Investigating the Impacts of Microgrids and Gas Grid Interconnection on Power Grid Flexibility

The introduction of microgrids (MGs) and renewable energy sources (RESs) has caused significant shifts in the operation of power systems. Despite many benefits, integration of RESs has emerged new issues in the power systems operation. One of the issues recently raised by some utilities, is the severe ramps which are seen in systems with high penetration of RES. On the other hand, the traditional flexible power plants could not provide the ramp required in these systems. As a result, flexible local resources in independent entities like MGs should be employed to tackle this issue in these systems. In this paper, a novel model is developed to investigate the effects of MGs and gas grid interconnection on the flexibility of the power grid. Finally, the proposed model is analyzed in different case studies to show the importance of power-gas-power system in an MG from the economic, flexibility and reliability perspectives.