Microgrids

1

The Microgrids Concept

Christine Schwaegerl and Liang Tao

1.1 Introduction

Modern society depends critically on a secure supply of energy. Growing concerns for primary energy availability and aging infrastructure of current electrical transmission and distribution networks are increasingly challenging security, reliability and quality of power supply. Very significant amounts of investment will be required to develop and renew these infrastructures, while the most efficient way to meet social demands is to incorporate innovative solutions, technologies and grid architectures. According to the International Energy Agency, global investments required in the energy sector over the period 2003–2030 are estimated at $16 trillion.

Future electricity grids have to cope with changes in technology, in the values of society, in the environment and in economy [1]. Thus, system security, operation safety, environmental protection, power quality, cost of supply and energy efficiency need to be examined in new ways in response to changing requirements in a liberalized market environment. Technologies should also demonstrate reliability, sustainability and cost effectiveness. The notion of smart grids refers to the evolution of electricity grids. According to the European Technology Platform of Smart Grids [2], a smart grid is an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it – generators, consumers and those that assume both roles – in order ...