Coordinated Optimal Power and Heat Dispatch in a Multi-Energy Microgrid

High energy consumption by thermal loads such as space cooling and space heating are major contributors in peak demand of electrical power. Integration of heat and power system can help in reducing this peak demand and also increases energy utilization efficiency. Development of integrated power and heat system is supported by combined heat and power (CHP)units. Accordingly in this work multi-energy system (MES) has been proposed for catering to thermal and electrical needs of microgrid and a framework has been developed for operation and scheduling of MES. Heat demand is fulfilled according to an economic dispatch framework and the heat flow in pipelines is analyzed through an iterative algorithm. Optimal power flow formulation has been developed for optimal dispatch of power generating sources. Proposed framework is demonstrated on the IEEE 33-bus power distribution network and 32-node heat distribution network. Numeric results depicts the effectiveness of developed model.