A review of microgrid development in the United States – A decade of progress on policies, demonstrations, controls, and software tools
Section snippets
Introduction and background
Microgrids have become increasingly popular in the United States. About 34% of the world’s microgrid projects are located in the United States and North America area – drivers for this fast growth could include the country’s aging electricity megagrid and end-use customers’ increasing desire for greater security and reliability [1]. In the past decade, the U.S. government and industry have established supporting policies, demonstration projects, control systems research, and the development of
Federal level activity
Federal policy efforts promote the research and development of microgrids, aiming to provide more reliable, flexible, efficient, resilient, affordable, and secure power systems. The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) within the U.S. DOE is the core organization in supporting microgrid R&D activities. Over the last decade, DOE has funded a broad portfolio of activities in microgrid design and economic analysis tools, system testing, and demonstration programs, many of
Microgrid case studies
As described, microgrid development and deployment have been accelerating in recent years as a result of initiatives from federal programs, institutions, and private sectors. These demonstration projects share the common objectives of verifying the microgrid benefits and reducing implementation risks, and, in general, further improving the reliability and resilience of the grid to ensure a sustainable energy future for the nation [30], [63]. These goals have been pursued in several ways [63]:
CERTS definition
The goal of the CERTS program is to conduct research to improve power system reliability, test the performance of emerging technologies, and understand microgrid system economic, regulatory-institutional, and environmental influence [14]. A defining factor of CERTS requires a microgrid to be a self-controlled entity that can be operated as a single aggregated load [18]. This feature of a CERTS project is in line with microgrid definitions from DOE and CIGRE, as discussed in Section 11. CERT
Software and tools developed in U.S. Microgrid research
Software and tools are developed in the United States to support microgrid project development and operations [101]. Demonstration projects often require simulation to determine microgrid investment, construction, and operation strategies. This section reviews some key microgrid software developed by U.S. research institutes, focusing on the tools’ capabilities, functions, and strength. Software discussed in this section are tools often found in public domain and have been widely applied. Many
Conclusion
In summary, microgrid development in the United States show that it needs active government policies at different levels, programs featuring funding and demonstration projects to showcase technological and economic feasibility, advanced research on distributed energy resource technologies and controls, and software tools to assist in design and performance analysis.
Many other countries are striving for microgrid development and demonstration. The following recommendations can be made based on
Acknowledgments
The U.S. authors recognize Berkeley Lab’s support from DOE – The United States under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 and by Energy Foundation. Assistance was also provided by Tianjin Electric Power Corporation, China, through research materials and guidance.
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