ABSTRACT
Smart grid automation is achieved through centralized control, where a central control system monitors the entire grid automation and communications. A smart grid can be viewed as an electricity grid with decision making abilities. Supervisory control and data acquisition systems are implemented using large software programs that are custom developed based on the application and are difficult to reuse for other applications. The chapter highlights the benefits of microgrid generation through an innovative economic dispatch application implemented in International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61499. The economic modeling of renewable energy systems is implemented in the economic dispatch application in combination with a load forecasting model for each load. Through the implementation of IEC 61499, the economic dispatch has been broken down into small steps by creating functional blocks that perform certain parts of the overall application. IEC 61499 provides a method of graphical design of the system and an easy way of distributing the functions in the automation process.
