Optimally Coordinated Operation of a Multi-Energy Microgrid with Coupled Electrical and Heat Networks

This paper proposes a system-wide optimal coordinated operation method for a multi-energy microgrid (MEMG), which takes both electric power flow and district heat network (DHN) constraints into consideration. The studied MEMG contains the renewable power generators (photovoltaic cells and wind turbines), electric boilers, combined heat and power (CHP) plants as well as battery storages. To exploit the potential of DHN for storing/releasing heat energy and improving the system dispatch flexibility, the coupling property of electrical and heat network, dispatch constraints, hydraulic balance and dynamic heat loss are investigated. Subsequently, the proposed operation model is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem which can be solved by some commercial solvers. Three different cases for a comprehensive 33-eletrical-bus, 11-heat-node based test system are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method contributes to an efficient operation and cost-saving energy management.