Development of a simulation model for a community microgrid system

Research on Community based Microgrid (C-μGrid) systems is attracting considerable research interest as a transitional solution in countries where policies for microgeneration (μGen) is present but Microgrid (μGrid) policies do not exist. This paper presents a model of a simulation-based grid connected C-μGrid system where multiple wind-based μGen systems are connected to the grid through a central converter. Dublin, Ireland has been chosen as the geographical location for this simulation study. In the C-μGrid system, the communication system is very important to facilitate calculation of the import/export energy from the grid/DG sources. Therefore, based on the μGen system capacity, an algorithm for the central C-μGrid controller (C-μGCC) is proposed to manage the power sharing between the prosumers (combined producer and consumer). The system architecture with the power sharing algorithm has been developed in MATLAB. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the method in proper sharing of power amongst the prosumers.