Modelling of a microgrid for high integration of renewable sources

Conventional grid designs have shown to be incompatible with actual requirements from operators and consumers. Integration of renewable sources, larger energy demands and changes in consumers' needs (electric vehicles charging, self-generation, etc.) cannot be satisfied with transmission schemes already deployed. For this purpose, the concept of smart grid was introduced. Smart grids aim for more distributed, flexible and controlled energy transmission from generation to consumers. Within the smart grid paradigm, the concept of microgrid was developed, as a local grid that can work together or separately from a larger grid. In this paper, different models for a microgrid are presented, according to the time-span required for simulation. This microgird is composed of several generation sources, both renewable (solar, wind), conventional (diesel generators), and storage (lithium-ion batteries). Simulation results are provided for each subsystem to evaluate transient and steady-state performance of developed control strategies. The models presented in this paper are the base for further high-level control strategies implementations.