2019 IEEE International Conference on Power, Intelligent Computing and Systems (ICPICS)
Optimization and Analysis of Microgrid based on
Different Operational Strategies
Long Chen
College of Information Engineering
Nanchang Hangkong University
Nanchang, China
e-mail: 787276092@qq.com
Abstract—This paper studies the reliability and system cost
based on the independent microgrid that includes wind turbine,
photovoltaic panels, diesel generator, energy storage system,
and analyzes its operation results with different operating
strategies. Firstly, consider the randomness of wind speed and
light intensity, the mathematical models of wind turbine,
photovoltaic panels, diesel generator and energy storage
system are established respectively. Secondly, consider the
equipment investment, operation, maintenance, fuel, and
replacement cost, power supply economy and reliability as
optimization target. Finally, establish an optimal model that
includes equipment investment operation cost and system
reliability index, the optimization of the capacity of the
microgrid is solved by using the Non-Dominated Sorting
Genetic Algorithm II. Programming in MATLAB to achieve
the optimal microgrid configuration scheme, and conduct
economic and reliability analysis, the results show that
different control strategies have an effect on optimal
configuration, and economics and reliability will also be
different, thus it provides the necessary basis for user
optimization design.
Keywords—microgrid, optimization, strategies, economy,
reliability
I. INTRODUCTION
As energy demand increases, renewable energy gets more
and more attention, a series of researches on microgrid are
carried out at home and abroad, microgrid is mainly
composed of wind power, photovoltaic, energy storage
system, control device and load, etc. The operation mode of
the system has an important influence on reducing
environmental pollution and improving the reliability and
economy, using different control strategies will greatly
influence the operating conditions of independent microgrid,
the influence of different control strategies on optimal
configuration results needs to be fully considered [1].
Therefore, different operation strategies for optimizing
configuration of the microgrid can greatly improve system
reliability and reduce the cost of investment.
In recent years, a lot of researches have been done on the
optimization of microgrid at home and abroad, but relatively
few have been done on the optimization of operation strategy
of microgrid. the reliability of microgrid running in island
mode with wind farm is evaluated [2]. The reliability
assessment of microgrid by Sequential Monte Carlo
simulation is presented in [3]. Forecasting and optimization
have been done on the real MG test bed, adopting a modified
PSO algorithm for the forecast and GA for optimization [4].
Genetic algorithm and linear programming are used to
978-1-7281-3720-9/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
Ruofa Cheng
College of Information Engineering
Nanchang Hangkong University
Nanchang, China
e-mail: rfcheng36@126.com
optimize the microgrid configuration and operation of the
system [5]. For the independent microgrid optimal energy
management system, an improved particle swarm
optimization method is proposed to solve the optimal model
[6]. The multi-objective MFA algorithm is used for solving
stochastic problems of optimal coordinated scheduling of
CHP units in MGs including WT and PV units [7]. None of
the above researches fully considered the economy and
reliability of the system under different operating strategies.
This paper introduces the basic concept of microgrid,
with an annual costs the least and reliability as the goal, from
the aspects of operation mode and the system structure, the
different control strategies of independent microgrid are fully
considered. At the same time consider system investment
cost, operation and maintenance cost, fuel cost and pollutant
emission cost, established the system optimization allocation
model under different operating mode, economy and
reliability as optimization target, adopts the improved non-
dominated sorting genetic algorithm for solving, to get the
optimal solution set and analyzes the optimization results, the
effects of different operation strategies on the microgrid are
compared, which provides a necessary basis for the optimal
design of the independent microgrid.
II. MICROGRID STRUCTURE MODEL
A. Photovoltaic Unit Output Model
The power output of the photovoltaic system depends on
the light intensity and ambient temperature. The power
output of the photovoltaic system can be estimated by using
the following expression:
PPV (s(t )) = N cell  V  I  FF ()
Where Ncell is the number of photovoltaic cells, V is the
voltage of the photovoltaic cells, I is the current of
photovoltaic cells, FF is the filling factor, and PPV(s(t)) is the
photovoltaic output power at moment t.
B. Wind Turbine Unit Model
Wind speed has certain intermittency and fluctuation, the
approximate relationship between the output power of the
wind turbine and the wind speed can be established as shown
below:
560 July 12-14, 2019•Shenyang, China
 cost, the annual system cost over the life span can be
0 v  vin , v  vout expressed as:

 v − vin
3 3
P =  PN 3 vin  v  v N () ACS = Cin + Com + Cre + C fu + C po ()
 v N − vin
3


