A microgrid co-simulation framework

Microgrids have been proposed as a key piece of the Smart Grid vision to enable the potential of renewable energy generation. Microgrids are required to operate in both grid connected and standalone island mode using local sources of power. A major challenge in implementing microgrids is the communications and control to support transition to and from grid connected mode and operation in island mode. Microgrids consists of two interdependent networks, namely; the power distribution and data communication networks. To accurately capture the overall operation of the system, we propose a co-simulation model driven by embedded power controllers. Further, we propose a novel co-simulation scheduler taking into account events from both the power and communication network simulators, as well as the timing of each embedded controller's execution loop to adaptively synchronize both simulators efficiently. The approach ensures minimal synchronization error while still providing the ability to simulate extended operational scenarios. The numerical results illustrate the novelty of the propose co- simulation to study the microgrid power and communication networks interactions, and the effect on the power stability.