Modelling the benefits of smart energy scheduling in micro-grids

This paper presents a smart energy management strategy (SEMS) to optimise the economic operation of a micro-grid. As an important component of smart grids, the micro-grid acts as a bridge to bundle renewable generation, energy storage systems (ESSs) and electric vehicles (EVs) together. It can be operated either by connecting to upstream distribution systems or isolated with the help of ESSs. In the paper, an economic model of a micro-grid is established based on the influence of energy prices in a day-ahead market. The SEMS is used to schedule power supply/demand of diversified sources to obtain optimal economic operation. Smart management of ESSs, EVs and power exchange with the upstream grid, if possible, are simplified into a single-objective optimisation. Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA) has been used to achieve a practical method for energy management based on three different operation policies. The paper presents results which exemplify the proposed model.