Optimal mix and placement of energy storage systems in power distribution networks for reduced outage costs

As energy infrastructure is upgraded to meet modern digital society's need for secure and high-quality electric power, grid-tied energy storage systems are becoming a viable means for improving system reliability and realizing the benefits of Smart Grid. This paper investigates the optimal implementation of distributed storage resources in a power distribution system or islanded microgrid in conjunction with an intelligent load shedding scheme to minimize the societal costs of blackouts. First, a non-linear combinatorial optimization problem for prioritizing outage ride-through service is formulated and a solution methodology is proposed that combines a local search heuristic with simulated annealing. Next, a resource allocation optimization problem is developed to determine the optimal mix and placement of energy storage resources in a power distribution network for intentional islanding of sectionalizable sub-networks. Simulations are performed on the IEEE 123 node test feeder model subject to realistic power system constraints.