Microgrid Planning Considering the Uncertainty of Renewable Generation Profile

The microgrid planning problem determines the optimal deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) for a given load level. This paper proposes a microgrid planning model considering the uncertainty of renewable generation profile in daily operation. The proposed model aims to minimize the total cost including both the investment cost and operation cost for the candidate DERs during the project life. According to its specific structure, the problem is decomposed into an investment master problem and several operation subproblems. The uncertainty of renewable generation profile is considered in the subproblems. The microgrid planning problem is finally formulated as a robust optimization problem, and it is solved under the framework of column-and-constraint generation (C&CG). The subproblem examines the optimality of the master problem by calculating the worst-case optimal operation under uncertainty. Corresponding cuts will be generated and augmented into the master problem in the iterations. The developed model is tested on a microgrid system. Simulation indicates that the proposed model is effective to make an optimal deployment of DERs considering the uncertainty of renewable generation profile.