 PN v N  v  vout Where ACS is the average annual system cost of
microgrid, Cin, Com, Cre, Cfu and Cpo are respectively
Where vin is the cut-in wind speed of wind turbine, vout is represents the annual investment cost, operation and
the cut-out wind speed, vN is the rated wind speed, PN is the maintenance cost, replacement cost, fuel cost and
rated power output of the wind turbine, and P is the power environmental management cost of the system.
output of the wind system.
B. Reliability Index
C. Battery Storage Model Based on the loss of power supply probability to evaluate
Battery performance depends on the ambient temperature, the reliability of the system, the load loss rate indicates the
charged state, charge and discharge rate, the operation status probability that the system cannot meet the load demand
of the battery is basically determined by initial capacity as within a certain period of time, namely loss of power as a
well as charge/discharge power of the time interval, the percentage of total load:
current state of charge is related to the previous state of
charge and the charge and discharge power per unit time, 8760
according to the battery charge/discharge coefficient and
efficiency, it can be known that the current capacity of the
P loss (t )
battery and the previous capacity change expression: LPSP = t =1
8760
()
When the battery is charged, the calculation formula is: P
t =1
load (t )

SOC(t + 1) = SOC(t )(1 −  (t )) + Pch (t )  t  c ()
When the battery is discharged, the calculation formula is:
SOC(t + 1) = SOC(t )(1 −  (t )) − Pdh (t )  t /  d ()
Where LPSP is the loss of power supply probability,
Pload(t) is the total load power of the system at moment t,
Ploss(t) is the power lost at moment t, obviously, the lower the
load loss rate, the higher the reliability.
IV. OBJECTIVE CONSTRAINTS

Where Pch(t) is the charging power at moment t, Pdh(t) is
the discharging power at moment t. σ is the self-discharge
coefficient of the battery, ηch represents the charge efficiency
of the battery, ηdh represents the discharge efficiency of the
battery.
D. Diesel Generator Model
Fuel consumption of diesel generators depends on power
output, type of generators and fuel quality. Fuel cost and
output power of diesel generators can be expressed as:
F = aPgen
2
+ bPgen + c ()
Where F is the fuel cost of diesel generators, Pgen is the
power produced by diesel generators, a, b and c are the cost
coefficients of diesel generators.
The power generated by diesel generators can be
obtained by using the following formula:
A. Power System Balance Constraints
Pload = PPV + PWT + PDG + PESS ()
Where Pload is the system load, PPV is the photovoltaic
output, PWT is the output of the wind turbine, PDG is the
diesel engine output power, PESS is the battery energy.
B. Power Generating Output Constraints
Pimin  Pi (t )  Pimax ()
Where i represents PV, WT, DG and ESS respectively,
Pi(t) is the output power of each distributed power source in
the system at moment t, Pi∙min and Pi∙max are respectively
represented the minimum and maximum output power of
each distributed power source.
C. Battery Capacity Constraints

Pgen = Pn  N  gen () PESSmin  PESS  PESSmax

Where Pgen is the total power generated, N is the number
of diesel generators, Pn is the rated power produced by diesel
generators, ηgen is the efficiency of diesel generators.
III. MICROGRID OPTIMIZATION MODEL
A. Minimize Running Costs
Independent microgrid economic function including the
initial cost of investment, operation and maintenance cost,
fuel cost, replacement cost and environmental governance
()
Socmin  Soct  Socmax
Where PESS∙min and PESS∙max represents the minimum and
maximum charge/discharge power of the battery respectively,
Socmin and Socmax represents the minimum and maximum
state of charge of the battery respectively. In order to ensure
the safety and life of the battery, the Soc in the charging and
discharging process of the battery should meet the conditions
in the equation.

