Integrated resources planning in microgrids considering interruptible loads and shiftable loads

Demand response has the potential to bring significant benefits to the optimal sizing of distributed generation (DG) resources for microgrids planning. This paper presents an integrated resources planning model considering the impact of interruptible loads (IL) and shiftable loads (SL) in microgrids, which simultaneously deals with supply side and demand side resources and minimizes the overall planning cost of the microgrid. The proposed model can be applied to offer a quantitative assessment how IL and SL can contribute to microgrid planning. The pure peak clipping model with IL and SL is also provided for comparisons. Moreover, sensitivity analysis of parameters in the model is performed. Numerical results confirm that the proposed model is an effective method for reducing the planning cost of microgrids. It was also found that the major contributing factors of IL and SL have great impact on the economic benefits of the proposed model in low-carbon economy environments.