Toward the Minimization of the Levelized Energy Costs of Microgrids Using Both Long-Term and Short-Term Storage Devices

This chapter focuses on the specific case of microgrids that are powered by photovoltaic panels combined with both hydrogen-based storage technologies and batteries. It presents the research that has been done for solving planning and scheduling problems in the field of electrical power systems. The chapter proposes a novel and detailed formalization of the problem of sizing and operating microgrids. It shows how to optimally operate a microgrid so that it minimizes a levelized energy cost criterion in the context where the energy production and demand are known. The chapter argues that the optimization step can be achieved efficiently using linear programming. It suggests that the optimization step can also be used to address the problem of optimal sizing of the microgrid, for which proposes a robust approach by considering several energy production and consumption scenarios. Contrary to the results observed for Spain, in Belgium, there is an important potential gain in combining both short-term and long-term energy storage devices.