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D. Quantity Constraints Begin
In the actual planning of microgrid, factors such as the
cost of each distributed power source and position limitation Input basic data of distributed power
are taken into account comprehensively, and the quantity of supply, wind speed, irradiation,
each power source needs to be limited, as shown in equation temperature, load demand, etc
(12).
t=1
0  N i  N imax ()
According to the WT and PV output
power calculation system net load
Where i represents PV, WT, DG and ESS respectively, Ni
represents the number of units that can be installed for each System control
power source, Ni∙max represents the maximum amount of Strategy
choice strategy
power that can be installed for each power source.
V. SYSTEM OPERATION SCHEME PL=PDG+ PL=PESS+
PWT+PPV? PWT+PPV?
In the operation mode of independent hybrid energy Y Y
microgrid, the operating conditions and energy control N N
strategies of the system are different under different
operating control modes, the corresponding system power PL=PDG+PWT PL=PESS+PWT
cost and power supply reliability will also change. +PPV+PESS? Y Y +PPV+PDG?
N
A. Strategy 1
N N
Diesel engine as the main control power, the microgrid
by wind turbine and photovoltaic power supply priority, Strategy 3 Strategy 1 Strategy 2 Strategy 3
diesel units as the main power supply is used to balance the
internal microgrid power shortage, the battery storage is not
required to participate in the system, when the output of wind t =t+1
turbine, photovoltaic and diesel engine cannot meet the load
demand of microgrid, the battery is involved in power supply
to the load, and assist the diesel generator to perform power t=8760？
compensation in a constant power control manner.
B. Strategy 2 Output economic operation
Battery storage as the main control power, the microgrid optimization results
by wind turbine and photovoltaic power supply priority,
Fig. 1 Control strategy flow of microgrid system
battery storage as the main power supply is used to balance
the internal microgrid power shortage, diesel generator is not
VI. CASE STUDY
required to participate in the system, when the output of wind
turbine, photovoltaic and battery storage cannot meet the According to the optimal allocation model, in order to
load demand of microgrid, start the diesel generator for verify the proposed optimization method, now an
power supply, diesel generators provide power output at independent microgrid is taken as an example for analysis,
constant power. the system of power generation unit is composed of wind
turbine, photovoltaic, diesel generator and battery, the annual
C. Strategy 3 average wind speed is 7.23 m/s, the annual average
Battery storage and diesel engine as the main control illumination intensity is about 167 kW/m2, annual average
power alternately, the microgrid by wind turbine and temperature is 26℃, the load is relatively stable, the load
photovoltaic power supply priority, according to the real- average power in the area is about 160 kW, the maximum
time operation requirements of the system, alternate between load is 263 kW, annual load is 1.39 ×106 kW, diesel price is
two different operating modes, this can reduce the operation 1.02 $/L, the real interest rate is 7%. economic parameters of
time and diesel consumption of diesel generators in each micro power supply are shown in table 1.
independent microgrid system, in order to maximize reduce
the system cost and improve the utilization rate of renewable Now the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II
energy power generation. (NSGA-II) with elite strategy is used to optimize the
configuration of an independent microgrid, the NSGA II
Microgrid chooses its operation control mode according algorithm was proposed by Srinivas and Deb in 2000, on the
to load demand, the output of wind turbine, photovoltaic basis of the NSGA to join the elite, virtual fitness and rapid
panels, diesel generator, energy storage and other factors, so non dominated sorting strategy, because of its lower
as to optimize different types of power supply and its output, computing complexity and fast convergence speed and has
graphically are shown as flowchart in Fig. 1. been widely applied, the project chooses the equipment life
for 20 years for case study, standby power supply with wind
turbine, photovoltaic, diesel generator and battery, the
number of population size is 50, the iteration will stop at 100
iterations, cross rate is 0.9, the mutation rate is set at 0.2.

