ABSTRACT

Electricity demand is increasing exponentially, while traditional power generation plants are fossil fuel based and are not only limited in nature but also have diverse effects on environment due to carbon emissions. In order to cope with these problems, the world is in a transition state, i.e., there is a shifting of power plants based on fossil fuels to Renewable Energy Sources (RESs). Moreover, distributed energy resources (DERs) are replacing the centralized power system and creating the room for microgrids (MGs) to deal with energy and global warming crises. MGs facilitate the integration of RESs in power systems and offer the generation and supply of clean energy reliably, flexibly and smartly, and tends to provide economic efficiency as well. Nonetheless, the intermittent nature of RES creates the challenge of power balance within the MG. This challenge demands the connection of some backup entity to provide energy seamlessly. Cheaper and cleaner solutions are in research arena considering the said problem and as a result, the network of MGs is taking the considerable space in industry. Beside the benefits of MG networks, it is facing the challenge of RES associated uncertainty which has direct impacts on operational economics and reliability of MGs. The performance of networked MG and optimality of resource scheduling of networked MG relies on mitigation of uncertainty at suitable level. This study is carried out to address the generation related uncertainty at MG level and demand associated uncertainty at network level to optimize resource allocation within multiple MG infrastructure. The objective of the study is to lay the foundation of a power aware Smart City where networked MGs are interconnected with each other, communicating and computing power such that not only operational cost is minimized but also a shift on to green energy is made possible tackling uncertainties of RESs on run time.