult to achieve the balance since both supply and demand could change unexpectedly and significantly due to weather changes, intermittent power surge/drop from renewable generation resources, sudden load changes, and forced outages in generation units and/or components of power grid. In such scenarios, DRM in addition to generation control can help to manage and match the customer load with the supply system. DRM becomes even more attractive in terms of benefits generated since it can be seen as one of the available cheaper resources to improve the reliability and economics of microgrids rather than investing in or expanding the highly capital intensive electricity supply infrastructure.
DRM optimization can reduce the total operating cost or can maximize the total profit of the microgrid because more controllable resources are considered during its optimization process. The DRM will not be activated if the economic performance of the microgrid is not improved. From the point of view of a load, it will get compensation or will lead to a lower electricity tariff. Fig. 2 shows the proposed functionalities of DRM when operating in microgrids.