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 TABLE 1 DIFFERENT MICROPOWER COSTS AND PARAMETERS lowest cost of strategy 1 and strategy 2, because the strategy
1 diesel fuel costs and the high cost of the pollution treatment,
Investment Maintenance thus lead to strategy 1 overall cost is higher, but diesel
Device Capacity lifetime
cost cost generators as a master can handle a wide range of micro
WT 15kw 651 $/kW 20$/kW/year 20year network load fluctuations. Strategy 2 energy storage unit as
PV 2kw 550 $/kW 10$/kW/year 20year the main control unit, when the system is lack of power, the
DG 50kw 1521 $/kW 0.013$/kWh 10year energy storage unit can discharge rapidly to maintain the
ESS 10kwh 300 $/bat 10$/bat/year 5year stable operation of the microgrid, however, its smaller power
led to the reliability of microgrid is lower, and the charge and
The annual wind speed, illumination and load data of the discharge times of energy storage device is more, battery loss
site were taken as input, and take 1h as the simulation time, is higher also. By switching the main control power between
and the total simulation time is 8760h. The multi-objective energy storage and diesel generators, strategy 3 can reduce
optimization problem was solved with the aim of economy the charge and discharge times of energy storage, thus reduce
and reliability, the annual cost of the system after optimized the system cost and ensure the system reliability.
configuration of the three operation schemes is compared.
Setting the system of maximum loss of power supply TABLE 2 OPTIMIZATION RESULTS UNDER DIFFERENT OPERATION
STRATEGIES
probability is 10%, the results shown in figure 2, it can be
seen when loss of power supply probability is 0%, the
Reliability Strategy 1 cost Strategy 2 cost Strategy 3 cost
system is completely reliable, the corresponding system costs
of the three operating schemes are all high, and strategy 1 is 100% 492600 462400 412200
highest, strategy 3 has the lowest running cost. With the
99% 434892 421784 382892
increase of the loss of power supply probability, the annual
cost of all three operating schemes decreased, and the 98% 389876 378030 341015
decreasing trend gradually slowed down.
According to the given wind speed and load data, and the
x 10
5
operation strategy of microgrid is that battery and diesel are
5
Strategy 1
used as main control power alternately, a set of Pareto
Strategy 2 optimal solution set is obtained, some optimization results as
4.5 Strategy 3 shown in table 3.

4
TABLE 3 OPTIMAL SOLUTION UNDER STRATEGY 3
Annual
Case WT PV DG ESS Reliability
ACS($)

3.5
cost/$
1 15 8 6 8 412200 100%
2 12 5 6 7 382892 99%
3
3 16 21 5 5 341015 98%
4 12 18 5 4 299892 97%
2.5 As shown in table 3: To some extent, reliability and
economics are mutually constrained, the relationship
2
between reliability and economy cannot achieve optimal at
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 the same time, the higher the reliability, the higher the annual
LPSP(%)
investment cost, economic cost increases with the increase of
Fig. 2 The relation between LPSP and ACS under different operating the reliability, the increase in the number of diesel generator
schemes and battery storage will keep the system stability, but it
would cause a total cost increase.
From the above results, the strategy 1 maximum use of
diesel engine running characteristics in order to avoid load VII. CONCLUSION
shedding, suitable for battery energy storage system of In this paper, different operation strategies of
installed capacity is relatively small, renewable energy independent microgrid are fully considered, the optimization
resource conditions are relatively poor and relatively high scheme for different operation strategies is established,
power supply reliability of microgrid system independently, NSGA-II algorithm is used to find an optimized
but it will lead to a low utilization rate of renewable energy, configuration scheme for both economic and reliability goals,
can’t effectively reduce the system power cost, and improve finally the simulation of different running modes of the
the efficiency of the environment. Strategy 2 is mainly system is carried out, the effects of different control
suitable for wind turbine, photovoltaic and battery storage strategies on optimal configuration results are obtained. In
can satisfy the load demand, as well as the diesel generator practical optimization design, the optimal allocation model
with constant power generation, energy storage system can can be adjusted according to geographical location,
follow the load change, can decrease the number of start-stop environmental climate and application position, so as to
for diesel generators. Strategy 3 can effectively improve the achieve reasonable design solutions, reduce economic costs
utilization rate of renewable energy and reduce the running and improve the reliability of the power system.
time of diesel generators, thus reducing fuel costs and
reducing the emission of polluting gases. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Different operating strategy of optimization results are This work is sponsored by the National Natural Science
shown in table 2, it can be seen from the result analysis: Foundation of China 51567019 and Science and technology
under the same reliability, strategy 3 compared with the support project (20142BBE50002) of JiangXi Province,

563
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