Electric Thermal Storage System Impact on Northern Communities’ Microgrids

In this paper, the impact of electric thermal storage (ETS) systems on the operation of Northern Communities' microgrids is analyzed. A mathematical model of the ETS system is developed and integrated into an energy management system (EMS) for isolated microgrids, in which the problem is divided into unit commitment and optimal power flow subproblems, to dispatch fossil-fuel-based generators, energy storage systems, and ETS charging. To account for the deviations in the forecast of renewables, a model predictive control technique is used. The proposed ETS-EMS framework is tested and studied on a modified CIGRE medium voltage benchmark system, which comprises various kinds of distributed energy resources, and on the real Kasabonika Lake First Nation isolated microgrid system. It is shown that the ETS significantly reduces operating costs, and allows for better integration of intermittent wind and solar sources.